BAA 6 Boulevard 1

Keishen Bean claimed the game ball after his hat-trick guided BAA to their first win on their return to the Premier Division at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

The BAA striker opened his account late in the first half to restore his team’s lead before adding two more after the break to complete a superb treble.

BAA’s emphatic win over an uninspired Boulevard was the perfect response after losing their season opener at home to Dandy Town the previous weekend.

“It was a good bounce-back from a loss to Dandy Town, and the boys are pleased with the ‘W’,” Tyrell Burgess, the BAA captain, said.

“Three points is very important and we are definitely excited to be in the Premier Division this year.

“We came to this game knowing that we needed the ‘W’ and we got it. It’s a big confidence-booster.”

As for his team’s lethal finishing, Burgess added: “It was great finishing and the goals speak for themselves.

“Our strikers were on, our crosses were on, our link-up play was on and they hit the back of the net.

“Keishen did what Keishen does. He’s a good, composed finisher, and so we are pleased with that and pleased that we have him at BAA this year.”

Drewonde Bascome gave BAA a dream start when he slotted Bean’s diagonal pass into the box in at the far post.

Bascome should have had a second shortly after, but sliced wide with only Jahhi Shakir, the Boulevard goalkeeper, to beat. Then Burgess’s header from a London Roberts free kick was saved by Shakir.

Boulevard equalised against the run of play when Ernest Trott, the forward, tapped in Aldonte Smith’s cross from inside the six-yard box.

BAA went close to regaining the lead when Ahjahree Smith, the Boulevard centre back, headed Bascome’s shot from an angle off the line and then Bean had a soft shot easily dealt with by Shakir.

However, the striker would not be denied when he latched on to a partial clearance and threaded a low shot through a sea of legs and into the bottom left corner to put the home side back in front.

BAA kept their foot on the gas at the start of the second half and had the ball in the back of the net again. However, Errin Butterfield-Tankard was standing in an offside position when he swept in from close range.

The winger was denied again when Shakir saved his header from a Roberts free kick at the back post.

The game as a contest effectively ended when Ian Simmons scored with a shot from inside the 18-yard box that took a deflection on the way in.

Bean grabbed his second with the goal of the game with 20 minutes left, triggering a rush of three in eight minutes as Boulevard lost the plot.

The experienced striker pounced on Ahjahree Smith’s poor headed clearance and curled the ball past Shakir at the near post with the outside of his boot.

Bascome then helped himself to his second goal of the night when he slotted in Roberts’s cross from the right side before Bean completed his hat-trick with a tap-in from close range.

Boulevard’s best chance of the second half fell to Clay Darrell, whose tame header was comfortably gathered by Daniel Johnson in the BAA goal.

SCORERS

BAA

Bascome 20, 75

Bean 35, 70, 78

Simmons 53

Boulevard

Trott 29

TEAMS

BAA (4-3-3): D Johnson — Z Robinson, I Simmons, T Burgess, Q Lema — N Gibbons, L Roberts, T Tucker — D Bascome (sub: M Brangman, 83min), E Butterfield-Tankard (sub: J Lottimore, 72), K Bean (sub: M Iris, 83). Substitutes not used: A Darrell, R Murphy, J Schroder, S Thomas.

Boulevard (4-2-3-1): J Shakir — Z Stovell, Ahjahree Smith (sub: T Butterfield, 76 min), A Foggo, N Augustus — N Smith (sub: K Easton, 81), Aldonte Smith — K Smith (sub: T Walker, 57), C Darrell, D Taylor — E Trott. Substitutes not used: J Smith, Y Darrell, I Coke.

Referee: L Cann.