Dev. Colts 2 Wolves 5

Vince Minors hit a fine hat-trick to lead Wolves to a crushing defeat of a hapless Devonshire Colts outfit at White Hill Field yesterday.

Such was the nature of Wolves' dominance, they could, and should, have broken into double figures. Two late strikes gave the home team a measure of consolation but, in truth, there was no masking the reality that they have a long road to travel if they are to regain credibility after such a shambolic performance.

Wolves, on the other hand, are second on goal difference to PHC and can look forward to the future with justified optimism. "I was concerned about the amount of chances we missed in the first half," said Wolves coach Dennis Brown, "but we came out in the second half, regained our composure and put them away."

The writing was on the wall inside the first minute when Jared Peniston, an impressive force throughout on the Wolves left, found space behind the defence and shot over. Colts were missing the injured Shannon Burgess, the former Bermuda captain and their inspirational leader in defence, and it showed. Minors was allowed to roam through the heart of the defence with alarming frequency..

Minors and Peter Sampson missed the most gilt-edged chances before the dam finally burst in the 39th minute after a mistake by Colts midfielder Aljame Zuill. Minors pounced on the errant pass and sidefooted the ball calmly past the advancing Andre Hendrickson. It was just reward for Wolves and when Minors notched his second five minutes later, after a pacy run through a static back line, the scoreline at the interval was a fair reflection of the play.

Colts, given the opportunity to smarten up their ideas, came out for the second half as clueless as they did the first. And Minors scored his third only three minutes in, again going in alone after Sekai Waldron made the running. The quality of the finish belied his profligacy earlier on and Colts looked set for a right pasting.

Their first half-chance came in the 55th minute but Aljame Zuill scoffed his shot from 15 yards. Wolves punished Colts for pushing up too high to the halfway line. Given their leaden-footed reaction against forwards with the pace of Minors and Peniston, it was a strategy that touched the height of folly.

Peniston added his name to the scoring list on the hour and then the home team's noses were rubbed in it when Jamel Simmons, a Colts outcast, dribbled past five defenders and finished in emphatic fashion. The celebrations, which ended with a belly-first slide in front of the Colts bench, had obvious connotations.

Wolves spoiled their copybook by allowing two goals in quick succession by Jermaine Aberdeen, on as a substitute only two minutes earlier, and Quincy Aberdeen. The last 15 minutes were frantic, with Aljame Zuill twice forcing saves from Michael Higgs, but Wolves had enough quality to stem the flow.

Devonshire Colts: A.Hendrickson; D.Zuill, M.Hollis, M.Bean; J.Belboda (J.Aberdeen, 71 mins), A.Zuill, K.Burchall, Q.Aberdeen, R.Douglas (K.Smith, 51 mins); J.Dill, C.Hill (L.Holder, 51 mins).

Wolves: M.Higgs; T.Trott, J.Simmons, A.Thomas, S.Waldron; T.Davis, K.Parfitt, N.Smith, V.Minors (L.Ming, 77 mins); J.Peniston, P.Sampson (R.Ebbin, 61 mins).

Cards: Yellow - D.Zuill, A.Zuill, J.Aberdeen (Colts); J.Simmons (Wolves)

Men of the match: A.Hendrickson (Colts); J.Peniston (Wolves).

Referee: A.Mouchette.