PHC Zebras 2

Devonshire Cougars 2

Dennis Brown, the Devonshire Cougars coach, admitted that his side let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers as they could only manage a draw against PHC Zebras at Southampton Oval.

Goals from Lonnie Bascome and Jensen Rogers cancelled out strikes by Darius Cox and Kwame Steede to leave honours even. Demitri Daniels, of Cougars, was sent off for two bookable offences.

The result lifts Cougars up one spot to fourth, but the Premier Division champions are now five points off the lead, while PHC remain sixth.

“It’s a golden chance gone to the wayside for us as we try to make up ground in the title race,” Brown said. “Knowing the result from the Village and Somerset game, we wanted to get back into the thick of things as the matches dwindled down.

“Now we have to look for other results to go our way, but we have to be prepared to win games when opportunities present themselves.

“It was always going to be difficult once the rain came down, and to the credit of both sides they tried to play the ball as best as they could.

“Games like this are never going to be easy up here against them, and for the most part it is a good result for both sides in regards to the conditions and application.”

The two sides felt each other out in the opening half, not wanting to put a foot wrong and allow the other an upper hand in the proceedings.

It was not until two minutes left in the first half that the match sprang to life, when Bascome got the home side on the board first after good link-up play with fellow attackers Cecoy Robinson and Shakir Smith.

The lead would last less than one minute, however, as Cox put his free kick from just outside the Zebras area past Malachi Jones.

The visiting side took the lead for the first time in the match eight minutes into the second half, with a Cox free kick again instrumental.

This time the centre half delivered to the back post, where Daniels cut the ball back for an onrushing Kwame Steede to plant his effort past Jones from point-blank range.

On the ascendancy, Cougars poured men forward looking for the all-important third goal that would give them breathing space and a foothold in the title race. But instead they were caught on the counter-attack, with the Rangers trio of Robinson, Smith and Rogers leading the break.

Robinson played Smith in behind the Cougars defence, before he in turn cut back for Rogers, who had made a surging run from centre half to nestle a side-footed effort in at the back post.

Cougars were dealt a telling blow with 15 minutes remaining, when Daniels, already on a booking from the first half, made an ill-advised tackle in the middle of the field that left referee Ronue Cann little option but to issue a second yellow card.

From that point, Zebras bossed the match and they thought they had the winner when Bascome had his sights on goal from close range. But Kioshi Trott, in goal for Cougars, made a superb double save, with the partial clearance falling to Smith, who shot wide to leave Cougars clutching to faint hope of retaining their title.