Wolves 0 Dandy Town Hornets 5

Unsportsmanlike conduct from Zaire Burchall marred Dandy Town’s emphatic demolition of First Division minnows Wolves in the opening match of an FA Cup first-round double-header at Devonshire Recreation Club yesterday.

Controversy flared in the 66th minute when the towering striker refused to be substituted with play being halted as Seion Darrell, the Town assistant coach, came onto the field to urge his player to come off the pitch.

However, Burchall stood his ground and again refused to come off when a second attempt was made to replace him six minutes later.

The player finally went off but only after an argument with some of his team-mates and being booked for delaying the game.

Kwame Steede, the Town player/coach, put a positive spin on the incident that tarnished his team’s dominant display.

“I think this shows that the team is together and growing as a team,” Steede said. “He [Burchall] didn’t want to come off and his team-mates spoke up. They said ‘this is not right, you have to respect the order’. And I felt that shows the team is growing as one.”

Asked if Burchall could be facing disciplinary action from his club, Steede added: “That’s something the club will have to deal with.

“But he is going back to school and so he won’t be here for the rest of the season anyway.”

Town were the firm favourites to win going into the cup tie, but nearly found themselves chasing the game when Sergio Richardson, the Wolves striker, clipped the bar with a shot from outside of the box.

The near-miss proved to be a wake up call for Town who took heed of the warning and the lead through Angelo Simmons. The Town captain was tripped up just outside of the box as he dribbled his way to goal and, after dusting himself off, drilled his free kick into the top left corner.

Wolves nearly responded moments later with Jaiden Manders, the Town goalkeeper, turning Vince Minors’s shot from outside the box around the post.

The home side were fortunate not to fall farther behind when defender Oneko Lowe, the Bermuda Under-20 international, dragged wide of the post after overlapping down the left side.

Wolves, however, would not be as fortunate shortly after as Simmons finished off a good move down the right channel between Burchall and Damon Ming to double the visitors’ advantage.

The home side enjoyed a good spell of possession just before the half and should have pulled one goal back to get themselves back into the game when Richardson got behind the defence but squirted his close range effort wide.

Town made one change at the start of the second half, with central defender Neil Smith making way for Giano Liburd.

Liburd made an immediate impact as he darted down the right flank and whipped in an inviting cross that Burchall scooped over the bar.

Simmons came close to a hat- trick when his angled shot rebounded off Wolves goalkeeper Arthur Paulino and struck the post before the latter gathered the ball.

Wolves nearly pulled one back late when central defender Steven Bremar’s header from Minors’s corner was cleared off the line by Liburd.

The home side capitulated in the dying stages of the match and Town ruthlessly took advantage by scoring three goals inside of six minutes.

Substitute Ian Coke capitalised on a breakaway after being played through by Lowe to make it 3-0.

Lowe then went from provider to scorer after dribbling past the defence and slotting past Paulino before Ernest Trott chipped the goalkeeper from inside the box to complete Town’s emphatic win.

“This is FA Cup and you have to respect your opponents,” Steede said.

“But I thought we made it hard and didn’t establish the level of football and the level we are playing at until the end.”