PHC Zebras 6 St George’s Colts 0

Premier Division champions PHC Zebras laid down a marker after easily brushing aside FA Cup winners St George’s Colts to lift the Charity Cup for a record-tieing eighth time.

Debutant D’Andre Wainwright and captain Kadeem Abraham led the charge with two goals each, while Enrique Russell and Jahiem Iris also got their name on the scoresheet.

Teenager Harlem Bean-Fox also enjoyed a memorable debut for PHC with a hand in three goals and was a constant threat in possession of the ball.

PHC were deserving of the spoils with their slick movement, ball retention, hunger and clinical finishing putting the game well beyond their opponents reach.

“We put the work in pre-season trying to prepare and it just showed today,” Quincy Hunt, the PHC coach, told The Royal Gazette.

“We have a lot of guys that want to score goals and who play to win, and that’s what we do. We took chances but we still had four or five chances that were easier. We still have a lot to work on but it’s all good for our first game of the season.”

St George's, with president Mishael Paynter as coach, dominated possession from the opening whistle as PHC sat deep in their own half and looked to catch their opponents on the counterattack.

The ploy eventually paid off when Wainwright broke the deadlock with a neat finish on a quick break that caught St George’s flat-footed. The powerful striker ran onto Russell’s through ball and kept his composure before slotting past St George’s goalkeeper Jahquil Hill.

Iris doubled PHC's advantage with another brilliant strike to capitalise on a defensive mix-up before Abraham swept in his team's third after Bean-Fox’s corner was partially cleared. He helped himself to a second on the stroke of half time after tapping in a loose ball from close range in a goalmouth scramble.

Wainwright grabbed his second after the restart when he was played through by Bean-Fox’s defence-splitting pass before whipping the ball into the far bottom corner from an angle.

Russell, who had four earlier attempts at goal saved by Hill, rounded off the scoring with a cheeky finish at the near post after getting on the end of substitute Rahkeem Wilson’s pullback in the area.

Wainwright, who earned his second straight Charity Cup winners medal after being a member of North Village’s victorious squad the previous season, was delighted to hit the ground running at his new club.

“I am very excited and it’s hopefully just the start of a good season,” he said.

‘“I just try to be in the right place at the right time. It’s the first game of the season and I am up for it.”

Wainwright is following in the footsteps of his father, Dennis Wainwright Jr, who also played for PHC.

“I joined PHC mainly because of my dad who played with Kyle Lightbourne, Mark Wade, Kenny Mills and guys like that,” he added.

“It’s my dad’s team and it’s another challenge to keep my game up because these guys are obviously the best in Bermuda.

“I should have been at Zebras in 2017-18 but I ended up staying at Somerset.”

The experienced player has made a seamless transition to his new surroundings at Stadium Lane.

“The transition has been really good because I already knew most of these guys before I came here playing together when we were younger with the national squad,” he said.

“I played with these guys when I was younger so they know my game and I know their game and it all just clicked right away.”

Scorers:

PHC: Wainwright 10, 64, Abraham 34, 45+1, Iris 19, Russell 88

TEAMS

PHC (4-1-4-1): Q Hunt 8– D Smith-Lightbourne 7, D Lodge 7 (sub: D Dowling, 80min), N Furbert 7, T Bean 7 – K Abraham 8 – K Bean 7 (sub: R Wilson, 86), J Iris (sub: R Simmons, 80), E Russell 8, H Bean-Fox 8 (sub: S Harvey, 69, 7) - D Wainwright 8 (sub: A Wade, 69 7). Substitutes not used: M Wilson, C Fubler, K Stovell, J Belboda. Booked: K Bean

St George’s (4-1-4-1): J Hill 7 – N Paynter 6 , A Joaquin-Simons 6 (sub: D Bascome, 88), O Bascome, A Cannonier (sub: M Tucker, 38, 6) – C Neal 6 – J Richardson 6, M Trott 6, J Dickinson 6, K Hall 7 – T Tucker (sub: G Wade, 62, 6). Booked: O Bascome:

Referee: A Majors