Flanagan’s Onions 0 Dandy Town Hornets 6

Dandy Town Hornets moved up to third place ahead of North Village on goal difference after striker Ian Coke led a rout of Flanagan’s Onions on Saturday night at Goose Gosling Field with his first hat-trick for the club.

Coke, who netted twice in last weekend’s Friendship Trophy win over Young Men’s Social Club, produced another impressive first-half performance as Town led 4-0 after three goals in six minutes midway through the half. When Coke completed his hat-trick early in the second half there was no coming back for Onions.

Town had Tomiko Goater back from school abroad and playing his first game, while player-coach Kwame Steede picked himself for a role in the heart of the defence. He capped his night with Town’s last goal in the 83rd minute as Town sealed their biggest win of the season.

Town, who clearly enjoyed playing on the surface at BAA, finally broke the deadlock when Coke drove the ball home from a sharp angle on the left side of the box, as Onions players stopped playing, thinking the ball had gone out for a goal kick. However, the flag stayed down despite raised arms from Onions and Coke finished off the move.

Three more goals came in the space of eight minutes as Town ran rampant. They doubled their lead four minutes later when Goater followed up on a shot from Damon Ming that was blocked. His shot on goal was deflected off Nicoy Anglin before beating goalkeeper Lejaun Matthews. It went down as an own goal to Anglin.

Captain Angelo Simmons got in on the scoring, adding the third soon after when he followed up on a save by the diving Matthews to tuck the ball home from close range. Coke then made it 4-0 in the 31st minute after a cross from the right by Ming reached him at the far post where he drove it home.

The second half started where the first left off, Coke completing his hat-trick with a low shot from a sharp angle on the left side of the box.

“You can’t miss them when they are put on a platter for you,” Coke said. “The guys are putting it in place for me and I just have to finish it off, putting them away as the opportunities come.

“The team is helping my form to come along much better, having more intricate play around goal. I feel we can build on it, just keep working as a team and doing the right things.

“As the coach said, the more we come to training and the more harmony we get the more it will show on the field for us. Just take what we learn in training and bring it onto the field.”

Onions had an effort through Keston Lewis ruled out moments later before Town created a few good chances midway through the second half as they kept the pressure on the Onions defence.

Simmons had an effort from outside the box smash against the framework as Town looked for more goals. A rare chance for Onions saw Treshun Smith get through with his pace but he put his shot just over the bar.

Steede joined a Town attack from midfield and closed out the scoring when he scored from close range, making it 32 goals Onions have now conceded in nine games. The loss, their sixth in nine matches, makes certain that they will remain in the bottom two going into the Christmas break.

GOALSCORERS

Dandy Town

Coke 19, 31, 51; Anglin (og) 25, Simmons 26, Steede 83

TEAMS

Flanagan’s Onions (4-3-3): L Matthews — N Anglin, M Laws, M Brewer, C Berkeley — C Burns, M Lindsay (sub: J Morgan, 76min), N Dunkle — K Lewis (sub: O Wilson, 59), S Swan, T Smith. Substitutes not used: M Aden, M Ward. Booked: Lewis, Swan.

Dandy Town (4-3-3): T Hall — E Blankendal, K Steede, K Lathan, K Simmons — E Trott, L Tucker (sub: S Campbell, 83), T Goater (sub: D Walker, 83) — I Coke, A Simmons (sub: G Liburd, 36), D Ming. Substitutes not used: J Manders, J Thomas, N Spence, Z Burchall.

Referee: A Francis.