Todd's St. George's stun Zebras
By Colin ZuillPHC 1 St. George's 3PHC may have enjoyed a lot of the ball in this Premier Division contest at Southampton Oval yesterday but visiting Colts proved they had more vision in the penalty box and scored three second-half goals to record this surprise two-goal triumph.One feared a convincing victory for the home side when Quincy Burgess gave them a 1-0 lead after three minutes, but the visitors sealed things after the interval with three goals from Clay Darrell, Jahron Dickinson and Wolde Jones to further establish themselves in a secure place among the top teams in the league.Zebras were admittedly weakened by the absence of at least five regulars through suspensions with coach Kyle Lightbourne also forced to watch from the sidelines for the same reason, but this should not take anything away from the performance of Colts who may have played second fiddle to their opponents for the first half but showed tremendous perseverance in the second and eventually gained the upper hand over the home side.The shock early lead by Zebras came after Casey Castle moved quickly down the right flank to enable Quincy Burgess to tap home his eventual cross into the middle.For the remainder of the half the Zebras held a clear edge but Colts had a few clearer chances with Allan Douglas a worry to the defence down the right flank putting two half chances just wide of the post while hard-working midfielder Jarrean Hayward headed a Doronde Bascome cross a foot over goal from close range after 31 minutes.Hayward followed up that effort by steering another cross from Bascome straight into the chest of Zebras goalkeeper Raymond Glasford.However, Zebras were not about to keel over because for the remainder of the half they dominated with Idrees Sharrieff's blast from an angle on the right being smartly saved by a diving Freddy Hall in the Colts goal after 39 minutes.With Zebras displaying a more sub-standard performance in the second half the Colts soaked up anything their attack could offer.Colts struck early with the equaliser coming after just 46 seconds with Darrell's spirited dribble creating the opening for that treasured first goal.Five minutes later centre-back Ernest Signor came close to putting the East Enders ahead but his 28-yard blast sailed inches wide of the far post.With Doronde Bascome and Hayward prominent in the middle the Colts gained momentum and were pinning down the defence with relative ease.Bascome came close to getting the second goal which always seemed imminent but his fierce shot after 65 minutes went straight at Glasford, but seconds later Dickinson struck with the go-ahead goal, tapping the ball home after Bascome provided the spade work.Then after a long dull period Jones delivered the knockout punch, flooring the home team with a close range shot after 80 minutes.Zebras came alive near the end with Burgess forcing Colts keeper Hall to dive to save his hard shot from inside the box and the St. George's defence had to scramble the ball clear of goal-threatending positions minutes from the end.PHC: R Glasford, C Dowling, O Shakir, R Richardson, M Lambe, B Bean, C Robinson (S Codrington, 77 min), K Lambe, I Sharrieff, C Castle (T Hall, 68 minutes), Q Burgess (Q Hunt, 86 minutes)Substitutes not used: D Baxter, D Johnson, S Philpott, K LightbourneYellow cards: C Robinson, K Lambe, C Castle, B BeanSt. George's: F Hall, G Wade, E Signor, J Warren, D Signor, J Hayward, D Bascome (C Hill, 68 min), C Simmons, J Dickinson, C Darrell (R Dickinson, 85 minutes), A Douglas (W Jones, 26 minutes)Substitutes not used: R Trott, N Paynter, P Anderson, J CarliingtonYellow cards: G.Wade, J.DickinsonMan of the match: J Warren (Colts)Dandy Town 2 St. David's 1Raymond Beach continued his scoring form with a brace to help defending champions Dandy Town to victory over St David's at Lords yesterday.Oj Minors scored a late goal, but it was too little too late for the hosts as they got the new year off to a losing start.
