Boulevard 1 X-Roads 4

Paul Simons scored a hat-trick as X-Roads Warriors were crowned First Division champions with a comfortable victory over Boulevard Blazers at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

X-Roads are seven points clear at the top with their nearest challengers Boulevard having just two games remaining, and captain Simons is pleased to have scored the goals that returned his side to the Premier Division at the first time of asking.

“The best finish of the three was the first one,” he said. “I love scoring with my weaker foot.

“We’ve had good numbers in training consistently. We stayed focused for the entire season and we are still undefeated.”

X-Roads controlled the majority of the game and got off to the best possible start when Kneiko Richardson played a low cross into Simons, who turned on to his left foot and struck low past Blazers keeper Deaz Chambers within three minutes.

The away side continued to dominate and played through the home side's pressure with consummate ease in the first half, with Aaron Spencer and Donavan Thompson forcing a beautiful double save by Chambers.

However, Warriors kept on coming and doubled their lead on 21 minutes. Richardson played a delightful pass with the outside of his boot into the overlapping Spencer, who squared for Simons to tap in with his right foot.

Just after conceding their second goal, Blazers goalkeeper Chambers had to be replaced by outfield player Anthony Williams-Smith with an apparent leg injury. Blazers could have gone further behind as X-Roads went for the killer third, but a combination of desperate defending and poor quality in the final third kept the hosts in the contest.

Unfortunately for the Shield champions, the purple and black made it three within ten minutes of the restart. Zico Stovell took too long on the ball and prolific striker Donavan Thompson had the easiest task of driving into space and placing a strike low past Williams-Smith.

Blazers stepped up their intensity and started to enjoy a few good spells of possession and they got their reward just before the hour. Aadil Cajee was booked for handling the ball to prevent a counter-attack and Ernest Reiko Trott whipped the resulting free kick around the Warriors wall and through the outstretched arms of keeper Tomas Mello.

Williams-Smith made his fair share of saves to keep Blazers interested but Warriors finally get their fourth goal with 20 minutes remaining. Thompson spread the play wide for Spencer, who skipped past defender Ijahmon Mallory and clipped a lovely cross in for Simons to power a header down into the near post.

Boulevard tried to pick themselves up again from conceding the decisive goal, but came up against the very stubborn defensive duo of Seth Somner and Tymon Daniels, who shackled the home side's attack for the majority of the game.

Thompson rattled the crossbar with a rasping drive from about 25 yards out late on before Aaron Spencer stung the palms of Williams-Smith.

SCORERS

Boulevard Blazers: Trott 58

X-Roads: Simons 3, 21, 73, Thompson 53

TEAMS

Boulevard Blazers (4-2-3-1): D Chambers 6 (sub: A Williams-Smith, 28min 5) – Z Stovell 5 (sub: K McQueen, 74), D Cox 7, I Mallory 4 (sub: C Thompson, 74), A Famous 5 – N Smith 6, J Talbot-Thomas 5 – C Summers 5 (sub: K Wint, 83), E Reiko Trott 6, K Swan 5 – S Dill 5. Substitutes not used: R Makal Burgess, Y Darrell, M Saunders. Booked: Mallory, Smith.

X-Roads (4-1-4-1): T Mello 6 – A Cajee 5 (sub: R Beek, 74), S Somner 7, T Daniels 7, K Brangman 5 (sub: J Sanchez, 85) – J Sousa 6 – K Richardson 6 (sub: K Godfrey, 78), T Dill 6, D Thompson 7, A Spencer 8 – P Simons 9. Substitutes not used: C Whited, G Dowling, T Lowe, N Brown. Booked: Cajee, Thompson.

Referee: J Springer (Barbados).