PHC Zebras 4 Dandy Town 0

Enrique Russell’s brace helped to fire PHC into the quarter-finals of the Friendship Trophy with a resounding victory over nine-man Dandy Town last night.

Russell scored a first-half penalty after Kadeem Abraham opened the scoring for PHC and finished things off in the second period before he was taken off in the 77th minute. PHC’s other goal came from central defender Nathan Furbert.

Town finished the match with nine players after Azendé Furbert and Jahzardae Samuels were sent off in the second half.

PHC applied early pressure with Russell’s ferocious strike in the second minute coming off the post before Abraham headed over the bar from a corner kick.

Town threatened rarely but Tomiko Goater hurried his shot at goal in the fifth minute, and Azir Harvey, the Town goalkeeper was called into action to block out a Russell effort and a shot from Keishon Bean

PHC continued to pile on the pressure and Abraham headed in his team’s first goal in the fourteenth minute beating Harvey to the ball.

Just after the half-hour mark, Russell was clipped in the box when he turned away from Ereico Outerbridge and the forward picked himself up to send Harvey the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Six minutes before the break Harvey had to be at his best once again, using his feet to block Russell’s shot at goal.

PHC further extended their lead in the second half when Furbert blasted into the net after Town failed to clear a corner. A mouth-watering pass from Jenico Sealey found an unmarked Russell in the box and the forward obliged with a succulent finish to round off the scoring.

Town were reduced to ten men when Furbert, who had been booked in the 36th minute, pulled down Sealey to leave the referee with no choice but to send him for an early shower.

Lack of discipline continued to haunt Town in the dying stages of the match, as Samuels was shown a straight red card a minute before the end of the game for violent conduct.

SCORERS

PHC: Abraham 14, Russell 31 pen, 68, Furbert 63

TEAMS

PHC (4-3-3): S Trott 7 – D Smith-Lightbourne 6, J Bather 6, N Furbert 7, D Usher 7 – D Dowling 7, J Iris 6 (sub: D Lodge, 77), J Sealey 6 (sub: S Trott, 77) – K Abraham 7, E Russell 8 (sub: R Hassell, 77), K Bean 7. Substitutes not used: Q Hunt, S Nisbett, M Smith, J Ebbin.

Dandy Town (4-3-3): A Harvey 5 – J Wilson-Butterfield 5 (sub: Daniels, 61 5), T Manders 5 (sub: Smith, 90), E Moor 5, A Lewis 5 – A Furbert 4, E Outerbridge 5, J Samuels 5 – T Goater 6, N Spence 5, C Robinson 5. Substitutes not used: A Simmons, D Butterfield. Booked: Furbert, Lewis. Sent off: Furbert, Samuels.

Referee: R Douglas.