Paget Lions 5 Devonshire Colts 2

Paget Lions put on a masterclass of finishing to secure their spot in the semi-finals of the Dudley Eve Trophy at Bernard Park yesterday.

Antinori Butterfield and Xave Smith both scored twice for Paget and Kezie Richardson added a fifth to ensure that Colts finished bottom of Group B on goal difference, with all three teams finishing on three points

Lions forward Shakir Smith was pleased with the result.

“We executed defensively really well,” he said. “We wanted to start with one goal, which we achieved within seconds and that allowed us to play with confidence.

“We played with more freedom and trusted each other. “The team executed almost flawlessly because we usually miss most of the opportunities we create.”

Lions scored within the first minute of both halves to destroy any momentum that Colts tried to build. They found the breakthrough within 15 seconds of the opening kick-off, with captain Rakeem Deshields clipping over the top of the Colts defence.

Antinori Butterfield beat rushing Colts goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert to the loose ball, passing it into an empty net to provide the perfect energy for the remainder of the match.

Colts suffered an early setback when stand-in false nine Teniko Eve suffered a thigh injury and had to be replaced by namesake Haile Eve inside eight minutes.

Lions doubled their lead despite Colts starting to find a few steady periods of possession.

Xion Smith, who was extremely lively on the left wing, drove a cross into father Shakir, who tried to improvise with a bicycle kick. That effort was deflected by Zuhri Burgess and Butterfield showed predatory instinct to fire into the bottom corner for his second of the game.

The black and gold were never able to truly penetrate the Paget defence on regular occasions and they had to replace Keino Burch with Rajae Whitter at the drinks break.

They finally created a chance when Rahzir Jones found Whitter, who pulled back for Chemarl Henry. The forward turned and whipped an effort towards the far post but goalkeeper Omari Deshields was equal to it and pushed it wide

Colts pulled one back from poor Paget decision making at the back. Marcus Wade failed to take the ball off Henry, who sprinted into the penalty area before composing himself to finish into the near post.

Lions restored their two-goal cushion moments into the second half when Ajani Lee played long to Butterfield, who pulled back for Xave Smith to pounce on a poor clearance by Colts defender Deszion Davis before firing into the near post.

Smith scored his second midway through the second half, extending the Paget lead to three and leaving Colts with a mountain to climb.

Colts pounced on another lapse of concentration in the Paget team to get another goal back, with Zuhri Burgess playing a long ball into space. Senoj Mitchell beat the offside trap and chipped Deshields.

Just as Colts pushed to score again, substitute Diaje Hart played a beautiful through pass to Xave Smith in the left channel and he pulled back for Kezie Richardson to finish hard under the diving arms of Mills-Furbert.

Richardson could have become the third Paget player to score twice on the day but missed from close range having been found by Shakir Smith in stoppage time.

Scorers

Paget Lions: Butterfield 1, 23; Xave Smith 46, 60; Richardson 83

Devonshire Colts: Henry 45, Mitchell 72

TEAMS

Paget Lions: O Deshields, R Deshields, A Butterfield, M Wade, Xion Smith, S Smith, Xave Smith, A Lee, T Gibbons, N Carpenter, J Carpenter. Substitutes: S Bean, K Richardson, K Simons, J Morrissey, N Armstrong, K Durrant, D Hart.

Devonshire Colts: J Mills-Furbert, K Burch, S Burgess, Z Burgess, T Eve, J Greaves, C Henry, R Jones, S Mitchell, J Paynter, S Robinson. Substitutes: D Davis, H Eve, A Hart, M Isaac, D Jackson, C Thompson, R Whitter.

Referee: T Derry (Trinidad)