Devonshire Cougars 4 Dandy Town 2

Dandy Town suffered their first league defeat since November 5, when Devonshire Cougars pulled off a deserved victory at Devonshire Rec to stay in the title race.

The win lifted Cougars up to third in the Premier Division, while Town slipped from second to fourth, now four points behind leaders PHC Zebras with only four games remaining.

Lovintz Tota opened the scoring for Cougars before Mark Steede added a second just before half-time to restore their lead. Substitute Allan Douglas then made a useful contribution late in the second half, scoring a penalty just minutes after coming on as a replacement for Steede, before getting fouled by goalkeeper Jaiden Manders to earn a second penalty, which Jawonday Smith converted in the final minute.

“Preparation leads to good results, we prepared well for the game so we were ready for it,” said Cougars coach Omar Butterfield. “We just have to continue to do the right thing.

“Lovintz and Mark, the two senior players, worked hard to get back in the team and then got a bigger reward today. I’m pleased for them and pleased for the team.

“I don’t look at what the other teams did, I just want my three points every week. We’ve definitely still got a lot to play for.”

Cougars, who lost 3-0 to Town in October, had a good start when Tota steered home a cross from the right from Steede after being left unmarked at the far post. Manders, replacing Troy Hall Jr in goal after last weekend’s loss to PHC in the FA Cup quarter-finals, was given no chance as Tota kept his composure to score.

Cougars suffered a setback a minute later when veteran Ijahmon Mallory went off with a knee injury to be replaced in midfield by Nyhrobi Carmichael.

Town began to threaten as full back Oneko Lowe pushed forward and saw his shot from the left side of the penalty box just miss the far post.

Kwame Steede, the Town player-coach and a former Cougars captain, played himself in midfield rather than the heart of the defence, hoping to lend more to his team’s attacking play. It was Cougars who went close again near the half-hour mark when a break in the Town defence saw Jawonday Smith’s shot turned around the far post by Manders who produced a good save.

Town went closest to scoring five minutes later when Ian Coke broke through on the left and drove in a shot that hit the near upright.

The visitors finally equalised in the 39th minute from a corner on the right. The ball was played to Kwame Steede near the goalline at the near post and when he hooked it over into the six-yard box, Ernest Trott steered home a free header.

A calf injury to referee Garic Swainson resulted in a switch with linesman Antoine Augustus replacing Swainson in the middle at the start of the second half.

However, Town’s joy was short-lived as a minute later Cougars were back in front, Steede scoring with a low shot after Jawonday Smith set him up inside the box.

Town’s persistence after the restart paid off when Damon Ming scored from a free kick after a short touch by Angelo Simmons on the right edge of the box after Simmons was fouled.

Augustus was quickly involved in the action, blowing for a foul on Jawonday Smith on the right corner of the box, initially giving a free kick before protests from Cougars players resulted in consultation with linesman Tashun Simons and Augustus pointing to the penalty spot. Douglas, on as a sub just four minutes earlier, stepped up to score what proved to be the winning goal.

Douglas’s pace was a threat to the tiring Town defence, and he earned a penalty himself in the 90th minute when he was fouled by Manders after running through on a breakaway.

As the ball rolled just past the far post, Augustus awarded Douglas the penalty. This time Jawonday Smith stepping up to score the spot-kick to secure the three points.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars

Tota 4, Mark Steede 40, Douglas (pen) 64, Smith (pen) 90

Dandy Town

Trott 39, Ming 59

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-4-2): C Hardtman — C Brangman, D Simmons, Zekiro White, L Brangman — I Mallory (sub: N Carmichael, 12min), J Smith, Moses Steede (sub: Z Simmons, 80), O Bascome — L Tota, Mark Steede (sub: A Douglas, 60). Substitutes not used: J Mouchette, S Jones, J Wade, N Simmons. Booked: N Carmichael.

Dandy Town (4-3-3): J Manders — G Liburd, K Lathan, K Simmons, O Lowe (sub: J Shrubb, 89) — K Steede, E Trott, L Tucker — I Coke, (sub: D Butterfield, 77), A Simmons, D Ming. Substitutes not used: T Hall, A Spence, D Walker, D Russell, J Amory. Booked: Lowe, Manders.

Referee: G Swainson (A Augustus, 46min).