Dandy Town 3 PHC 0

Dandy Town thrust themselves into contention for the Premier Division title with a convincing win over champions PHC at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

Three unanswered goals from David Jones Jr, captain Tomiko Goater and Nathan Ntula gave stand-in Town coach Jarreau Hayward a reason to smile at the end of the game as his side moved four points behind league leaders North Village with a game in hand.

“This was another good step for us,” Hayward said.

“We are still evolving and still growing. The coaches are still learning the players and vice versa. We haven’t played to our full potential as yet, but this was definitely a step in the right direction.”

Town started the game on the front foot with Jones having a golden opportunity to open the scoring early, but he scuffed his shot with just PHC goalkeeper Quinaceo Hunt to beat.

Early momentum stayed in Town’s favour as Ntalu flicked a pass into the path of Goater, whose low drive brought a diving save by Hunt as he pushed the ball around the post. Edry Moore was then unfortunate not to score from the resulting corner when his glancing header was blocked on the goalline.

Those missed chances allowed PHC to build in confidence. However, Town’s consistent pressure paid off on the half-hour mark when Jahkari Furbert laid a simple pass off to Jones, who kept his composure to beat a defender before side-footing beyond the reach of Hunt.

PHC should have equalised just before the interval when Jahiem Iris found Haile Eve with a defence-splitting pass but he would only slice wide under pressure from advancing Town goalkeeper Toran Place.

Town carried the same intensity into the second half and thought they had doubled their lead but Furbert’s curling free kick from 25 yards just missed the top corner of the net.

Minutes later, Goater doubled Town’s lead when he slotted home from the penalty spot, sending Hunt the wrong way after Diondre Dowling had fouled Jones inside the box.

PHC’s best chance of the half came when a powerful downward header by Eusebio King-Mills brought off a spectacular diving save on the goalline from Place, who injured himself in the process, with PHC appeals for a goal failing to influence referee Amaury Majors.

PHC had no answers to Town’s quick transitions through their midfield and that led to the third goal in the 66th minute.

After dispossessing PHC deep in their own territory, the ball was crossed into the centre, where an unmarked Ntula found the roof off the net from two yards out to close out the scoring and dominant performance.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Jones 30, Goater 59 pen, Ntula 66

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): T Place 6 — E Outerbridge 6 (sub: M Issac, 82min), E Moore 6, E Blankendal 6, T Webb 6 — J Samuels 6 (sub: A Lewis, 82), N Spence 6 — T Goater 7, N Ntalu 7 (sub: A Simmons, 69 5), J Furbert 7 (sub: O Wilson, 82) —- D Jones 7 (sub: T Smith, 88). Booked: Blankendal, Moore.

PHC (4-2-3-1): Q Hunt 6 — D Smith-Lightbourne 5, D Dowling 5, E King-Mills 6, D Usher 5 — K Abraham 5, J Ebbin 5 (sub: T Bean, 84) — J Iris 5 (sub: D Smith-Davis, 46 5). H Eve 6 (sub: Y Burgess, 84), T Showers 5 (sub: S Trott, 67 5) — A Wade 5 (sub: D Wainwright, 67 6).

Referee: A Majors