Dandy Town 3 PHC 2

Looking more purposeful as the game progressed, Dandy Town opened their league season yesterday with a well-earned come-from-behind 3-2 victory over PHC.

Nobody who watched Town for the first 24 minutes of the match at St. John's Field would have expected the home side to emerge victorious. The entire team, with the notable exception of captain Lionel Furbert, marshalling the defence, appeared slow and lacklustre about their mission.

It was almost all PHC's way and the visitors, though opening the scoring with a nice give-and-go between Kevin Lambe and Stephen Astwood, were unlucky not to have converted more of their chances.

However the Zebras would live to regret not capitalising as Town's double substitution in the 25th minute reaped immediate dividends. Coming on for Kelvon Butterfield, Gregg Foggo proved to have the Midas magic as his first touch of the ball - a corner kick - soared above the outstretched hands of PHC goalie Stefan Dupres and curled into the upper left-hand section of the net. That neutralised Lambe's strike in the 16th minute.

Suddenly, there was life in the Town team as the game became more even.

The tide turned firmly in Town's favour early in the second half as Carlos Smith, the other first-half substitute, got around his man and cut the ball back for Kevin Hurdle to slot past Dupres' right hand in the 46th minute.

Smith, himself, got on the scoresheet with a clinical penalty in the 64th minute. It resulted from the hard-working Wolde Place being brought down inside the area after one of his several penetrative runs down the right flank.

PHC's second-half substitute Raynel Lightbourne, who injected some energy into his team's attack, pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute in a goalmouth scramble. This gave the Zebras some last-gasp hope but it was not to be as all their desperate shots went wide.

Following the final whistle, Town's relieved coach Devarr Boyles said it was "encouraging" to get a win first game out. However, his team's performance, he noted, was only "average".

"My players lack match fitness. I saw some encouraging stuff out there but we need a lot of work in the last third of the field - in finishing. We were flat."

PHC, he added, made it "an open game because they come to play attacking football". That style allowed Town to get back into the match, noted Boyles.

Dandy Town: A.Lightbourne, L.Furbert, K.Mundy, C.Azhar, M.Lowe, K.Butterfield (G.Foggo, 25 mins), B.O'Riordan, S.Smith (K.Martin, 60 mins), D.Hill (C.Smith, 25 mins), K.Hurdle, W.Place.

PHC: S.Dupres, J.Sealy, C.Dowling, S.Lewis, C.Furbert, T.Russell, O.Steede, J.Ball (R.Lightbourne, 75 mins), B.Bean, S.Astwood (D.Tucker, 81 mins), K.Lambe (D.Russell, 78 mins).

Booked: C.Smith, M.Lowe (Dandy Town); B.Bean, S.Astwood (PHC).

Men of the Match: W.Place (Dandy Town); K.Lambe (PHC).

Referee: S. Crockwell.