Devonshire Cougars 1 North Village 6

Jonté Smith led the way with four goals and an assist as North Village Rams dominated cross-town rivals Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Rec on Saturday night.

The incredible display showcased complete control in every aspect of the match to bring smiles to a happy stand-in Village coach Calvin Dill, who continued on the touchline in the absence of Kenny Thompson.

“We have been playing free football”, Dill said. “The guys are playing for each other, enjoying their game and executing what we have done in training. I am totally pleased with their performance.”

Village set the tone early, scoring their first goal in the second minute when Smith scored from the penalty spot after Cougars captain Zeiko White committed a foul in the penalty area.

From there, Cougars never settled and would be three goals behind at half-time after Smith struck again before a defensive error allowed a long ball forward to bounce for Amir Dill to run behind the defence and slot into an empty net beyond advancing Cougars goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell.

Despite the deficit, Cougars never gave up with Elisha Darrell and Domico Coddington trying to create goalscoring opportunities for the home side. Darrell was unfortunate on two occasions, heading into the arms of Village goalkeeper Detre Bell from a Jecoa Thomas cross before getting off a weak shot that slipped through the legs of Bell but was cleared off the goalline by a recovering defender.

Cougars started the second half with renewed energy and mounted three attacks in the first ten minutes with the most promising bringing Bell into action with a full-length, acrobatic diving save to his right to deny Coddington’s firm drive .

Dill then created Village’s fourth goal when he laid a ball inside, which drew the Cougars’ goalkeeper to the near post, only for Smith to control and pick his spot in the opposite corner to complete his hat-trick.

Coddington continued to be a menace to the Village defence with his slick attacking prowess, which led to their consolation goal. After dribbling inside the box, the dangerman was sandwiched by two defensive players giving referee Anthony Francis his easiest call of the night. Substitute Kamali Davis sent Bell the wrong way to put Cougars on the scoreboard.

Cougars’ defence gave away the fifth goal when they froze on seeing the assistant’s flag raised, only for referee Francis to allow play to continue. That gave Smith the easy task of slotting into the net to score his fourth goal of the evening.

With time ticking down, Jai Bean continued his fine run of goalscoring, receiving Smith’s pinpoint pass and producing a clinical finish into the roof of the net to close out an outstanding team performance.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: Davis 63 pen

North Village: Smith 2 pen, 17, 60, 74, Dill 31, Bean 83

Teams

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): Q Darrell 5 — Zeko White 5 (sub: D Simmons, 61min 5), Zeiko White 5, L Millett 5, J Thomas 6 — M Wilson 5, J Brimmer 5 — S Burrows 5 (sub: D Daniels, 60 5), J Fox 5 (sub: C Caisey, 55 6), E Darrell 7 (sub: K Davis, 55 6) — D Coddington 7. Substitutes not used: K Mills-Wilson, L Thomas. Booked: Daniels, Brimmer.

North Village (4-2-3-1): D Bell 7 — L Evans 5 (sub: K Knights, 9 5), R Sampson 6, J Basden 6, K Harrison 5 — S Spence 6 (sub: J Hayward, 75), T Ming 6 (sub: T Manders, 60 5) — J Bean 7, J Smith 9, L Steede 6, (J Champan, 60 5) — A Dill 7.

Referee: A Francis