North Village 1 PHC 4

Enrique Russell scored a first-half brace as PHC spoilt North Village’s victory party at Bernard Park on Sunday.

Village had already done the job a week before with a 4-0 triumph over Devonshire Colts. They were presented with their Premier Division trophy and medals in front of their fans, as well as legends, at the end of the encounter.

Russell struck in the fourth and 37th minutes to finish on 12 league goals, with the forward also having a hand in the own goal scored by Z'Chai Jennings-Barnett in the nineteenth minute. Jaydon Belboda-Raveneau finished things off in stoppage time for the toppled champions to finish a point behind Village.

“We always knew we could beat them on the last day, but credit to them for winning the league before coming into this game,” Russell told The Royal Gazette.

“I didn't play much in the first half of the season due to injury and work commitments, so I’m glad where I ended up. I can only imagine what we could have achieved if I had played from the start.

“We lost the league by one point, lost in the Friendship Trophy final then reached the FA Cup semi-finals. It’s not really a bad season, but it’s not the best either.”

Village, who had a first-half penalty missed by Jonté Smith, got their consolation from Amir Dill in the 62nd minute. Smith finished on 13 goals to lose out on the Golden Boot to Paget captain Diaje Hart, who was on target 16 times this season.

With the FA Cup final coming up in a fortnight, Calvin Dill Jr, the Village interim head coach, rested a number of players who usually start for the champions.

Captain and first-choice goalkeeper Detre Bell started off on the bench, with Rai Sampson, Jai Bean, Seke Spence, London Steede-Jackson, and Kyler Knights not part of the matchday squad.

“I had to rest players because some are on cards and I couldn’t risk losing them for the FA Cup final,” Dill said. “We want to have a fully fit squad with all our players available for the final.

“I don’t like losing but I can accept this defeat and move on. The score doesn't truly reflect the game, it could have been 7-5, they took their chances and we didn’t take ours.”

Bell, who was introduced as an outfield player in the 80th minute for Tre Ming, while disheartened to lose, felt that there was no need to field a full-strength squad when the title had already been secured.

“It was really disappointing to lose but at the end of the day, the war was already won,” the Village captain said.

“Obviously we want to win every game, but we had already won the league, so congratulations to PHC for their victory.

“I didn’t start because we didn't want to take a risk of coming in a game that doesn’t really matter. We have an important match coming up in two weeks.

“We’re going to enjoy winning the league title, then get back to prepare for the final. Now that we have our field to train, we’ll be prepared come April 20.”

PHC started off brightly when Russell put them in the lead with a cool finish when he went one-on-one against Terryn Fray after being put through by Yeshai Burgess.

Ten minutes later, Judah Chapman had a great opportunity for Village with a free header, only for his effort to go wide.

Fray did well to punch sideways a free kick from Keishon Bean in the fourteenth minute as PHC searched for a second. It eventually came five minutes later when Russell’s effort bounced off Jennings-Barnett to go in.

Smith was impeded inside the box to earn a penalty in the 34th minute. Quinaceo Hunt went the right way to deny one of the league’s top strikers from 12 yards.

Russell, who was replaced due to a knee injury in the second half, finished off from a Jayden Ebbin to complete his brace with a brilliant goal that came off the back post eight minutes before the break.

Dill, whose combination with Daion Swan-DeSilva caused problems for PHC particularly in the second half, rounded Hunt to hit the back of the net for Village’s only goal.

Jalen Harvey could have scored with his first touch after replacing Ian Simmons in the 65th minute, but his effort was cleared off the line by Daren Usher, the PHC captain.

Smith had a great opportunity to reduce the deficit at the start of stoppage time, only for his shot to rebound off Hunt.

PHC were not done yet, Haile Eve did all the work on the left, released the ball to substitute Shakhai Trott, who whipped in the cross for Belboda-Raveneau to beat Fray with a header.

SCORERS

North Village: Dill 62

PHC: Russell 4, 37, Jennings-Barnett og 19, Belboda-Raveneau 90+2

TEAMS

North Village (4-3-3): T Fray 6 – L Evans 6 (sub: Jabri Hayward, 76min), Z Jennings-Barnett 5 (sub: T Manders, 46 6), J Smith-DeShields 6, K Harrison 6 (sub: Jabari Hayward, 76) – T Ming 6 (sub: D Bell, 80), J Chapman 6, I Simmons 6 (sub: J Harvey, 65 6) – A Dill 7, J Smith 6, Swan-DeSilva 6.

PHC (4-2-3-1): Q Hunt 7 – R Simmons 6, N Griffith 7, D Usher 7, D Lightbourne-Smith 6 – J Belboda-Raveneau 7, J Ebbin 6 – K Bean 6 (sub: Shaquille Trott, 85), H Eve 6, Y Burgess (sub: Shakhai Trott, 76) – E Russell 7 (sub: A Wade, 60 5). Substitutes not used: D Wainwright. Booked: Simmons, Eve.

Referee: C Sobers (Trinidad & Tobago).