Devonshire Cougars 3 Boulevard Blazers 1

Devonshire Cougars kept their Dudley Eve Trophy title defence on track after seeing off a spirited ten-man Boulevard Blazers to book their place in the semi-finals at PHC Field last night.

Che’Kai Caisey twice put Cougars in front – the second in the 50th minute – after Anthony Smith had deservedly got Blazers on level terms before the interval.

In a frantic final five minutes Cougars then missed two penalties; Caisey first spurning the opportunity to wrap up his hat-trick when Boulevard goalkeeper Azir Harvey pulled off a brilliant double save, before another spot-kick was awarded, with Boulevard defender Antoine Famous shown a straight red card for handling on the line.

This time Domico Coddington took responsibility and scored before a retake was ordered for encroachment, with the midfielder sending his second attempt high and wide.

However, the defending champions finally put any lingering nerves to bed in the dying seconds when Coddington got himself on the end of Caisey’s pinpoint driven ball to wrap up victory.

Despite securing their place in the final four, Cougars head coach Kwame Steede was far from content with his side’s profligacy in front of goal in what proved a stern test from a much improved Boulevard outfit.

“Credit to Boulevard because they came to play tonight, but we were wasteful from start to finish,” he said. “We didn’t play our natural game at all and made it incredibly hard for ourselves.

“The main thing was always getting to the next round but we need to find our rhythm because it wasn’t there tonight. The only real positive is that despite playing poorly we are creating chances, if we weren’t I’d be worried.”

After a tentative opening to the match, Cougars came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the eighteenth minute when a Che’Kai Caisey header came crashing off the underside of the bar with Boulevard able to hack the danger away.

Boulevard responded almost immediately when Smith volleyed Quadir Maynard’s corner from the right narrowly over.

At the other end, Cougars finally found a breakthrough in the 25th minute. Good combination between Elisha Darrell and Che’Kai Caisey, resulted in the latter being released into the area before slotting a left-foot shot beyond the reach of Harvey.

Despite the setback, Boulevard responded strongly and got themselves level six minutes later as a dangerous inswinging Kamali Davis free kick from the left caused havoc inside the area with Smith pouncing to smash the ball home via the crossbar from close range.

Just five minutes after the restart, Cougars regained the lead. Good work down the left side from Trey Tucker saw the defender beat three players with his cross eventually ricocheting its way to Che’Kai Caisey who fired low past Harvey into the bottom left corner.

A lull in action followed before Cougars substitute Jesse Seymour came close to adding a third with his first touch in the 70th minute but the striker was somehow denied by the feet of Harvey from point-blank range.

With five minutes remaining Steede’s side were handed a golden chance to put the result beyond doubt after Jahzarde Samuels was adjudged to have handled inside the area. However, Che’Kai Caisey spurned the chance of a hat-trick, with Harvey saving the initial effort and rebound.

With full time looming, referee Dwight Jackson pointed to the spot again as Famous was adjudged to have handled on the line after diving at the feet of Che’Kai Caisey to deny a certain goal.

Coddington stepped up and sent Harvey the wrong way. However, celebrations were cut short when Jackson ordered a retake for encroachment. To compound matters, the forward missed his second effort, firing high and wide of the left upright.

But Coddington ultimately had the last laugh in the final seconds, getting on the end of an inviting driven cross from Che’Kai Caisey to fire home from close range and seal victory.

“I’m very proud of the performance even though we went down today,” said Boulevard coach Jomar Wilkinson. “We showed a lot of guts, determination and most importantly discipline.”

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: Che’Kai Caisey 25, 50, Coddington 90+1

Boulevard Blazers: A Smith 31

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): K Darrell 6 – Chris Caisey 7, T Tucker 7, Z Simmons 7, J Thomas 6 – Che’Kai Caisey 8, D Daniels 7, J Brimmer 7 (sub: J Seymour, 70min 7) – D Coddington 8, L Simmons 6 (sub: K Minors, 70 6), E Darrell 6. Substitutes not used: J Furbert-Wade, C Albouy, D Williams, N Simmons, Z White. Booked: Brimmer

Boulevard Blazers (4-5-1): A Harvey 8 – A Famous 6, J Samuels 6, A Smith 7, Q Maynard 6 (sub: A Smith, 80) – S Woolridge 6, T Walker 6, K Davis 7, A Johnston 7, I Coke 6 – C Darrell 6 (sub: T Taylor, 53 6). Substitutes not used: Z Stovell, N Augustus, J Williams, R Murphy. Booked: Coke. Sent off: Famous.

Referee: D Jackson.