Dandy Town 2 Boulevard 3

Boulevard picked up a vital win against Dandy Town at St John’s Field yesterday.

The win and points are the first of the campaign for Boulevard, and lifts them off the foot of the table as they climb above Somerset Trojans who have only managed just a point so far.

Malcom Hewey, the Boulevard coach, was happy with the performance and the result.

“Its been a tough road for us so far, but you can see how elated the fans and players are with the victory. Although we lost our previous match, I felt we played well and I think that progress carried over into this week”

All five goals came in the first half, which meant that Boulevard would have to protect their lead for the entire second period.

“During the break, we talked about staying compact and moving forward as a unit, and I think the team executed that well, which is why we were able to maintain the result,” Hewey added.

It was only the seventh minute when Aldonte Smith got on the end of a diagonal ball from Takeyhi Walker, and opened the scoring with a well struck volley from the edge of the box.

Town had a positive response to the early deficit and would carve out the next few chances of the game.

After missing the target in good areas, on a few occasions, they drew level in the 25th minute, when Ziare Burchall’s half volley from 12 yards found the bottom corner after Boulevard failed to clear their lines.

Moments later, Clay Darrell almost restored his team’s lead but could only watch as goalkeeper Troy Hall Jr tipped his curling effort from a tight angle onto the crossbar.

However, the forward would not be denied in the 32nd minute, when he beat his defender to a ball over the top and lobbed the goalkeeper.

Two minutes later the home team would, once again, answer back. Captain Angelo Simmons was given too much time and space as he settled an overhit cross and beat Hall with a finely struck effort.

Boulevard would have the final say though, taking the lead for a third time in the 38th minute. Khiry Easton received a reverse pass from Walker just inside the box, slipped past his defender with a clever drag, and calmly slotted the ball pass the goalkeeper.

Town controlled the majority of the possession in the second half and although patient in their build-up, never really showed the cutting edge needed to break down Boulevard who were resolute in the defence of their lead.

SCORERS

Dandy Town

Burchall 25, Simmons 34

Boulevard

Smith 7, Darrell 32, Easton 37

TEAMS

Dandy Town: (4-3-3): T Hall — E Blankendal, K Steede, T Manders, N Spence (sub: T Gibbons 85min) — L Emery, J Richardson-Martin, Z Burchall (sub: N Eversley 74), G Liburd (sub J Eve 49) — J Swan, A Simmons. Substitutes not used: D Joell.

Boulevard(4-3-3): R Burchall — E Trott, J Williams, A Famous, N Augustus (sub: Y Darrell 89) — T Butterfield, N Smith, T Walker, A Smith (sub: T Stovell 77) — C Darrell, K Easton (sub: D Taylor, 60). Substitutes not used: Z Stovell, S Fostin. Booked: Smith.

Referee: M Wyer.