Dandy Town 4

PHC Zebras 2

Dandy Town finished top of the Dudley Eve Trophy group A standings after coming from behind twice to see off cup holders PHC Zebras in a six-goal thriller at Police Field yesterday.

Late strikes from Caldre Burgess and Angelo Simmons, the Town captain, put the game beyond the reach of a PHC side whose poor finishing ultimately came back to haunt them.

Marco Warren, PHC’s attacking midfielder, was the chief culprit, blowing at least three clear-cut chances, including a tap-in from close range from Cecoy Robinson’s pullback.

After threatening on several occasions, Zebras finally broke the deadlock through a goalkeeping blunder.

Ajai Daniels, the Town goalkeeper, failed to control Jahtino Richardson-Martin’s backpass with his boot, and the ball rolled into the empty net.

The goal seemed to jolt Town into life and within three minutes they were back on level terms.

Tomiko Goater, the midfielder, sent Burgess clear down the left flank with a long pass. Burgess’s effort was saved by Troy Hall, the PHC goalkeeper, but the rebound fell to Simmons, who smashed it into the empty net to send the two teams into the break tied.

PHC started the second half with a flurry of chances, with Idress Sharrieff, the striker, forcing Daniels to make a low save at the near post, while Kole Hall curled a free kick just over the bar.

That early pressure paid off when Sharrieff restored his team’s lead with a neat finish at the near post. Tre Ming, the midfielder, picked up Sharrieff with a diagonal pass played behind the defence, which the striker ran onto and blasted past Daniels.

However, for the second time in the match PHC were unable to hold onto their advantage as Town equalised seven minutes later through a spectacular set piece.

PHC were penalised for a foul deep in their own half, and after picking his spot Drewonde Bascome’s right-footed free kick from 25-yards curled into the top left corner past the hapless Hall. It was brilliant strike worthy of any highlight reel.

The game opened up in the latter stages with both teams carving out chances only to be let down by a poor final touch in and around the box.

Burgess eventually scored the winner ten minutes from the end of time. The forward drove inside the box on a forceful run, cut back and fired past Hall to put Town ahead for the first time.

Burgess’s superb solo effort was his final act as he was immediately substituted before the celebrations subsided.

Simmons then made sure there would be no way back for Zebras when he scored with a thunderbolt from an angle to complete his brace, putting an exclamation mark on a hard-fought victory that secured top spot for Hornets.

“I was pleased with my team’s performance, I thought everyone gave 150 per cent,” Jomar Wilkinson, the Town coach, said. “We want to win every game and we showed that.

“We had the right attitude and were willing to put in the work. We understand PHC is going to come with a good work ethic and we try to exceed that work ethic and I thought we done that.

“PHC made it very difficult for us and we had to come with our ‘A’ game and I thought we did that. The team showed a lot of character to come from behind twice.”

Town and PHC had already qualified for the semi-finals of the competition going into their final group match.

TEAMS

Scorers

Dandy Town (Simmons 35, 90, Bascome 60, Burgess 80)

PHC (Richardson-Martin (og) 32, Sharrieff 53)

Dandy Town (4-3-3): A Daniels — R Tucker, K Lathan, J Richardson-Martin, D Ming — D Bascome (sub: K Davis, 67min) J Swan, S Darrell — T Goater, C Burgess (sub: E Blankendal, 80), A Simmons. Substitutes not used: J Amory, N Smith, R Wells. Booked: Darrell.

PHC (4-3-3): T Hall — J Ball, M Lambe, N Griffith, K Abraham — C Robinson, T Ming, K Hall — M Warren, I Sharrieff (sub: J Warren-Smith, 70), O Tucker (sub: M Burchall, 65). Substitutes not used: S Trott, D Smith-Lightbourne, D Joell, D Usher.

Referee: A Bailey.