North Village 0 PHC Zebras 2

PHC Zebras struck twice in the second-half to earn a comfortable victory over North Village at Bernard Park yesterday.

The defending champions squandered a hatful of chances in the first half, with Cecoy Robinson, the Zebras captain, hitting the crossbar before being denied by Tahj Bell, the Village goalkeeper, from point-blank range.

It took until the 76th minute for PHC to open the scoring, Robinson making amends for his first-half prolificacy, tapping into an empty net after being picked out by a left-wing cross by Tre Ming.

The Zebras doubled their lead in the 84th minute when midfielder Marco Warren stroked a low effort from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.

Robinson admits his side should have “killed the game off” in the first period.

“There was some poor finishing on my part,” he said “I was pleased to get on the scoresheet today and it’s definitely good to get the win.

“We always felt the goal would come. We had the majority of the possession and were putting Village under pressure. It’s was just a matter of hitting the back of the net.

“At half-time, I told the guys that I’d put away the next chance I got. Thankfully, I was able to do that.”

The match started on a sombre note with a minute’s silence for Irving “Jack Romaine”, a former Village and Bermuda stalwart, who died last week.

PHC started strongly, forcing Village onto the back foot and forced a series of fine saves from the busy Bell during the opening stanza.

Village improved after the interval, with Pierre Smith going the closest for the home side with a header at the back post.

The visiting side’s pressure eventually paid off with Robinson breaking the deadlock with a neat finish before Warren put the finishing touches to a convincing display.

“This win was very important for us,” Robinson added. “Village always give us a test.”

TEAMS

North Village: T Bell — J Davis, P Castle, J Thomas, K Knights, T Wilson (sub: D Dillas, 86min), C Caisey, P Smith, G Butterfield (sub: Z Hendrickson, 46), M Thomas, K Smith. Substitutes not used: J Smith-DeShields, W Shakir, K Francois. Booked: Wilson.

PHC Zebras: S Trott — D Usher, M Lambe, R DeShields, S Trott, T Ming, M Waldron, K Hypolite (sub: Z Lee. 63), M Warren, J Iris (sub: J Sealey, 85), C Robinson. Substitutes not used: C Thomas, M Simmons, M Wilson, Z Ming-Wilson, N’zyah Edwards. Booked: DeShields, Trott.

Referee: M Wyer.