Paget Lions 2 North Village 5

Leaders North Village came from behind to inflict a first league defeat on Paget and further distance themselves from the chasing pack in a scrappy Premier Division affair at Southampton Oval yesterday.

Striker and national cricket captain Delray Rawlins gave the hosts the early lead before the visitors hit back with goals from forwards Jaizel Smith-DeShields and D’Andre Wainwright to take a 2-1 advantage into the break.

Village then picked up where they left off in the second half with three unanswered goals from forward Pierre Smith and defenders Jordan Outerbridge and Jalen Harvey all but ending this top-of-the-table clash as a contest.

Forward Kamali Davis pulled one back for Paget three minutes from the end of regulation while substitute player-coach Antwan Russell had a penalty saved by Village custodian Detre Bell in stoppage time.

“It was a sloppy start. I thought the level of the game was not very high early on,” said Village coach Kenny Thompson.

“We allowed ourselves to not perform at the level that we expect to be able to perform.

“The intensity was not right at the start and really for us the base of the performance is intensity.

“When the intensity is right then we build the tactical, technical qualities as the game moves along.

“So it was a sloppy start, but I thought having gone behind 1-0 that the team showed the character to come from behind and second half we controlled it a little bit better and we got what we deserved.”

Thompson is pleased to see his team, who remain unbeaten in the league, stretch their lead at the summit to six points over Paget, who fell to fourth, on the same points as Devonshire Cougars and PHC on nine.

“It’s still really early,” he added.

“We are very pleased with the start, but Daylight Saving Time just ended, so it’s nothing at this time of the year when it comes to the league.

“However, we’re happy to continue with the 100 per cent record and now we have to get ready for the Dudley Eve Trophy final on Saturday.”

Village were forced to chase the game after Rawlins nodded in captain Diaje Hart’s corner to put the home team’s noses out front in the tenth minute.

The goal seemed to jolt the visitors into life and after stretching their opponents with their slick ball movement capitalised on poor goalkeeping by Paget custodian Omari DeShields to turn the game on its head.

DeShields failed to grab Harvey’s header from Daion Swan-DeSilva’s free kick and Smith-DeShields poked the loose ball home from close range to bring the teams level in the 21st minute.

Wainwright then gave Village the lead for good seven minutes later when he headed in Tahmi Williams’s inch-perfect cross which DeShields got a hand to but only succeeded in helping the ball cross the line at the far post.

The visitors continued to dictate the tempo and pulled further away in the 59th minute when Smith fired Williams’s short pass at the top of the box into the bottom left corner.

Outerbridge made it 4-1 two minutes later when he stabbed a loose ball home from close range after DeShields failed to grasp Williams’s low cross.

Harvey then swept in Village’s fifth in the 77th minute from a goalmouth scramble after Outerbridge’s initial shot from Tre Ming’s corner rebounded off a defender.

Paget battled on and were eventually rewarded when Davis was given ample time and space to side foot Hart’s cross into the right bottom corner.

Paget were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time when substitute Aquino Grant was bundled over in the area by Village central defender Rai Sampson challenging for a loose ball after Shakir Smith’s header looped onto the bar.

Bell was equal to the task as he dived low to his left to save Russell’s spot-kick.

“We started well, but a couple of rough calls went against us and me, as the leader of the team, I allowed my head to drop, so it just filtered through the team,” Russell said.

“As a new coach, I will have to take that on my chin and just move on because I couldn’t ask for any more from my players.

“They did well, but the leader of the team is me, and I kind of let it get away from me, so what could I expect from them.”

Despite losing ground in the title race, Russell is not pressing the panic button just yet.

“No team has gone through a season without facing adversity, and I would rather get it out of the way now,” he added.

“As far as I am concerned about my team, I know what we do during the week in training and I can’t ask for more, and I am proud of my team to be honest.”

SCORERS

Paget: Rawlins 10, Davis 87

North Village: Smith-DeShields 21, Wainwright 28, Smith 59, Outerbridge 61, Harvey 77

TEAMS

Paget (4-4-2): O DeShields 6 – S Smith 7, J Carpenter 7, R DeShields 7, S Lambert 7 – P Castle 6 (sub: O Tucker, 46min 6), K Hypolite 6 (sub: K Durrant, 64 6), D Joell 6 (sub: A Russell, 64 6), D Hart 7 – K Davis 7, D Rawlins 6 (sub: A Grant, 54 7). Substitutes not used: J Tucker, M Wade, K Simons. Booked: Carpenter, Joell, Rawlins, Russell.

North Village (3-5-2): D Bell 7 – J Outerbridge 7, J Harvey 7, R Sampson 7 – T Wilson, 7 T Ming 7, D Swan-DeSilva 8 (sub: K Harrison, 88), T Williams 8, J Smith-DeShields 7 – D Wainwright 7 (sub: A Dos Santos, 88), P Smith 7 (sub: Tokia Bean, 79). Substitutes not used: Tarik Bean, L Evans. Booked: Wilson.

Referee: A Majors.