Dandy Town 0 North Village 1

Jonté Smith’s first-half penalty secured North Village their first league win of the campaign with victory over Dandy Town at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

Smith found the target from 12 yards in the fourteenth minute for Village, who bounced back from defeat in their opening match of the season to Young Men’s Social Club.

Referee Amaury Majors pointed to the spot after Jai Bean was impeded by Toran Place, the Town goalkeeper, with Smith sending the keeper the wrong way to score his first league goal of the season.

Village coach Kenny Thompson highlighted the importance of quickly recovering from the loss to Social Club.

“It was important for us to bounce back from Monday’s defeat,’’ Thompson told The Royal Gazette.

“I think we took a while to get into a good match rhythm. We were a little bit too slow, but we started to grow as the half went on. We threaded a good direct pass that got our attacker into a goalscoring position, and he was brought down for a penalty.

“After that, it was a combination of trying to manage and see if we could get the second. It was a little bit frustrating because we had opportunities to get the second, but players do switch off sometimes.

“However, the team stayed strong defensively and the focus was very good despite not getting that second goal. Overall I think that we deserved to get the three points. We just have to continue to build our season.”

With the win coming just before the international break, Thompson is keen to use the two-week break to thoroughly prepare for his side’s next match against St George’s on October 19.

“The positive thing is that it gives us two weeks to continue to work,’’ the Village coach said.

“Our preseason hasn't been the best because of the work that’s been going on at Bernard Park. Training on a full pitch has been very few and far between, so this gives us an opportunity of two weeks of solid work, to be ready for the next round of games.”

Kyle Lightbourne, the Town coach, whose side made a brilliant start to the season with a 4-1 victory over Wolves, blamed the defeat on a lethargic start by his players.

“I’m really disappointed that we didn't get anything out of this game,’’ Lightbourne said.

“We didn’t execute and we didn't have enough shots on target. We had a bit of the ball but we just didn't execute in what we did.

“I think we started very slow and we didn't play well in the first half. We gave away a sloppy penalty, these are the things we talk about, but it still happened.

“In the second half, we lifted our intensity. There was really nothing in the game, Village looked dangerous later on the counter-attack because we were trying to get an equaliser.

“As a team, we weren’t at the races today. It’s early days for us and there’s going to be mishaps here and there. It’s football, Village lost 3-1 in their first match. I’m sure they felt a little embarrassed about it and now they come out fighting in the second game.

“We are disappointed in our performance and we’re going to come out fighting in our next game.

“This team is nowhere near where I would like to see it. There are a lot of changes that need to be done and we’re trying to deal with the mentality of the players right now.

“We’re looking at the mental approach to the game. How we deal with things, how we deal with adversity and success, these are things that we need to sort out.”

After Village took an early lead, there was nothing much to talk about in the first 45 minutes. Azendé Furbert came to Town’s rescue five minutes before the break to deny London Steede an easy shot at goal after Place had come off his line and missed the ball.

On the hour mark, Smith should have scored his second had he maintained composure in front of goal when executing Seke Spence’s cross from the right.

In the 76th minute, David Jones had a glorious chance to equalise for Town, but sent his effort over the bar. With a minute to go, Place produced a brilliant save to keep Jai Bean’s effort out.

Substitute Oneko Lowe had the last chance to level matters for Town in stoppage time after finding himself on the end of a brilliantly executed move, but he guided his effort wide.

SCORERS

North Village: Smith 14 pen

TEAMS

Dandy Town (4-3-3): T Place 6 – E Blankendal 6, A Furbert 5 (sub: O Lowe, 59min 5), Danté Leverock 6, T Webb 6 (sub: M Issac, 69 5) – N Spence 6 (sub: A Daniels, 90), A Lewis 6 (sub: J Richardson-Martin, 90), T Goater 6 – J Furbert 6, Dakayo Leverock 5 (sub: J Samuels, 59 5), D Jones 6. Substitutes not used: T Smith, A Harvey. Booked: Place.

North Village (4-4-2): T Fray 6 – J Basden 6, K Knights 6, L Evans 6, R Sampson – T Manders 6, S Spence 6, L Steede 6 (sub: A Dill 63, 5), J Bean 6 – J Smith 7 (sub: T Correia, 86), J Chapman 6 (sub: T Ming, 86). Substitutes not used: T Harris, J Hayward, Z Jennings-Barnett. Booked: Evans.

Referee: A Majors.