Devonshire Cougars 5 X-Roads 1

Devonshire Cougars continued their scintillating start to the new Premier Division season with an emphatic victory at Devonshire Rec last night.

Building on their 6-0 opening-day win over Somerset Trojans on Sunday, Cougars sent out a further ominous warning to their rivals with another dominant display.

Two goals inside the first ten minutes from Elisha Darrell and Demetre Daniels set the tone, with further second-half strikes from Domico Coddington and substitutes Lejuan Simmons and Jesse Seymour wrapping up the points.

Donovan Thompson was rewarded for his perseverance with a goal to reduce the deficit at 3-0 but it was to prove nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

Despite the emphatic victory, Cougars head coach Kwame Steede was left far from content with certain aspects of his side’s performance.

“I’m a little frustrated with the discipline at certain points throughout the match,” he said. “The game got too easy and the guys got a little too carried away.

“It’s good to get another win but it’s important to me how we win and tonight we should have been a lot more clinical with the chances we created.

“There’s no way we should be scrapping for the ball like we were at times and giving the other team some of the opportunities that we did.

“I’m left a bit frustrated because we completely dominated the game but we thought the game had been won and lost concentration in too many periods of the match.”

Cougars came flying out of the blocks and broke the deadlock after just five minutes when a flowing move from right to left eventually saw the ball fall at the feet of Elisha Darrell who fired a low-drilled strike past Q’Shai Darrell.

Elisha Darrell missed a glaring chance to double his tally a minute later, with Coddington narrowly failing to connect with Che’Kai Caisey’s drilled ball across the face of the goal in the eighth minute.

However, the hosts added a second in spectacular style just two minutes later. Receiving the ball from Caisey on the edge of the area, Daniels shifted the ball on to his left foot before brilliantly curling an effort beyond the reach of Q’Shai Darrell and into the bottom left corner.

X-Roads finally began to enjoy a little possession with Thomspon firing into the arms of Keitaro Darrell in the fourteenth minute, while Amir Wilson also headed narrowly over after rising highest to meet a corner two minutes later.

At the other end, Elisha Darrell continued to spurn chances, firing over from inside the area and failing to connect with a driven ball across the goalmouth as the hosts only took a two-goal lead into the interval.

Cougars started the second half with the same intensity as the first but chances continued to come and go with Elisha Darrell again culpable of profligacy in front of goal.

The striker was denied three minutes after the restart and missed another golden opportunity moments later, somehow firing wide when it seemed certain he would score.

But much to Steede’s relief, his side added a third in the 50th minute when Caisey, surrounded by defenders, somehow dug a cross out to leave Coddington with a simple tap-in.

Against the run of the play, X-Roads were handed a lifeline in the 62nd minute when Thompson chased a hopeful ball over the top before brilliantly lobbing the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Any hope of fightback was quickly extinguished when Cougars responded just three minutes later as Lejuan Simmons swept home with a composed finish after being picked out by Coddington.

Coddington again turned provider ten minutes later feeding Seymour into the area who swept the ball under the onrushing goalkeeper.

In the closing stages, the hosts squandered one final golden opportunity as Zari Simmons somehow managed to fail to convert Seymour’s ball across the face of the goal from just three yards out.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: E Darrell 5, Daniels 10, Coddington 50, L Simmons 65, Seymour 75

X-Roads: Thompson 62

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-5-1): K Darrell 6 – Z White 6 (sub: J Brimmer 44min 6), D Williams 7, J Thomas 7, T Tucker 7 – Chris Caisey 8, Che’Kai Caisey 8 (sub J Seymour 60 7), D Coddington 8, D Daniels 8, Z Simmons 7 – E Darrell 6 (sub: L Simmons 60 7). Substitutes not used: J Furbert-Wade, C Albouy, K Minors, N Simmons

X-Roads (4-5-1): Q Darrell 6 – J Furbert 5, R Simmons 5, T Daniels 5, D Simons 5 (sub: D Woolridge, 58 5) – D Baker 6, A Daniels 6, J Lottimore 6, A Wilson 5 (sub: S Dill, 61 6), J Morgan 6 – D Thompson 7. Substitutes not used: Z McCarter, J Smalls, T Lowe, T Perinchief Booked: Dill.

Referee: A Francis