Devonshire Colts 0 PHC 0

Dandy Town are in the driver’s seat to secure the Premier Division title after title rivals Devonshire Colts and PHC drew at Police Field on Sunday.

With Town beating Boulevard on Saturday to extend their lead at the top, the coaches of PHC and Colts conceded that their chances of overtaking Jarreau Hayward’s side in the remaining matches were now slim.

Colts coach Ray Jones, whose team remain third, five points behind Town, acknowledged that the race was no longer in their hands, despite having a game in hand over their rivals.

But Colts appear to have the easier run-in with their last three matches coming against the bottom three. They still have an outstanding fixture with Paget, together with encounters against Young Men’s Social Club and Boulevard. Even if they were to win those three matches, Jones’s side can amass only 41 points, which means Town have to drop points for them to stand a chance.

“Obviously, this result helps neither one of us,” Jones told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s just put Dandy Town in the driver’s seat, so we’ll be hoping for a miracle at this stage.

“They’ve been consistent, so it’s probably highly unlikely they will drop points. Mathematically we’re still in it, but it’s just going to be probably a little bit more unrealistic at this stage.

“It was a hard-fought game, probably not the best technically, but I think both teams fought to the end.”

PHC trail Town by three points with Cecoy Robinson counting on X-Roads and St George’s Colts to come to their aid. PHC play against Paget and Boulevard in their remaining fixtures, matches if they win can only take them to 40 points.

“I thought we could have got something out of the game but we didn’t,” Robinson said.

“That’s football, so it’s two points dropped and we are three points off the top. We need other people to do us a favour in order to do anything.

“There’s still a chance for us but we’ve got to rely ob other people to do us a favour and that’s never a good thing.”

PHC were the first to have sight of goal in the fourth minute as Dionte Dowling’s free kick was pushed behind for a corner by Jaden Mills-Furbert.

Two minutes later, Colts had a chance with Elisha Darrell’s header from a set piece, which went over the bar. In the sixteenth, Senoj Mitchell almost caught Quinaceo Hunt off his line, but his headed effort was off target.

Mills-Furbert tipped over Russell’s snap shot, before repelling Joshua Joseph’s well struck attempt.

Darrell had ball the taken off his feet by Hunt as he prepared to pull the trigger off a Jorj Dublin header six minutes before the break. Mitchell fired wide off a free kick on the edge of the box in the 56th.

Joseph could not keep his effort down in the 61st as the as the game petered out into a tame draw.

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-4-2): J Mills-Furbert—S Robinson, J Dublin, D Davis, M Isaac (sub: J Paynter, 74) — Z Burgess, D Ball, J Bean-Lindo 6 (sub: T Eve, 33 5, R Urquhart, 74), C Henry—E Darrell (sub: K Burch, 88), S Mitchell. Substitutes not used: S Blair-Paynter, D Jackson, R Whitter. Booked: Isaac, Dublin

PHC (4-3-3): Q Hunt—D Usher, D Smith-Lightbourne, J Bather, D Lodge (sub: S Lewis, 46)— D Dowling (sub: J Ebbin 90), K Abraham (sub: A Burgess, 78) S Burrows—J Joseph, E Russell, H Eve (sub: C Eve, 78). Substitutes not used: K Richardson, J Hassell, E King-Mills. Booked: Lodge, Usher

Referee: D Parchment (Jamaica).