Devonshire Colts 3 St David’s 5

Ten-men St David’s withstood a second-half fightback from home side Devonshire Colts to advance to the next round of the FA Cup at Police Field yesterday.

At 4-1 down all hope seemed lost for Colts in spite of their numerical advantage after St David’s striker Jamal Woodley was sent off for a second booking at half-time.

But two goals in as many minutes from substitute Chemarl Henry and Matthew Gerardo threw the game wide open.

Colts pressed for an equaliser but were stopped in their tracks when substitute Diego McCallan, as he has so often done in the past, came off the bench and scored a late goal that deflated the home side’s spirited revival.

“It’s difficult when you lose a player and every team has the ability to put in the extra effort to come back,” said Aaron Lugo, the St David’s assistant coach.

“You’re never out of it until the final whistle and this is what we always stress to our guys. We were able to weather the storm.

“Our finishing was good today and we saw a lot of what we have been doing in training actually happen in the match.”

Colts lost their shape early and the visiting side took advantage with Kamali Davis opening the scoring with a neat finish. The forward latched onto Woodley’s defence-splitting pass, rounded Colts goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert and rolled the ball into the empty net.

DeShun Hendrickson then doubled St David’s lead in spectacular fashion. Woodley crossed in the middle where Hendrickson’s first-time volley gave Mills-Furbert no chance.

The visiting side pulled further away when Kontai Burton rose unchallenged at the near post to head in Zachary Morris’s left-footed cross after his initial free kick was blocked.

St David’s switched off near the end of the first half and paid the price as Gerardo scored from a free kick. The midfielder blasted into the top left corner before the visiting side could set up a defensive wall.

St David’s were then struck with a double whammy after Woodley was senselessly sent off. His second booking was for dissent. Despite being a man down the visiting side restored their three-goal advantage shortly after the restart when Burton scored his second goal of the game. Hendrickson curled in a free kick which Burton met in the middle with a diving header.

The game took another turn when Colts pulled another goal back. Teniko Eve, the Colts captain, won the ball in midfield and threaded a pass to Henry who slotted past Corey Richardson, the St David’s goalkeeper and captain. Gerardo then made it 4-3 when he sent Richardson the wrong way from the penalty spot after defender Morris handled Deszion Davis’s cross in the area to set up a close finish.

Rather than try and defend their slender lead, St David’s coach Sergio Goater brought on two attackers in Otis Minors and McCallan, the son of cricketer Lionel Cann. The gamble paid off as McCallan took possession of a loose ball in the area and buried his shot.

“We took too long to get started and it wasn’t until the second half when we brought the intensity that we looked like we wanted to play,” Quinton Jones, the Colts coach, said.

“The quick free kick [by Gerardo] changed the game and gave us some belief. But it was just poor defending on the set pieces to give up all those goals before they were even down to ten men.”

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Mills-Furbert — F Lema, Y Jones (sub: Quinn Simmons, 75min), K Darrell, J Maybury — D Lambe, B Rose (sub: C Henry, 54), J Hendrickson, M Gerardo, D Davis (sub: Quilvan Simmons, 85) — T Eve. Substitutes not used: K Jones, M Williams. Booked: Maybury, Lema, Rose.

St David’s (4-2-3-1): C Richardson — Z Morris, E Robinson, D Butterfield, W Jones — J Daniels, M Proctor (sub: O Minors, 60), D Hendrickson (sub: J Pitcher, 84), K Davis, K Burton (sub: D McCallan, 60) — J Woodley. Substitutes not used: D Fishenden. Booked: Morris, Daniels, Woodley. Sent off: Woodley.

Referee: W Woodley.