Dandy Town 3 Paget 0

Substitute David Jones Jr hopped of the bench to add to Kamali Davis’s early strike with two goals of his own as Dandy Town ran out convincing 3-0 winners over Paget on Wednesday night.

The win means Town leapfrog PHC and Devonshire Colts, who lost last night to St George’s, to top spot in the Premier Division.

Jones has been a prolific goalscorer for Town this season and was delighted to propel his side back to the summit of the standings

“I thought it was a good game,” Jones said. “We started well and finished the first half off good with the late goal. We let off the gas in the second half but again the late goal eased off the pressure and helped to solidify the win.”

Town put Lions under pressure from the opening whistle with a high press pinning their opponents into their own half. It took them just three minutes to make the breakthrough when they capitalised on a failed clearance from just inside the box, with Davis hitting a half volley into the bottom left corner of Paget goalkeeper Shaquille Bean’s net.

Davis then went down with a suspected hamstring pull in the tenth minute, which paved the way for danger man Jones to take to the pitch.

Town captain Tomiko Goater had the next chance, forcing Bean to rush off his line and make a save with his body after being put through by Demitri Daniels. At the other end, Paget threatened when Nelson Carpenter’s cross caused a scramble in the goalmouth before defender Yeferson Ramirez cleared the ball to safety as Paget strikers moved in.

Kushae Hypolite tried to catch the Town defence off guard as he picked up a quickly taken throw-in to turn and shoot at goal, but goalkeeper Jahquil Hill was alert and had the angle covered.

Paget had an appeal for a penalty fall on deaf ears as Antinori Butterfield was stripped of the ball from behind whilst heading for goal.

Jones would score his first, and the team’s second, on the stroke of half time. La Zai Outerbridge darted down the left flank before crossing to Jones, who controlled and then turned his marker before beating Bean with a low shot into the far post.

That changed the complexion of the match and the half-time team talk from both coaches and it was Paget who picked up the tempo.

They thought they had scored within minutes of the restart when half-time substitute Xave Smith received a pass just outside the box but his shot missed the upright by inches.

On the hour mark Hill pulled off a spectacular one-handed save to parry Delray Rawlins’ header. Rawlins was first to the loose ball but blasted over from close range. Paget would have one last threat on goal when Kion Knights overlapped down the right flank but his cross rolled untouched across the goalmouth.

Despite dominating play and possession in the second half, Paget failed to score and as the full-time whistle approached, Town scored their third from a rare attack and a solo effort from Jones.

He was given room to snake along the touchline before squeezing the ball between Bean’s legs as he covered the near post to close out the scoring.

Defeat for Paget leaves them inside the relegation zone, a point from safety, with four games to play.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Davis 3, Jones 45+2, 90

Teams

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): S Bean 6 — K Knights 6, R Deshields 5, D Rawlins 6, N Carpenter 6 — A Lee 5 (sub: O Tucker, 84min), J Carpenter 6, — T Davis 5 (sub: Xion Smith, 62 5), D Hart 5, K Hypolite 5 (sub: Xave Smith, 46 6) — A Butterfield 6 (sub: K Richardson, 46 6). Substitutes not used: K Leverock, J Stovel, J Morrissey.

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): J Hill — T Webb, E Moore, Y Ramirez, L Simmons — N Spence, D Daniels — K Davis 6 (sub: D Jones, 10; sub: E Outerbridge, 90), E Swan (sub: Z Smith, 46 5), L Outerbridge — T Goater (sub: T Smith, 77). Substitutes not used: A Harvey, M Joell, D Leverock. Booked: Moore

Referee: J Springer (Barbados)