Robin Hood 7 Devonshire Cougars 0

Chae Brangman continued his blistering start to the season after firing a hat-trick against former club Devonshire Cougars to guide champions Robin Hood to an emphatic 7-0 victory in the second match of a Dudley Eve Trophy double header at Bernard Park yesterday.

The Hood striker netted twice in the first half before completing his second hat-trick in top-flight football after the interval.

He has now scored four goals in his first two outings since joining the club during the last transfer period.

“Four goals in two appearances is not bad at all,” Brangman said. “It’s a good way to start off the season.”

John Barry Nusum, the Hood coach, is delighted to see the big striker hit the ground running at the club.

“When he came here we told him that’s what we are looking for from here and so far he has delivered,” Nusum said.

Shakir Smith, Lejuan Simmons and substitute Tomiko Goater, who converted a penalty, accounted for the remaining goals in Hood’s dominant display.

“I thought it was a good performance,” Nusum added.

“The first 25 minutes we were kind of getting a feel of the game and actually shifted our midfield to try something new. We had a couple of new boys in there and just couldn’t find no rhythm in the first half.

“But towards the end of the first half we started to get a little rhythm together and got that first goal, which I think settled us a little bit, and then we moved on from there.”

Brangman opened the scoring when he rifled home Simmons’s pass from the edge of the box.

Hood were a constant threat going forward but were unable to make the most of their chances in the final third.

However, their persistence paid off when Brangman headed in from Smith’s corner and then laid on a pass that Justin Corday calmly slotted home to mark his club debut with a goal.

A youthful Cougars enjoyed plenty of possession and moved the ball around pitch nicely.

But it is goals that win matches and there was certainly plenty more of them to come from Hood in the second half as their superior fitness and lethal finishing took a devastating toll on Cougars.

Brangman completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark when he headed in a cross from Simmons, playing his first match since going off with cramp in Bermuda’s 4-1 home defeat against Panama in the Concacaf Nations League at the National Stadium on September 5.

The lively winger finally got his name onto the scoresheet after following up on his own rebound in the box and smashing the ball into the net before the defence could react.

By now the game had long ended as a contest. But Hood were not done just yet as substitute Goater won his a team penalty which he duly dispatched to make it 6-0.

Smith, who had earlier struck the woodwork and squandered gilt-edged chances, then belted in Casey Castle’s pass without breaking stride to punctuate Hood’s emphatic victory.

SCORERS

Robin Hood: Brangman 14, 44, 54; Corday 45; Simmons 65; Goater 80; Smith 88

TEAMS

Robin Hood (4-3-3): D Eve — C Casey, J Bather, L Evans, J Pereira — P Parsons, J Corday (sub: A Russell, 46), L Steede (sub: T Goater, 46) — Simmons, S Smith, C Brangman (sub: T Tyrell, 62) Substitutes not used: A Nelson, E Outerbridge, C Ryan. Booked: Brangman.

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): R Trott — L Millett, Andrew Samuels, Zeko White, Z White — D Bascome, C Caisey, S Pearman (sub: E Butterfield, 66) — T Tucker, J Guerrero (sub: Jahzardae Samuels, 54), S Swan (sub: E Darrell, 72). Substitutes not used: A Daniels, D Williams, C Maybury, J Wade, N Carmichael. Booked: Zeko White, Caisey.

Referee: A Augustus