Boulevard Blazers 2

Dandy Town 3

Angelo Simmons tormented his former team to inspire leaders Dandy Town to an impressive come from behind victory against a gutsy Boulevard at Police Field yesterday.

The Hornets captain led by example, scoring twice as the visitors came from behind on two occasions to claim all three points.

Tomiko Goater netted the visiting team’s other goal in an exciting contest that could have gone either way.

Ian Coke, the Boulevard striker, had earlier put his side ahead twice, scoring either side of half-time.

Very little separated the two teams and in the end three superbly taken goals from Town, and poor finishing from Boulevard, ultimately proved to be the only difference.

Boulevard controlled the entire first half and should have made the points safe before the break, given the amount of chances they created against a Town team that rarely got out of their own half.

Coke flicked the ball over two defenders inside of the box but failed to keep his header down, while Tiae Vince Douglas had a shot blocked.

With Town hanging on Boulevard continued to turn the screws with midfielders Niko Smith and Keemo Smith both going close.

The goal that Boulevard’s relentless assault warranted finally arrived in the 36th minute out of nothing. What should have been a routine clearance upfield by Mikkail Crockwell, the Town goalkeeper, went horribly wrong as Coke intercepted the ball and buried it into the empty net.

Town’s best chance during the first half arrived moments before they fell behind, when Maquel Tankard, the Boulevard left back, cleared the ball away during a goalmouth scramble.

Jomar Wilkinson, the Dandy Town coach, read his players the riot act at the break, and it seemed to do the trick as Simmons responded in the first minute of the second half by lobbing Daez Chambers, the Boulevard goalkeeper, to draw the teams level.

The momentum shifted Town’s way after Simmons’s well-taken goal but their joy was short-lived as Boulevard regained the lead through yet another defensive blunder. Coke dispossessed Llineiko Millet, the Hornets right back, and fired past the exposed Crockwell.

At this stage it seemed as though it wasn’t going to be the league leader’s day.

However, Simmons and Goater had other ideas.

Goater brought his team’s fans to their feet with a stunning goal to draw the two teams level again. The Bermuda midfielder broke free down the right and after spotting Chambers off his line fired the ball into the roof of the net from 25-yards.

Simmons then grabbed the winner with an equally stunning goal from distance, chipping Chambers from 25-yards with a shot that curled in at the back post.

Town’s eleventh league win of the season sent them ten points clear of Robin Hood who are in action tonight away to a vastly improved Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Recreation Club at 9pm.

Anything less than a victory for Kyle Lightbourne’s team will hand Hornets their eighth Premier Division title, and fourth in the past seven seasons.

TEAMS

Scorers

Boulevard Blazers (Coke 36, 57)

Dandy Town (Simmons 46, 70, Goater 64)

Boulevard Blazers (4-3-3): D Chambers — M Tankard, J Williams, I Mallory (sub: C Trott, 83), A Foggo — K Smith, N Smith, D Taylor — T Douglas (sub: A Smith, 75), M Smith (Sub: S Robinson, 61), I Coke. Substitutes not used: Z Stovell, K Bean, A Famous, S Fostin, D Pinto. Booked: Chambers, K Smith.

Dandy Town (4-5-1): M Crockwell — L Millet (sub: T Daniels, 79), D Williams, S Darrell, K Tucker — L Tucker (sub: K Davis, 75), D Bascome, T Goater, Q Maynard, A Simmons — D Ming (sub: F Frankson, 83). Substitutes not used: J Swan, E Blankendal, J Amory, O Lowe.

Referee: A Mouchette.