X Roads Warriors 0 St George’s Colts 2

St George’s Colts paid tribute to late team member Osagi Bascome in the best possible way, after cruising to a comfortable shutout win over X-Roads Warriors at Garrison Field in their Boxing Day clash.

Goals either side of the break from Lashun Dill and substitute Jahron Dickinson secured the points for the visitors, who were playing their first match since Bascome’s death on December 18.

A minute of silence was observed in the late midfielder’s honour before the kick-off, while his team-mates also paid an emotional tribute along with their fans after the final whistle.

“Osagi’s passing has rocked the St George’s community really hard,” Jarreau Hayward, the St George’s coach said. “So we just wanted to give our fans something to cheer about, something to smile about plus honour our fallen brethren’s memory – and we did that today.”

Hayward said Bascome’s death has brought the east end community closer together.

“We were already a tight-knit group and then to have one of our talisman like Osagi fall like that just really galvanised not just the team, but the coaching staff, the community and the club,” he added.

“As weird as it is, the vibe in the east is just amazing right now because everybody is just full of love and compassion for each other and empathy for each other.

“It’s sad that something like that made this vibe come about. But we are here and so I think we have to thankful in some sense.“

Dill scored what was essentially the game-winner right on the stroke of half-time; the forward drilling home Phillip Anderson’s defence splitting pass in clinical fashion.

Dickinson then thumped Jarizhino Bassett’s pass in the box, in the roof of the net from close range to put the match beyond the home side’s reach near the end.

St George’s were unfortunate not to have come away with a wider margin of victory as they struck the woodwork twice, while Bassett had a goal waved off by the assistant referee’s flag.

The visitors kept their shape throughout with their full-backs getting high up the pitch to provide more attacking options.

Goalkeeper Freddy Hall also dealt with everything X-Roads threw at him on the way to another impressive clean sheet.

“I thought it was a good match back for us,” Hayward added. “We’ve had two weeks off and obviously been through a lot emotionally in that time. So we were a little bit sluggish, a little bit rusty coming out of the gates but I think we controlled the game.

“We could’ve put away our chances a little bit better, but at the end of the day, (we got) three points and we move forward,” Hayward said.

SCORERS

St George’s: Dill 45, Dickinson (substitute) 85

TEAM

X Roads (4-2-3-1): T Brangman 5 – R Beek 5, A Burgess 5, J Furbert 5, T Perinchief 5 – M Thomas 5, T Daniels 5 – J Morgan 5, Z McCarter 5, J Costa 5 – D Thompson 5. Substitutes not used: K Talbot.

St George’s (4-2-3-1): F Hall 8 – J Darrell 7, P Anderson 8, T Burgess 7 (sub: J Carlington 74min), A Francis 8 – D Signor 7, N Paynter 8 – S Paynter 7 (sub: J Dickinson 66 8), L Dill 7 (sub: J Brangman 61 7), M Simmons 7 (sub: J Burgess 74) – J Bassett 7. Booked: Bassett, Simons, Dickinson (sub). Substitutes not used: C King, K Ottley, E Signor, T McCallan.

Referee: A Francis.