Dandy Town 1 X-Road’s 0

Angelo Simmons’s second-half strike proved to be the difference in this evenly fought contest at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

After being frustrated by a stubborn X-Roads defence for the first half, the Dandy Town captain finally made the breakthrough after the visiting side switched off momentarily.

Town’s performance was far from polished and in the end they did just enough to get past a gutsy X-Roads side.

“I thought we played in our comfort zone and didn’t switch to another gear,” Kwame Steede, the Town player-coach, said. “But playing well or not, it’s three points and that’s what matters.

“We had the better chances in the first half and had we converted we should have been 2-0 up at the half. We just had to be patient and I think our patience is what wore them down.”

X-Roads were unfortunate to come away empty-handed after matching the home side for most of the match and went close to taking when they struck the woodwork in the first half.

“I was impressed with my team’s overall performance except for putting the chances away, which basically is what was missing today,” Fared El Karfa, the X Roads coach, said.

“We were solid defensively and in midfield and created a lot chances, but were unlucky that we didn’t score.

“We played a tough opponent and I thought my team showed character and a fighting spirit.”

Town ran hard at their opponents from the opening whistle and nearly drew first blood when Simmons and Ian Coke linked up well down the left channel.

A give and go passing move between the players opened up some space for Coke who took too long to pull the trigger and had his effort inside the box blocked by a defender.

At the other end, X-Roads squandered a golden opportunity when the unmarked Kashi Davis-Jones headed Kahmori Brangman’s cross over the bar.

Both teams continued to create chances as the game opened up with Coke firing wide from a tight angle when feeding the unmarked Simmons at the back post was the better option.

Town threatened again with Simmons curling a free kick just wide of the far post and Coke having a shot saved by goalkeeper Dashun Cooper.

Although Town had more clear-cut chances it was a more organised X-Roads who went nearest to scoring when Brangman’s beautifully struck 20-yard free kick crashed onto the bar.

The game flowed in the same vein after the interval with both teams creating chances.

X-Roads best chance of the second half fell to former Town player Jahmel Swan whose effort was saved by Hornets goalkeeper Jaiden Manders.

Simmons finally broke the deadlock when he collected Damon Ming’s pass and dribbled several yards before firing past Cooper with a low drive from an angle.

Simmons’s finish deflated X-Roads and they were fortunate not to have conceded further as Coke went close twice in the dying stages.

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-3-3): J Manders — E Blankendal, K Simmons, K Lathan, G Liburd (sub: D Walker, 74) — J Shrubb (sub: K Steede, 82), L Tucker, E Trott — I Coke, D Ming, A Simmons. Substitutes not used: S Campbell, T Hall, J Martin

X Roads (4-5-1): D Cooper — O Williams (sub: K Talbot, 68), J Furbert, K Wilkinson, A Burgess - P Parsons, J Swan, T Daniels, K Brangman, J Sanchez (sub: A Heyliger, 53)- K Davis-Jones (sub: R Beek, 53). Substitutes not used:

J Burrows, P Quinn, T Lowe, F Pacheco. Booked: Daniels.

Referee: A Bailey.