Dandy Town 2 Hamilton Parish 1

Substitute Khari Sharrieff-Hayward was the talk of the Town after he scored two second-half goals to lead the Hornets to victory in the Premier Division at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

Sharieff-Hayward’s winner came with virtually the last kick of the game and in the sixteenth minute of added time after play was delayed in the late stages when an ambulance was called for Parish player Zuhri Burgess, who sustained a possible rib injury after colliding with a Town defender when shooting for goal.

The match-winner was pleased to be given a chance to make an impact.

“My coach put me on and told me to score a goal,” said Sharieff-Hayward, a soft-spoken goalscorer.

“He knows I like to score goals and trusted me to do the job.”

On a cold and windy night, Parish dominated the first half with their hard running and high press and they took a deserved lead after winning possession from a poor Town free kick inside their own half with Aaron Nelson hitting a rocket from 25 yards past Town goalkeeper Azir Harvey.

Justin Bell should have doubled the lead just before interval when he was put through but he hit a low drive which Harvey did well to push around the post.

Town made a tactical change at the start of the second half with captain Angelo Simmons moved closer to lone striker Jahzardae Samuels and that produced a shift in momentum.

It almost paid immediate dividends as Parish goalkeeper Nigel Burgess was called into action to dive full length to his left to push the captain’s firm drive to safety after he found space to get his shot off.

This threat was compounded further by the introduction of Sharrieff-Hayward in the 58th minute and he made an immediate impact.

Nizigh Spence floated a free kick into the area for Jomei Bean-Lindo to shoot but his effort was blocked only for Sharrieff-Hayward to be quickest to the rebound to blast into the back of the net with nearly his first touch.

The left-footed Sharrieff-Hayward’s speed and skill was a menace to Parish and he gave full back Rory McKittrick a tough time down Parish’s right flank with the defender bundling him over on one of his darting runs into the box and referee Amaury Majors awarding a penalty.

Burgess made a brilliant save as he guessed the right way to block Samuels’s firm drive from the resulting kick to keep the scores level.

Samario Valasse-Paul thought he had won the game for Parish in stoppage time when he unleashed a thunderous shot only for it to hit the upright square on the face and bounce back into play with Harvey frozen.

With the last kick of the game, Bean-Lindo sent a free kick to the back post, where Spence laid off a perfect pass for the onrushing Sharrieff-Hayward to blast home from six yards to seal the victory for Town.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Sharrieff-Hayward 60, 90+16

Hamilton Parish: Nelson 23

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): A Harvey 6— A Furbert 6, T Webb 6, M Issac 5, D Cook 5 — J Bean-Lindo 6, N Spence 6 — E Outerbridge 5, A Martin 5 (sub: K Sharrieff-Hayward, 58min 8), A Simmons 6 (sub: K Brangman, 85) — J Samuels 7 (sub: G Liburd, 90) Substitutes not used: S Darrell, E Blankendal.

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): N Burgess 7 — K Wade 5 (sub: R McKittrick, 46 5), M Turner 6, M Hill 6, J Bean 5 — S Valasse-Paul 6, Z Burgess 6 (sub: P Burgess, 90) —K Knights 6, A Nelson 6, A Foy 6 (sub: M Walker, 59 5) — J Bell 7. Substitutes not used: C Smith, J Stowe. Booked: Nelson.

Referee: A Majors