Devonshire Cougars 3

Bascome 9, 90, Mark Steede 89

Dandy Town 3

Stowe 51, Burchall 53, Simmons 55

A five-goal second half left honours being shared between Devonshire Cougars and Dandy Town at the Devonshire Recreation Club last night.

In what turned out to be a memorable games for both fans and players alike, the top of the table Premier Division clash did not disappoint.

“I would take a point from this game, although we were up it is their home game and we came expecting fight from them,” Jomar Wilkinson, the Dandy Town coach, said. “Both sides are attacking-minded and possess players that can change a game and the two sides showed that tonight.

“We always knew it was going to be a tough match and going down showed that we were in for a fight, but we showed that we weren't going to go down without a fight either. It was a matter of us sticking to the game plan and we got ourselves back in the game. Once ahead, I thought we should have won the match.”

With the city rivals separated by two points, the top spot heading into the Christmas break was up for grabs.

The pace was frantic from referee Martin Wyer's opening whistle and it would take only nine minutes for the scoring to begin when Cougars forward Domico Coddington was brought down inside the Town area by defender Dominique Williams.

Bascome coolly stepped up and slotted his effort past Treadwell Gibbons Jr in goal for the visiting side.

Simmons would be Cougars' chief tormentor early on, as his pace and skill freed himself up to pull string for Town in the attacking third.

He did have a chance in the 35th to level matters, but his effort was wide from an acute angle.

Daniel Johnson was called upon to save well to his left, this time from a fierce Simmons volley from 20 yards.

Three goals in a four-minute span would turn the match on its head, however.

The equaliser would come six minutes into the second half, when Stowe rose highest to meet a Damon Ming corner.

Town were ahead two minutes later after a long ball from Simmons split the Cougars back line, allowing Burchall to stroll in on Johnson and finish from point-blank range.

Cougars had an avenue back into the match one minute later after Williams brought down Coddington for the second time, but Gibbons saved a tame penalty from Bascome.

Off the ensuing kick, Town were ahead by two goals, when another long ball, this time from Williams, found Simmons in a yard of space.

He duly slammed home his effort at the back post.

Bascome would have his chance to redeem himself as he and Kwame Steede carved out an opening midway through the second half, but his effort could not find the inside of the back post after beating Gibbons.

The crucial switch of Coddington to the left, where substitute Fabian Frankson established himself, was the turning point in the dying stages.

Coddington fired in two low efforts: one with two minutes left on Wyer's watch that was bundled home by Mark Steede, and a second one minute later that was pushed in at the far post by Bascome.

“Both sides surged forward looking for the all-important goal, but the two rivals had to share the spoils,” Dennis Brown, the Cougars coach, said.

“We showed a lot of character in the match, I can say that, but I felt tonight we failed to take the chances we created and it almost came back to haunt us.

“We were comfortable up with the goal, but if you snooze you lose and we just have to come back and prepare for the match next weekend.

“This shows what the players are made of. Both sides deserved something. Both will say they should have won it.”

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1:) D Johnson — Z White, K Franks, D Cox, K Tucker — P Parsons, C Caisey (sub: M Steede, 80min) — M Battersbee (sub: M Steede, 80), D Bascome, D Coddington — K Steede (sub: D Daniels, 85). Substitutes not used: K DeSilva, D Williams, K Trott. Booked: Parsons.

Dandy Town (4-5-1): T Gibbons — K Wade, D Williams, J Stowe, T Webb (sub: F Frankson, 83) — S Darrell (sub: D Butterfield, 73), Z Burchall (sub: S Furbert, 75), R Trott, J Swan, A Simmons — D Ming. Substitutes not used: T Goater, R Wells, S Tuzo. Booked: Gibbons, Burchall.

Referee: M Wyer.