North Village 2 Devonshire Colts 1

North Village made it three wins from three matches after two goals from frontman Rai Simons early in the second half wiped out Devonshire Colts’ first-half lead at Bernard Park to leave them still looking for their first win of the season.

Colts were deserving of that lead but they couldn’t hold it against a Village team that came out more fired up in the second half and responded with two goals in just four minutes.

Kenny Thompson, the Village coach, was happy with the win but admits there is still some room for improvement for the league champions.

“We were very disappointed, frustrated and a little bit embarrassed with the first-half performance,” Thompson admitted afterwards. “It just wasn’t up to the standard that we expect, so in the second half we were looking for a reaction and we got the reaction.

“We then concentrated on playing simpler football and just making better decisions, and that gave us a momentum from which we were able to get the first one — Rai with a brilliant finish — and then we felt we could definitely go and get the second as long as the mindset remained focused.”

After a good build-up by Colts midway through the first half, which started with Michael Williams’s pass out of defence to Chemarl Henry, Colts were denied when goalkeeper Tahj Bell turned Richard Jones’s effort away for a corner.

However, two minutes later on the half-hour mark, they did take a deserved lead when Henry scored with a well-placed effort into the far corner after getting through on the left side of the box.

The goal came after a good period for Colts, who then had the first booking of the match a few minutes later when coach Ray Jones questioned a call by referee Martin Wyer and kept protesting after being warned that one more word would bring him a card.

Village came closest in the first half when a curling free kick from the left corner of the box by Simons produced a quick reaction from Johniko Francis to keep it out of the far corner.

Village showed a new determination from the start of the second half and the early pressure paid off when they equalised with a calm, but precise finish from Simons, his curling shot from the left corner of the box finding the far top corner with goalkeeper Francis flat-footed.

Before Colts could regroup, Village struck a second four minutes later when referee Wyer pointed to the spot after Williams clipped Jaizel Smith-DeShields. Simons stepped up to beat Francis with his spot-kick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Colts immediately made a double substitution, bringing Zuhri Burgess and Teniko Eve for Rahzir Smith-Jones and Freeman Lima, and immediately pegged Village back as Eve had his shot blocked by Bell after a ball through the middle created the opening.

Village hung on to that one-goal lead as Colts continued to press for the equaliser. Laquan Thomas, Colts’ third substitute, surged into the box down the right side in the 85th minute before his shot from a sharp angle produced a good save at the near post by Bell.

Two Village players were booked for time-wasting late in the game — Ian Simmons in the 74th minute and substitute Demetre Daniels four minutes into stoppage time.

“We could have put the game to bed with a third, but the players did well to respond in the second half and then withstand the pressure at the end,” Thompson said.

“We’re still improving and, yes, it’s a building process and we’re looking to improve with every game. The good thing is we have picked up nine points in three games.

“Football is a game you’re not going to dominate all of the time, but we have to be prepared to defend well when we have to. The main thing is we ended up with the win, although there are things we can improve.”

SCORERS

North Village: Simons 59, 63 pen

Devonshire Colts: Henry 30

TEAMS

North Village (4-3-3): T Bell — K Knights, T Fray, Z Robinson, N Araujo (sub: A Darrell, 75min) — Q Lema (sub: R Rochester, 84), J Briers, T Williams — R Simons (sub: D Daniels, 71), I Simmons, J Smith-DeShields. Substitutes not used: S Jennings, P Smith. Booked: Simmons, Daniels.

Devonshire Colts (4-3-3): J Francis — J Paynter, M Williams, C Trott, F Lima (sub: Z Burgess, 65) — R Smith-Jones (sub: T Eve, 65), J Burgess, J Salaam — C Henry, R Jones, B O’Connor (sub: L Thomas, 46). Substitutes not used: E Weldon, S Thomas, K Bailey, C Crichlow. Booked: R Jones (coach)

Referee: M Wyer.