PHC Field 1 Dandy Town 3

Dandy Town continued their fine form with an impressive victory over PHC Zebras at PHC Field yesterday.

The opening exchanges saw very little space on offer, as both sides pressed forward to win the ball in dangerous positions.

The home side created the first clear chance of the day, with Tre Ming having a shot saved brilliantly by Town goalkeeper Treadwell Gibbons.

Town soon got a hold of the ball and began knocking it around nicely across midfield.

A decent ball was played towards Clay Darrell but the striker skied his shot high over goalkeeper Shaquille Trott.

Although Town dominated large periods of possession, the home side always looked dangerous on the counter attack with playmakers Ming, Marco Warren, and chief marksman Cecoy Robinson combining well on the break.

The visiting side opened the scoring in the 24th minute. A decent flowing move was finished strongly when a low strike from Kwame Steede beat Trott at his near post.

Zebras tried to control the midfield but holding midfielder Judah Chapman kept them from getting into threatening positions, acting as a destroyer and making several strong challenges to keep the home side’s dangerous players quiet.

Town remained composed in possession without making any serious chances in the final minutes of the half, holding on to that slender lead.

PHC tried to get back into the game in the early stages of the second half, but the defensive pair of Jomei Bean-Lindo and Eusebio Blankendal were equal to anything the home side brought at them.

Most of the positive momentum came on the left side through Warren and Robinson, who drifted wide when needed.

The visiting side doubled their lead seven minutes into the second period when Steede notched his second by squeezing the ball past Trott from close range after a goalmouth scramble after a corner, which the home side failed to clear.

Just before the hour mark, Town made their first change when midfielder Jamel Amory was replaced by top scorer and captain Angelo Simmons.

About five minutes later, Simmons got on the scoresheet. Jahkari Furbert played an excellent ball to the striker, and he curled his shot past Trott.

By this point, Town were controlling the midfield battle, which allowed wing back Blankendal and Emory to get forward from defence. The West End side had to make their first change to try and stem the flow of the game.

They chose to replace winger De-Aun Lodge with Shakhai Trott midway through the half. Trott tried to make a difference, but Azendae Furbert shut him down, and Chapman was covering the youngster when he found a way through.

Town made their second substitution with a 15 minutes remaining. Mohamed Aden, part of the “engine room” of the team with Chapman, was replaced by Teiko Lowe for some fresh legs and to protect the lead.

However, the visiting side could not hold on to their clean sheet. With about eight minutes remaining, Ming pushed forward into a decent position, found fellow creative force Warren, who struck a scorcher from 25 yards out to leave Gibbons motionless.

Darrell, who failed to score but was a nuisance throughout, came off for Allan Martin in the final moments to hold out for the victory.

Calvin Blankendal, Town’s assistant coach, said they had not given up on an unlikely title.

“Until it is mathematically impossible we will push hard to the end,” he said. “It was a battle rather than a game. We worked hard on both aspects of the game.”

SCORERS

PHC Zebras: Warren 82

Dandy Town Steede 24, 50, Simmons 64

TEAMS

PHC Zebras (4-4-2): S Trott — D Usher, M Lambe, D Smith-Lightbourne, D Lodge — K Abraham (sub: S Trott, 67min), D Dowling, T Ming, M Warren — C Robinson, K Bean. Substitutes not used: C Fubler, Z Weller, Z Lee, J Joseph, M Wilson, J Sealey.

Dandy Town (3-5-2): A Furbert, S Darrell, J Bean-Lindo — E Blankendal, J Furbert, J Amory (sub: A Simmons, 58), J Chapman, M Aden (sub: T Lowe 74) — K Steede, C Darrell (sub: A Martin, 85). Substitutes not used: J Roser, N Smith, E Swan.

Referee: A Francis.