Devonshire Colts 0 North Village 4

North Village have been crowned Premier Division champions after beating Devonshire Colts 4-0 at Police Field on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Jonté Smith, Jai Bean, substitute Amir Dill and a Jahkeylo Burgess own goal ensured Village won the title with a game to spare a year after losing out on the championship when beaten by PHC in the final game of the season.

Calvin Dill Jr, the Village head coach who took the reins from Kenny Thompson during the season, was ecstatic to lead the Rams to their first title since the 2019-20 campaign.

“I’m proud of the boys and the team worked hard the whole season with me coming in as interim head coach,” Dill told The Royal Gazette.

“It’s a proud moment for them and they’ve now earned the status of North Village legends for winning the league. A lot of them haven’t won it before, so I’m happy for them.

“Colts gave us a little fight, but we knew we had a job to do. We needed to win the game, and that’s what we ended up doing. It feels really good to win it with a game to spare and now I can rest some players to get them ready for the FA Cup final.”

Smith, who scored his thirteenth goal of the season in the game, was delighted to win his first league title with his boyhood club.

“Today all our hard work and dedication has come to fruition,” the league’s top scorer said.

“Hats off to the coaching staff as well because they were with us throughout this journey, guiding us and showing us how to play. A big thank-you to the fans because football is nothing without them.

“My great-grandfather, Leroy DeGraff, was the first coach of North Village. My father [Clay Smith] also played for Village. It’s a long family line, so it makes it special to win the league title with my boyhood club.”

Amir Dill, who last played for Village in December when they lost to PHC in the Friendship Trophy semi-finals, was glad to score on his return. The 19-year-old netted his first hat-trick for the senior team last November to knock Colts out of the Friendship Trophy.

“I work hard and do whatever I can for my team to get these types of accomplishments,” he said.

“I’ve been out at school in England, so it feels good to come back and score a goal to seal the game.”

Colts coach Ray Jones congratulated Village for displaying consistency throughout the season.

“First and foremost, congratulations to North Village for a job well done,” Jones said. “Kudos to them for being the most consistent team in the league.”

“I think it was just a tale of execution. If you look at the game in its totality, I feel that we created more meaningful chances; the difference was the finishing, and their two strikers were quite clinical.

“The lesson learnt for my players is that you've to take your chances. Before they were in the game, we had two good opportunities which would have set the tone differently.”

Village came close to scoring in the fifth minute when Seke Spence had his effort cleared off the line by Burgess.

In the eleventh minute, Detre Bell came up with two good saves to deny Colts. First, Teniko Eve’s stinging shot bounced off Bell’s chest before Sage Blair-Paynter pounced on the rebound, but Bermuda’s second-choice goalkeeper gathered at the second attempt.

Village got their opening goal in the 37th minute when Bean sent in a long ball for Smith to head into the net.

Four minutes into first-half stoppage time, Colts came searching for an equaliser, with Blair-Paynter’s powerful strike pushed over the bar by Bell for a corner. The Village keeper then made sure his side remained in the lead with another fine save from San-Tze Burgess.

Bean doubled the Village advantage in the 52nd minute when he blasted in from a Smith pass. The forward was also involved in the third goal as he threaded a pass out to Dill, whose shot came off Burgess to beat his own goalkeeper.

In the 90th minute, Dill powered his way through to beat Mills-Furbert at the near post to allow Village’s players and supporters to burst into celebration.

SCORERS

North Village: Smith 37, Bean 51, Burgess og 78, Dill 90

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Mills-Furbert 5 – M Outerbridge 6, S Burgess 6 (sub: J Samuels, 88min), D Davis 6, J Paynter 6 – M Selasse 6 (sub: J Salaam, 67 5), J Burgess 5 – D Ball 6, T Eve 6 (sub: A Van Duyne, 88), C Henry 6 – S Blair-Paynter 6 (sub: B O’Connor, 67 5). Substitutes not used: J Dublin. Booked: S Burgess

North Village (4-2-3-1): D Bell 6 – K Knights 6, R Sampson 6 (sub: T Manders, 81), T Fray 6, K Harrison 6 – T Ming 7, S Spence 6 (sub: J Smith-DeShields, 81) – J Chapman 6 (sub: J Harvey, 81), L Steede-Jackson 6 (sub: A Dill, 67 6), J Bean 8 (sub: J Hayward, 81) – J Smith 8. Substitutes not used: Z Jennings-Barnett, I Simmons. Booked: Steede-Jackson, Sampson

Referee: O Hamilton (Jamaica).