Devonshire Cougars 1 Dandy Town 4

David Jones Jr netted his first senior hat-trick for Dandy Town to subdue Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Rec last night and restablish the Hornets’ place at the summit of the Premier Division.

In a perfect response following a league defeat by fellow title challengers North Village and an FA Cup exit at the hands of Paget, Town were inspired by Jones, who struck twice in the first half and completed his hat-trick soon after the restart to take his season tally to 11 league goals.

Substitute Angelo Simmons added the fourth a minute before the end for Town to move to 23 points, one point ahead of Village and PHC, who have played one game more.

Cougars, who are in the bottom half of the table, scored through Mikel Thomas three minutes into the second half but it would ultimately prove little more than a consolation.

It was Cougars who got the first chance to score when Domico Coddington pounced on a stray ball inside the Town box, but the veteran forward’s shot was wayward.

The home side got punished a minute later, as Tomiko Goater, the Town captain, provided the final pass for Jones to score the opening goal of the night.

Demetre Daniels created the second opportunity for Cougars from a corner, but Zari Simmons could not keep his header down.

Jones had his brace when the Bermuda forward received a pass from Nizigh Spence, rounded Q'Shai Darrell to score.

Eight minutes before the break, Goater was denied by some brilliant goalkeeping by Darrell.

Cougars started the second half on a positive note and were rewarded. From a free kick on the edge of the box, Thomas had the ball in the back of the net.

But any hopes of a Cougars comeback were extinguished a couple of minutes later when Jones completed his hat-trick from the spot after Goater had won the penalty.

In the 63rd minute, substitute Jazario Brimmer wasted a perfect opportunity to reduce the deficit for Cougars when he shot over the bar from close range.

Simmons, a 73rd-minute replacement for Jahzardae Samuels, showed hunger in front of goal as he shook the crossbar in the 82nd minute. He was not to be denied seven minutes later when presented with an easy tap-in after getting Darrell out of the way.

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Jones 10, 21, 50 pen, Simmons 89

Devonshire Cougars: Thomas 48

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): Q Darrell 5 – C Burns 5, Z White 5, L Millett 5, J Thomas 5 – M Thomas 6, D Daniels 5 (sub: L Simmons, 69 5) – Z Simmons 5 (sub: J Brimmer, 29 5), D Coddington 6, C Casey 5 – C Brangman 5. Substitutes not used: M Paynter, N Simmons, J Wade.

Dandy Town (4-2-3-1): T Place 6 – E Blankendal 7, D Leverock 7, E Moore 6 (sub: E Outerbridge, 85), T Webb 6 – J Samuels 6 (sub: A Simmons, 73), A Lewis 7 – N Spence 6, J Furbert 6, T Goater 7 – D Jones 8 (sub: O Wilson, 85). Substitutes not used: T Smith, A Harvey. Booked: Samuels, Goater.

Referee: S Maybury.