PHC 3 X-Roads 1

Enrique Russell was on target twice for PHC on Saturday to take the Premier Division title race with North Village to the last day.

Russell opened the scoring in the third minute with a free kick and popped up with a header for his second goal in the 57th minute. Substitute Shavon Nisbett scored ten minutes before half time, while Donavan Thompson, the X-Roads captain, weighed in with a 14th minute goal in his team’s last match in the Premier Division.

The win left the Zebras still trailing North Village by a point before the two top teams clash at the Flora Duffy Stadium on Tuesday (8pm) to decide the title.

“It’s great for us and it’s another step closer to what we want to achieve,’’ Russell said.

“One game left and there is all to play for in that last game. I'm not where I want to be in terms of goals scored this season, but a little better.”

Roderick Lewis, the PHC assistant coach who was in charge of the team after Quincy Hunt was sent off in the last match was pleased with the outcome but blamed inactivity for his side’s sluggish approach to the match.

“We got the result and that’s what we were looking for at the end of the day,’’ Lewis said.

“We knew it was going to be a little bit scrappy, so we just told our guys to build their rhythm into the game.

“We came into the game trying to keep it as simple as possible because we had not played football in three weeks.”

Needing a positive result to keep their title defence alive, PHC made the best possible start when T’syi Showers was brought down on the edge of the box. Russell stepped up to tuck the ball beyond the reach of Q'Shai Darrell to give the home side the lead.

Already relegated before the encounter, X-Roads did not give just surrender. Thompson put in the hard work and pounced when the PHC defence failed to clear the ball inside the box.

PHC were forced into an early substitution with Jenico Sealey replaced by Nisbett in the 20th minute. Sealey walked off the field holding his left side, suggesting an issue with his ribs and could be out of Tuesday’s crucial clash with Village.

Lewis stated that Sealey was sent to hospital for a check-up to ascertain the extent of his injury, with the coach ready for any eventuality.

“We’re not sure about Jenico and I believe they took him to the hospital just to make sure,’’ Lewis told The Royal Gazette.

“Maybe a bruised rib, hopefully it’s not and we can use him in Tuesday night’s game. If not, we've got plenty of guys to come in and do the job.”

Nisbett scored 15 minutes after being introduced and had the easiest of tasks to guide the ball over the line after he rounded Darrell, who had come off his line.

Before that goal, Showers had seen his effort come off the crossbar, with Darrell a beaten man.

In a second half in which both teams did not create many goalscoring opportunities, a lovely exchange of passes with Kadeem Abraham allowed Russell to complete his brace .

SCORERS

PHC: Russell 3, 57, Nisbett 35

X-Roads: Thompson 14

TEAMS

PHC (4-3-3): Q Hunt 6 – M Smith 6, D Dowling 7, J Bather 6 (sub: R Simmons, 81min), D Smith-Lightbourne 6 – D Lodge 6, K Abraham 7, J Iris 6 (sub: K Bean: 67, 6) – J Sealey 5 (sub: S Nisbett, 20 6), T Showers 6 (T Showers 67, 6), E Russell 8. Substitutes notused: W Trott, J Douglas, D Richardson.

X-Roads (4-4-2): Q Darrell 5 – D Teleman 5, S Somer 6, A Cajee 6, A Matthews 6 – T Lowe 6, T Whited 5, C Whited 6, K Richardson – D Woolridge (sub: T Lowe 46, 5), D Thompson 7. Booked: T Whited, Teleman.

Referee: D Jackson