Dandy Town 0 Devonshire Cougars 4

Devonshire Cougars stunned Premier League champions Dandy Town in the Charity Cup by sending them crashing to a big defeat at Goose Gosling Field on Wednesday night.

In a match that was called off on Sunday because of inclement weather, Cougars gave last season’s top team an early shock under new head coach Jay Bean.

Town were virtually unstoppable last season, but last season’s Friendship Trophy winners came out fired up in their first outing of the new campaign and gained confidence when midfielder Demetre Daniels fired them into the lead after just two minutes as he pounced on a bad pass to drive his shot from the edge of the box past Jaiden Manders in the Town goal.

Veteran Domico Coddington used his experience to help put the match out of Town’s reach early in the second half, setting up the second goal for Zari Simmons before scoring two more himself as Town were rocked by three goals in the space of 20 minutes.

The convincing win was pleasing for coach Kwame Steede, a former player and coach at Dandy Town.

“It’s only the first game but I think our work showed tonight, we put a lot of work in,” Steede said. “Hats off to the boys.

“Hats off to Town, too, they played well but we were just clinical around the net. They are the league champions so it’s always good to judge yourself off the best.”

Steede singled out Coddington's performance, which inspired the rest of his team and helped to give the Town defence a difficult night.

“I’ll tell you this, Domico is knocking on Kyle Lightbourne’s door at 38,” Steede said, dropping a hint to the national coach.

Despite the thumping win, Steede is careful not to get carried away with the result at the start of a long season. “My goal is to play each game as it comes,” he said.

“My players were hungry and they came out here to perform. They showed their worth, left it all on the field and deserve the victory.”

Coddington, who was dangerous throughout could have had more goals. He went close in the opening minutes of the first half when his low shot went wide of the far post and shot over the bar from 30 yards as both teams continued to play at a fast pace.

Things got even better for Cougars early in the second half after Elisha Darrell had a shot from an angle on the left side of the box saved by Manders at the near post.

A move down the same left side helped bring Cougars their second goal in the 52nd minute when Coddington’s cross found Zari Simmons to side-foot home from inside the six-yard box.

Coddington then wasted another good chance when he robbed Seion Darrell halfway in the Town half and ran towards the edge of the box before blasting his shot well over the bar.

But the best was still yet to come from the forward who made amends three minutes later when he was clipped inside the box by Terrance Webb and stepped up to take the penalty himself, placing his kick low to the goalkeeper’s left.

Coddington completed the scoring in the 72nd minute, placing his header inside the near post after a short cross into the centre of the goal caught the Town defence flat-footed.

Town tried desperately for a consolation goal with their best chance falling to defender Terrence Webb, who sent left-footed shot across a crowded penalty box but past the far post late.

Scorers

Devonshire Cougars: Daniels 2; Simmons 52; Coddington 65, 72.

Teams

Dandy Town (4-3-3): J Manders 6 – J Bean-Lindo 6, T Webb 6, S Darrell 6, K Sharrieff-Hayward 6 (sub: J Richardson-Martin 70 6) – A Furbert 6, J Chapman 6 (sub: M Parsons 67 6), J Johnson 6 (sub: O Lowe 53 6) – A Simmons 6, T Goater 6, N Spence 6. Substitutes not used: T Manders, D Johnson, H Butterfield, K Lathan. Booked: Webb, Darrell.

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): K Darrell 6 – T Tucker 6 (sub: J Fox 67 6), Z White 7, C Caisey 7, J Thomas 6 – J Wade 6 (sub: K Minors 67 6), Z Simmons 6 (sub: K Evans 76), D Daniels 7 – Domico Coddington 8, D Williams 6 (sub: N Simmons 76), E Darrell 6 (sub: C Caisey 53 6). Booked: Wade.

Referee: A Majors