Robin Hood 1 Dandy Town 2

Robin Hood thought they had a deserved point in the bag before defender Terrance Webb stabbed home a dramatic winner from a free kick four minutes into stoppage time to snatch all three points for league leaders Dandy Town at BAA Field last night.

Kamali Evans sent his free kick from the right side of the penalty box to the far post where Nizigh Spence headed it back into the box for Webb to apply the finishing touches from close range.

It was a devastating blow for Hood, who held their own against their high-riding opponents and threatened to pull off a big upset.

The win enabled Town to re-open a four-point lead over PHC after that lead had been cut to just a point with PHC’s win over St George’s on Tuesday.

“Hood came with a lot of intensity but we didn’t keep possession of the ball as much as we could have,” admitted Jay Bean, the Town assistant coach.

“I told the team that we gave the ball away far too much in the first half, which always is going to create pressure on our defence. That was the case in our previous game against Village, we gave the ball away too many times and it invites pressure.”

The longer the first half went on, the more Hood looked like they might get something out of the game.

Their youngsters acquitted themselves well, led by the experience of player-coach Dante Leverock, who was a tower of strength in the heart of their defence.

Town wasted a couple of good chances midway through the first half when two passes from Tomiko Goater, a Hood player last season before he returned to Town, were wasted by Nizigh Spence, who shot wide from inside the box, and then Davis who side-footed over the bar.

Town finally found their scoring boots early in the second half when Spence broke the deadlock with a firm header under the bar following a cross from Davis from a corner on the left.

Mataeo Holder produced a good save two minutes later when he tipped a shot from Goater over the bar. From the corner Goater blasted well wide with his weaker left foot.

Town had now stepped up a gear though Hood were still in the game and proved it in the 64th minute when they equalised through a Dante Leverock strike at the far post following a corner on the right by Daniel Cook, one of a few Hood youngsters, who had a good match.

“For us that’s what we are proud of, this year has been very important for the development of our youth programme,” said Richard Todd, the Hood assistant coach.

“We have seen it mature where we have players come through from under-13s and are now playing in the senior team. Ten of them were in tonight and six under-17s started, so it bodes well for the future.

“It was a tough lesson tonight, you’re talking about a matter of seconds and being able to close the game out. But hats off to them as a team, I thought we played well and we stretched Town.

“Senior players like Chae Brangman, Ereiko [Brangman] and Aaron [Nelson], it’s very important to have those guys around with the youngsters and helping them. It’s a lot to be proud of, but at the end of the day points is what matters.”

SCORERS:

Robin Hood: Leverock 64

Dandy Town: Spence, 58, Webb 90+4

TEAM

Robin Hood (3-5-2): M Holder 6 ‒ N Furbert 6, D Leverock 7, A Trott 6 ‒ A Nelson 6 (sub: T Davis, 81), A Simons 6 (sub: B Morrison 83), N Outerbridge 6 (sub: K Knights 58, 5), D Cook 7, S Ming 6 ‒ E Outerbridge 6, C Brangman 6. Booked: Furbert, Simons. Substitutes not used: T Goater, M Fullerton.

Dandy Town (4-3-3): J Manders 6 ‒ E Blankendal 6, T Webb 7, S Darrell 5 (sub: T Manders 53, 6), J Bean-Lindo 6 ‒ N Spence 6, A Furbert 6, J Chapman 6 (sub: C Robinson 60, 5) ‒ A Simmons 5 (sub: M Mello-Cann 90), T Goater 6, K Davis 6. Substitutes not used: J Rosser, M Isaac, N Smith, E Swan.

Referee: M Wyer.