Dandy Town 3 Devonshire Colts 0

Dandy Town clinched their ninth Premier Division title and first in six seasons with a convincing victory over relegation-threatened Devonshire Colts at Goose Gosling Field last night.

Enrique Swan opened the scoring with an exquisite finish before Tomiko Goater converted from the penalty spot to the earn the hosts a 2-0 cushion at the interval.

Cecoy Robinson then added a third to secure the points that clinched the league title for Town with a game to spare.

“It feels good,” Aaron Denkins, the Town coach said. “It feels good but we still have other things to accomplish.

“The team set some goals and it’s my job to help them get their goals. This is just one of the goals we wanted to accomplish this season, so we have two others we are trying to get.”

Town are bidding to win the “Triple Crown” (league, Friendship Trophy and FA Cup) in honour of late team-member Jahtino Richardson-Martin, who died in a road traffic accident last November.

“This is definitely for Jahtino,” Denkins added. “The goal for him is to try and win it all, so that mission is not done yet. We still have to stay focus and continue doing what we need to do.”

Town were presented with an opportunity to clinch the title after nearest rivals PHC Zebras were held to a draw by North Village on Sunday, and the Hornets made certain to grasped the chance with both hands.

“With PHC drawing, at the end of the day we still had to do a job,” Denkins noted. “We still had to be professional and approach the game how we have all season in an organised manner. That is what has got us through this season; being consistent.”

As for his team’s performance on the night, Denkins said: “Credit to Colts, they came out here wanting to fight. They are playing for something also, so credit to them.

“They did bring the game and made parts of the game difficult for us, which made us do a few things differently.”

Eusebio Blankendal, the Town captain, attributed his team’s league success to their collective work.

“It’s good and this is what we have been looking for all season,” he said. “We started on top and finished on top, and that’s all I asked of my team-mates.

“It was a team effort and I felt like we all played a part. Everybody played a part this season.”

With the title there for the taking, Blankendal said he and his team-mates were more than up for the task.

“We always knew what was at stake,” he added. “But we know this is just like any other game and we came in just like it was any other game.

“We went 7-0 at the beginning of the season and then lost one game. And now we are on a stretch again at 8-0, so I feel like right now it’s just about building on for our next games to come.”

Town went straight for the jugular from the kick-off and took the lead through Swan’s superb strike. The forward controlled a long ball from midfield with his back to goal, and drilled a low shot on the turn into the bottom left corner of the net.

Striker Robinson went close to adding a second shortly afterwards but saw his effort cleared off the line by Colts captain Calon Minors, while Swan curled defender Jomei Bean-Lindo’s pass just wide of the far post.

The inevitable second goal finally arrived when Town midfielder Kamali Davis was fouled in the box.

Goater made no mistake from 12-yards, sending Colts goalkeeper Jahniko Francis the wrong way to put his team further ahead virtually on the half-time whistle.

Robinson then killed the game off early in the second half when his shot from the edge of the box went in off the upright.

Colts’ best chance of the night fell to forward Brandon O’Connor whose angled drive was saved by Town goalkeeper Jaiden Manders, who had an otherwise quiet night between the posts.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Swan 13, Goater 44 (pen), Robinson 50

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-1-4-1): J Manders 8 – J Bean-Lindo 7, T Webb 7, T Manders 7 (sub: M Issac 70min 7), E Blankendal 7 – A Furbert 7 – E Swan 8 (sub: J Samuels 70 7), N Spence 7 (sub: M Parsons 70 7), K Davis 8 (sub: S Darrell 85), T Goater 8 – C Robinson 7 (sub: M Mello-Cann 79). Substitutes not used: J Roser, J Johnson. Booked: Blankendal, Swan.

Devonshire Colts (4-1-4-1): J Francis 7 – F Lema 7, C Minors 7, M Williams 6, E Weldon 7 ‒ Z Burgess 7 ‒ R Urquhart 6 (sub: J Flemming 81), T Smith 7 (sub: K Burch 67 6), C Henry 6, B O'Connor 7 (sub: T Axelsen 81) – S Swan 7. Substitutes not used: J Tucker, J Paynter, J Salaam, L Symonds. Booked: Henry, Swan, K Burch.

Referee: A Francis.