Devonshire Colts 1 Devonshire Cougars 2

After losing their second-round match to Devonshire Colts in October, Devonshire Cougars evened the score with a hard-fought, come-from-behind 2-1 win over their rivals at Police Field yesterday.

An unfortunate own goal at the death from Colts substitute Ayton Van Duyne gave Cougars the crucial three points, much to the delight of coach and club president Kwame Steede.

“Right now, we are not in the best of places in the league, so I will take the three points,” said Steede.

“Today was a big step to survival and we will just take one game at a time from here on in.”

The match started at a fast pace with Cougars threatening in the first minute. Chae Brangman capitalised on a loose back pass to take the ball to the touchline and crossed for Elisha Darrell to control, but he blasted over the top from just inside the box.

However, Colts went one better with a similar opportunity in the sixteenth minute when Shane Robinson reacted first to a loose pass, kept his composure and planted his shot in the bottom right corner of Cougars goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell’s net to open the scoring.

Cougars equalised just after the half-hour mark when a short corner was played to Manoj Paynter, whose perfect cross found an unmarked Llineiko Millett, who placed a powerful header beyond Colts goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert.

Each team had the opportunity to score just before the half, with Colts captain Teniko Eve heading just over the top and Cougars’ Darrell forcing Mills-Furbert into a full-length diving save to push his effort away from danger.

Within minutes of the restart, Chemari Henry had a golden opportunity to put Colts ahead, but he chose to take an extra touch as he zoned in on goal, which allowed the Cougars defence to retreat and take the ball off his foot.

Minutes later, Henry was denied again when he ran on to a chipped pass over the top, only for the alert Cougars keeper to block his attempted lob.

At the other end, Mills-Furbert kept his team in the game when he made a point-blank save from Millett following a free kick, then claimed a header from the resulting corner as Cougars searched for the winner.

With time running out, Jori Dublin should have put Colts ahead, but he blazed his shot over the top from within the penalty area after goalkeeper Darrell saved his initial attempt.

This miss proved costly for Colts as Cougars found a winner with their last threatening attack. Demetre Daniels’s free kick was allowed to bounce in the box among a maze of players, only for Van Duyne to score in his own net with his attempted clearance, giving Cougars a vital win.

Colts’ Zion Simmons received his marching orders with nearly the last kick of the game when he lashed out at Cougars goalkeeper Darrell as he collected the bouncing ball from Colts’ final raid before the whistle.

SCORERS

Devonshire Colts: Robinson 16

Devonshire Cougars: Millett 34, Van Duyne og 89

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Mills-Furbert 6 — J Paynter 5, J Dublin 6, Z Simmons 5, D Davis 5 (sub: J Salaam, 46 5) — MoZiah Selassie 5, S Burgess 6 — C Henry 6, T Eve 6 (sub: A Van Duyne, 83) S Robinson 6 (sub: A Smith, 75) — S Blair-Paynter 5 (sub: M Selassie, 58 5). Substitutes not used: C Berkeley, J Saunders, Malahku Selassie, S Tatem, E Weldon. Booked: Burgess, Robinson Henry, Blair-Paynter. Sent off: Simmons.

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): Q Darrell 6 — J Thomas 6 (sub: J Brimmer, 90), Z White 5, L Millett 6, M Paynter 5 (sub: D Daniels, 52 6)— Z Simmons 6, M Thomas 6 — E Darrell 5, D Coddington 6, C Burns 5 — C Brangman 5 (sub: L Simmons, 75). Substitutes not used: J Wade, N Simmons, C Brangman. Booked: White, J Thomas.

Referee: K Jennings.