Dev Colts 0 PHC 1

PHC cut Dandy Town’s lead at the top of the Premier Division to four points last night at the National Sports Centre’s north field, as captain, Marco Warren’s well-placed free kick just before half time, earned them the three points.

PHC dominated play and would have won by a bigger margin had it not been for the outstanding performance of Jahniko Francis in the Colts’ goal.

Both teams enjoyed playing on the smooth surface, which allowed for a fast-flowing game, as Colts contributed to an exciting first half, though PHC did create more chances.

A couple of good opportunities were wasted by PHC in the space of a few seconds on the half-hour mark, when Antwan Russell back-heeled inside the box to send Tre Ming free before his cross went untouched across the six-yard box.

Before the ball was cleared, Russell chipped the ball perfectly to the back post, where Ming glanced a header wide of the upright from a good position.

Daniel Ball, the Colts midfielder, was lucky on a couple of occasions not to receive a second yellow card for mistimed tackles on Warren, after being beaten for pace by the PHC captain. Ball had been booked just minutes earlier for a foul, before referee Tashun Simons gave him a talking to on the second occasion.

Ball’s third foul resulted in the free kick that led to the game’s only goal, two minutes before the break. Warren was fouled on the edge of the box, as PHC players called for a red card.

However, Warren made the most of the free kick from inside the ‘D’, curling the low effort past the wall, away from the goalkeeper and into the far bottom corner.

Francis was at his best in the second half as he denied PHC with some important saves. Soon after the restart, Jenico Sealey saw his shot from the edge of the box blocked, before he followed up to unleash another left-footed strike that the Colts goalkeeper did well to tip over the bar.

Then a shot from Ming brought off another good save as he turned the effort around the post.

PHC were now in full flow, as substitute Keishon Bean, with his first touch, forced another good save from the goalkeeper at the near post, after he got to the edge of the six-yard box.

At the other end, defender Mikey Lambe made a timely challenge on Dezion Davis, as he got set to shoot.

PHC were further frustrated when Francis blocked a shot from Russell at the near post and from the resulting corner, defender Na’eem Griffith’s curling shot, just missed the far post.

Ming then tried a chip shot from 35 yards out, after spotting Francis off his line, only to see the effort drop inches over the crossbar. Minutes later he put a shot against the crossbar, as PHC kept pressing for a second goal that never came.

SCORER:

PHC: Warren 43

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (3-4-3): J Francis 7 ‒ M Williams 5, C Minors 5, F Lema 5 ‒ D Ball 6, Z Burgess 6, J Salaam 5 (sub: K Bailey 46, 6), S Swan 5 ‒ B Robinson 6 (sub: K Cann 79), D Davis 6 (sub: C Trott 86), J Paynter 5 (sub: T Smith 49, 6). Booked: Ball, T Smith. Substitutes not used: D Dillas, D Lambe, J Saunders, A Hart.

PHC (4-3-3): C Fubler 6 ‒ S Trott 6, N Griffith 6, M Lambe 6, D Smith-Lightbourne 6 ‒ T Ming 7, K Abraham 6, M Warren 7 ‒ A Russell 6, E Russell 6, J Sealey 6 (sub: K Bean 60, 6). Booked: Abraham. Substitutes not used: J Eve, D Lodge, K Hypolite, R DeShields, M Joell, C Castle.

Referee: T Simons