North Village kept pace with Devonshire Cougars and Dandy Town, the Premier Division pace-setters, with a comprehensive thrashing of PHC at Southampton Oval yesterday.

Six goals from six different scorers was more than enough to get the city side three crucial points on the road.

Thomas Watson, Jahron Dickinson, Keishen Bean, Jahquan Smith-Deshields, Ge-Vone Greaves and an own goal from Jensen Rogers propelled the visiting side to the emphatic win.

“The result shows the commitment and dedication that we have as a team to get results,” said Troy Hall Jr, the Village goalkeeper, who was playing against his former club for the first time since his off-season transfer. “It wasn’t going to be easy, but we showed that if you work hard for the entirety of the match, you can achieve huge things.

“We switched the formation and it made a big difference in our ability to hold the ball and free up our playmakers, and that was the reason for the scoreline.”

Watson opened the scoring in the fifteenth minute, a goal that was worth its weight given the partnership that he forged with skipper Jemeiko Jennings in the Village engine room.

Dickinson, in his first year with the club after his transfer from St George’s, got his first goal of the season ten minutes later to put further pressure on the home side, who were ridiculed by their fans after Watson’s strike.

Marco Piper, the PHC striker, then conjured an early candidate for miss of the season when he put a Shakir Smith cross over the top from three yards.

Their problems were then compounded in the 34th when a Pierre Smith cross from the left-hand side was turned into the net courtesy of a mix-up in the Zebras penalty area that resulted in two defenders colliding and the ball ballooning in the net.

Exchanges between the sides were even early on in the second half, with Smith and Cecoy Robinson, the PHC captain, trying their best to bring their side back into the match.

Smith was almost the recipient of a simple tap-in from Hall, who could only manage a hand on a Robinson cross. The ball, however, came to Smith too fast with the striker yards away from the Village goalkeeper.

The match was finally put to bed as a contest when Bean, who had come on as a substitute six minutes earlier, controlled a Hall clearance before turning his marker and rifling his effort past Raymon Glasford.

Before Zebras fans could further voice their displeasure with their team’s performance, the ball was again in the net, with Smith-Deshields sliding his shot past Glasford.

Smith-Deshields went from scorer to provider in the 90th, putting in Greaves, the substitute, who had the simple task of scoring past Glasford from close range.

“In games like this, you can’t hope and wish for something to happen because if you do that things won’t go your way and then you’re on the back foot,” Hall added.

n The points were shared at Lord’s in a six-goal thriller between St David’s and Wolves in the remaining Premier Division match of the weekend.

Angelo Cannonier, Shakil Robinson and Dominique Lambert scored for the Islanders, with Tamauri Tucker, Kyle Brangman and Lamalle Paynter replying for the visiting side.