Devonshire Colts 0 St George’s 2

Two second-half goals from Jahron Dickinson all but ended Devonshire Colts’ Premier Division challenge at Police Field on Saturday.

St George’s deserved the victory after controlling the match from start to finish but ended the game depleted both on and off the field, with captain Kashe Hall and assistant coach Andrew Bascome sent off in the final minutes.

Hall received his marching orders when picking up a second yellow card for fouling Colts winger Daniel Ball, with Trinidadian referee Timothy Derry also sending off Bascome after he used abusive language to dispute Hall’s expulsion.

St George’s started well in possession, penning their hosts back and forcing home goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert into a beautiful save early on. Kashe Hall fed a lovely ball into former Colts attacker Senoj Mitchell, but Mills palmed his powerful strike around the far post. Mitchell also rattled the crossbar midway through the first half after being offered too much space on the edge of the Colts penalty area.

St George’s continued to probe for the rest of the first half, although Colts eventually stepped up their defensive line and started to apply pressure to the East End side.

Unfortunately for the home side, key defender Jorj Dublin, who was tipped to play central defender for Bermuda in the upcoming Concacaf play-off matches against Honduras, was substituted with a possible hamstring injury and Colts changed their shape with the introduction of Jibri Salaam.

Colts fashioned their first meaningful chance of the game just before half-time. Daniel Ball fired a pass into San-Tze Burgess and the overlapping full back dribbled infield to make room for a shot. However, Burgess could not get enough power on his effort from distance.

St George's, having created the better chances, found the breakthrough early in the second half. Deepest midfielder Quadir Maynard flashed a beautiful pass into the feet of Jahron Dickinson, who spotted Mills-Furbert out of position and chipped into the unguarded net.

The home side enjoyed their best period of possession straight after the goal but a combination of slow tempo and strong defensive shape meant they could not penetrate the St George's defence.

Colts should have equalised with their best opportunity of the second half after Henry did well to fashion a yard of space for a cross. However, striker Sage Blair-Paynter was too slow in his movement to reach the fast-paced delivery.

St George's forced Mills-Furbert into his second excellent save of the day straight after nearly conceding. Maynard switched the play for Blaiz Hall, who slipped a good ball through for brother Kashe to get a shot off.

The away side clinched victory with yet another moment of magic from Dickinson. This time the elusive Blaiz Hall was fouled by Moziah Selassie. Dickinson smashed the resulting free kick through the Colts wall and past a stunned Mills-Furbert.

The final few minutes were scrappy and Colts created only one brief opening of note in the closing stages when Jahkeylo Burgess found Henry in space on the left, but his effort was crowded out by the St George's defence.

SCORERS

St George’s: Dickinson 48, 81

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Mills-Furbert 7 – S Burgess 6, J Dublin 4 (sub: J Salaam, 34min 5), D Davis 6, M Selassie 5 – J Burgess 6, T Eve 5 – D Ball 6, C Henry 6, J Paynter 5 – S Blair-Paynter 5 (sub: I Naylor, 75). Substitutes not used: E Weldon. Booked: S Burgess, Mills-Furbert.

St George’s (4-2-3-1): J Hill 7 – J Richardson 6, J Schroder 7, Q Maynard 6, G Wade 5 (sub: J Daniels, 86) – Z McGuire 6, I Gibbons 6 – B Hall 6 (sub: T Tucker, 88), K Hall 7, S Mitchell 6 – J Dickinson 7. Substitutes not used: A Simons, K Minors, M Tucker, D Bascome, D Lodge. Booked: K Hall; Sent off: K Hall, A Bascome (coach).

Referee: T Derry (Trinidad).