North Village 4

Bean 35, 36 (pen), 40, Smith 88

Wolves 1

Troy Tucker 51

A Keishen Bean hat-trick in five exciting minutes late in the first half blew this game open as Wolves wondered what hit them at Bernard Park.

Before that the visiting side were well in the game, playing some neat football to create a few good scoring chances that might have changed the game early in the half. However, Bean used his experience to break the deadlock in the 35th minute, hit a second from the penalty spot a minute later and then made it 3-0 with five minutes left in the half.

The first two chances of the match fell to Wolves inside the first couple of minutes, with captain Troy Tucker involved in both opportunities from close range. Bean still had not found his scoring touch when Takeyhi Walker, his strike partner, put him through in the seventeenth minute only for Jahhi Shakir, the Wolves goalkeeper, to race off his line to block his shot. It was Village’s best chance so far, Wolves having enjoyed a good opening 20 minutes, with Tevaughn Tyrell’s nineteenth-minute header inside the six-yard box from a free kick coming back off the far post.

At the other end, Pierre Smith also went close with a header from a Bean free kick on the left side, with Shakir tipping the effort over the bar. Tyrell had another miss in the 32nd minute when he lifted his shot over the bar after the ball had been pulled back for him by Kyle Brangman. That miss would prove costly for Wolves as Bean’s blitz at the other end left the visiting side stunned.

Bean broke the deadlock with a low shot into the corner from outside the box. He pounced after Daz Simons had miskicked when under pressure from Bean and Jahron Dickinson who had just switched flanks.

A minute later it was 2-0, courtesy of a Bean penalty after the advancing Shakir brought down Dickinson. Shakir was lucky to escape a booking, but unable to stop the well-placed spot-kick. Bean then completed his hat-trick in the 40th minute when he ran on to a defence-splitting ball and drove home a low shot.

Village were now in full stride and disbelief showed on the faces of the Wolves players, who began arguing with each other as they came off at half-time, with the match seemingly over as a contest. “Before we scored, if they had scored it might have been a different game and probably would have,” Ralph Bean Jr, the Village coach, said. “Jahron wasn’t getting the ball at all over the other side and you can’t go too long as an attacker and not touch the ball. Sometimes you just have to switch sides.”

Wolves came out battling in the second half, needing an early goal or two to get back into the contest. They found their way back into the match six minutes after the restart when Troy Tucker scored with a low shot past Troy Hall Jr after the Village defence allowed the ball to bounce inside their penalty area.

That goal gave Wolves new hope and suddenly they were playing again as they did early in the first half, with Village pegged back. Wolves made a double substitution, bringing on Alleyne Francis and Derrick Brangman to allow Michael Williams, the full back, to push forward into a more attacking role on the right side, hoping to use his pace to create openings. But Village made certain of the points two minutes from the end when Smith drove home from close range after a cross from the right.

The win was the perfect response by Village after last weekend’s shock defeat by Hamilton Parish. It keeps them in fourth place while Wolves drop back into the bottom two.

“It’s been inconsistency and I’m still looking for us to get a level of consistency, which is what it will take to win the league,” coach Bean said. “Even when you are not playing well, you have to get points. It was a determined performance. We knew we needed the three points and the guys went out there with that attitude that we’re going to fight hard for them.”

About the performance of the other Keishen Bean, the coach said; “To me, he’s the next natural-ability player to lead the team and he’s slowly taking on that role.”

North Village (4-3-3): T Hall — T Watson, T Burgess, S DeShields (sub: G Greaves, 60min), K Durrant — J Jennings, K Dill, P Smith — J Dickinson (sub: K Arruda, 89), T Walker (sub: D Hunt, 85), K Bean. Substitutes not used: R Bassett, J Dill, J Lee. Booked: K Dill.

Wolves (4-4-2): J Shakir — M Williams, A Brangman, D Simons, M Laws — Tamauri Tucker, Troy Tucker, M Ming (sub: A Francis, 64), K.Brangman (sub: D Brangman, 64) — T Tyrell, M Showers (sub: S Bremar, 52). Substitutes not used: L Ming, S Davis.

Referee: M Wyer.