PHC Zebras 4 Robin Hood 0

Forward Paul Simons scored twice to lead PHC Zebras to a dominant victory on Sunday.

The home side took control of the game from the first whistle, creating the clearest openings in the first twenty minutes.

Although Hood were largely deprived of possession, they created a few dangerous moments themselves on the counter-attack but PHC should have opened the scoring midway through the first half, when they moved the ball through the thirds, and skipper Marco Warren struck a powerful shot into the Hood defence before the rebound by Simons was blocked by Dante Leverock.

PHC got the goal their dominance deserved just before half-time, with Shavon Nisbett picking out Simons on the edge of the box before the attacker fired a low effort past veteran goalkeeper Timmy Figureido.

Robin Hood could have immediately responded with an equaliser as Ande Simons was found in space on the left by Leverock, but the winger lacked composure and lashed his effort well wide.

Keishon Bean showcased his creative side early in the second half, threading a beautiful pass through to Simons, but he ran the ball out of play after rounding Figureido. A few minutes later, Warren whipped a corner towards the edge of the six-yard box and Simons tapped home for his second of the day.

Following the home side’s second goal, Robin Hood had a good spell of possession and started to pass the ball around confidently but they failed to create any clear-cut opportunities or make a major impact on the scoreline thanks to the solid communication between the home side’s defensive pair of Naeem Griffith and Jaylon Bather, who were helped with midfield cover from Diondre Dowling.

Warren switched the play for T’syi Showers to square for Nisbett to finish into the empty net to make it three for last season’s league runners-up with seven minutes left of normal time. Hood’s Liam Evans then misplaced a pass in the final minutes, which allowed Showers to sprint into open space and finish into the near post past Figureido.

Zebras head coach Winston Trott was complimentary of his team’s performance after the game.

“We kept possession of the ball well,” Trott said. “We moved it around and got into some dangerous positions but we can work on everything.

“We concentrate on winning every game and we want to win so we can do well in every competition we enter.”

Hood coach Dante Leverock believes this result will encourage his charges to stick to the club’s principles.

“This is a learning curve for us,” he said. “We stuck to the system we wanted to play with strength in the counter-attack.”

Due to a lack of squad depth, Leverock noted the new players will bring some challenges.

“We have low numbers,” he said. “This is another season learning new players, rotation will come when we start to work together over time.

“We must win our first game. Once that happens, we can determine how to move forward with the season, but survival is the primary goal.”

SCORERS

PHC Zebras 4

Simons 45, 59, Nisbett 83, Showers 88

Robin Hood 0

TEAMS

PHC Zebras (4-3-3): C Fubler 6 – J Hassell 7, J Bather 7, N Griffith 7, D Lodge 7 – D Joell 6 (sub: D Dowling, 72min), K Bean 7, M Warren 8 – T Showers 7, P Simons 8, S Nisbett 7. Subs not used: D Richardson, Shaquille Trott, Shakhai Trott, K Lewis

Robin Hood (4-5-1): T Figureido 5 – N Massa 6 (sub: M Hollis, 44 6), D Leverock 6, B Tyson-Gooden 6, T Goater 6 – L Evans 5, N Outerbridge 6, K Naylor 6, A Simons 6 (sub: D Simmons, 85), N Edwards 6 – S Burchall 5 Subs not used: T Outerbridge, W Noriega, T Lowe.

Referee: A Majors