Paget 4 X-Roads 0

Paget continued their flawless form in the Premier Division with an emphatic 4-0 victory over X-Roads at Southampton Oval.

Kamali Davis’s first-half opener from the spot was added to by Kushae Hypolite, with second-half goals from Diaje Hart and Delray Rawlins sealed all three points and leave Paget top of the table.

X-Roads, meanwhile, remain in search of their first win of the season.

“I’m not concerned with being on top of the table in October,” said Paget coach Antwan Russell. “What matters is where we are at the end of the season. You don’t get a trophy for winning three games.

“To be honest, how we’ve played is what’s expected of us. It may be a shock to the rest of the Island, but I see the work that’s being put in, so this is the fruits of their labour.”

After a positive start to the proceedings, Paget showed their superior class in attack, with Davis snaking his way into penalty area, where a misplaced tackle by left back Orlyn Wiliams resulted in referee Tracy Adams awarding a penalty.

Davis picked himself off the deck and planted his spot-kick down the centre of goal, with goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell diving left.

Two minutes later Hypolite doubled the lead. Picking up possession on the left, Hart beat two defenders before slipping the ball to an unmarked Hypolite, who was left with the simple task of side-footing home.

The introduction of Rawlins in the 68th minute as a striker only added to the drama and intensity of the proceedings, with the burly forward able to showcase his skills and forceful presence that impacted both second-half goals.

Rawlins assisted on Paget’s third in the 78th minute, as he headed on a speculative chip forward by Davis to Hart, who had ghosted behind the defence. Hart’s light touch hit the goalkeeper, rebounded against the onrushing Hart, before bounding over the goalline.

Hart returned the favour in the 87th minute, picking out Rawlins, who took a touch, before unleashing a searing volley that shook the rafters.

The end could not come fast enough for X-Roads, as they lost all manner of composure in the final moments, with tempers flaring.

Coach Ralph Bean spoke to his youthful squad being exposed for their inexperience by a well drilled Lions outfit.

“I think we showed lot of naivety in the way that we conceded the first two goals and that, sort of, set the standard,” said Bean, whose squad severely lacked a solid attacking option in the absence of last year’s top goalscorer, Donovan Thompson, who was off the island. “We were never able to recover from those early goals.

“We’re still a work in progress and, from an experience standpoint, you have to know how to recover from mistakes, which will happen.

“Donovan is off the island and you can’t escape the fact that the team’s leading goalscorer from last year is not in the team.”

With former leaders North Village idle over the weekend, Paget now sit alone in first place with nine points from three matches, while X-Roads have a solitary draw a from the same amount of outings.

SCORERS

Paget Lions: Davis 21, Hypolite 23, Hart 78, Rawlins 87

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): T Hall 6 – S Smith 7, R DeShields 6, S Lambert 6, P Castle 6 (sub: K Durrant 68min 6) – J Carpenter 6, D Joell 6, – A Grant 6 (sub: D Rawlins 68 7), D Hart 8 (sub: J Tucker 90), K Hypolite 7 (sub: E Calder 85)– Davis 7 (sub: M Wade 90). Substitutes not used: O DeShields, K Simons. Booked: Davis, Smith, Rawlins.

X-Roads (4-4-2): Q Darrell 5 – A Cajee 5 (sub: A Gill 79), O Williams 4 (sub: A Mathews 27 5), T Whited 5 (sub: N Richardson 79) 5, T Daniels 5 – D Teleman 5, C Araujo 5, R Beek 5 (sub: A Johnston 55 5), L Hewey-Darrell 5 (sub: K Wilson 55 5), – A Spencer 6, J Lottimore 5. Substitutes not used: J Dill, T Lowe. Booked: Whited, Teleman Daniels, C Araujo.

Referee: T Adams.