X-Roads 1 Dandy Town 2

Champions Dandy Town came away with the spoils in a scrappy Premier Division affair that came to life in the first 20 minutes at Lord’s on Sunday.

Striker Cecoy Robinson broke the deadlock in just the ninth minute with captain Angelo Simmons doubling the visitors advantage moments later.

X-Roads captain Donavan Thompson, who would later go off with a hamstring injury, pulled one back for the home side to slice the deficit in half in the 20th minute but that was as close as Ralph Bean Jr’s team would get as Town did enough to keep their noses out front.

Town dominated throughout but were twice thwarted by the woodwork and they squandered a plethora of chances to blow their hosts away, with their coach Gerald Bean happy to come away victorious despite feeling his side were not at their best.

“I am a perfectionist so I think the team could have played a lot better,” Bean said.

“We are still not putting away the chances we create that eases us up throughout the game. The minute we start putting away all those chances we create, games will be much easier because teams will probably drop their heads and know they don’t stand a chance.

“Not scoring our chances leaves teams in the game. And although they [X-Roads] did not bother us, it’s still something we need to address as far as putting away our chances.

“Other than that I think the team played well in spurts, but we have to get better in all aspects, and it’s going to start with finishing.“

Throwing caution to the wind, Town pressed from the opening kick off with forwards Tomiko Goater and Simmons testing X-Roads goalkeeper Q-Shai Darrell.

The visitors continued to dictate the tempo as X-Roads invited pressure and tried to catch their opponents on the counter-attack.

Town finally made their dominance count when Bermuda under -17 coach Robinson broke the deadlock. Midfielder Azende Furbert threaded a delightful through ball up the middle that Robinson collected before racing clear and slotting into the far corner.

The dust had hardly settled when Darrell found himself picking the ball out of the back of the net for a second time inside three minutes after Simmons cushioned Town’s advantage.

The experienced player was left with the simple task of side-footing midfielder Nizigh Spence’s cross from the left past Darrell from point-blank range.

X-Roads clawed a goal back against the run of play after being awarded a penalty. X-Roads’ midfielder Amir Wilson was bundled over by Town central defender Edry Moore in the box.

Town goalkeeper Daniel Johnson parried Chae Brangman’s spot kick but Thompson reacted quickest to dispatch the loose ball into the bottom corner.

The goal seemed to jolt Town who responded with Simmons bringing off a fine save by Darrell before dragging another effort wide and Goater striking the post from a tight angle.

X-Roads’ first real threat from open play arrived when Johnson saved Jaman Lottimore’s angled shot after he linked up with Terencio Lowe on the edge of Town’s box.

X-Roads then suffered that major setback when Thompson limped off hurt just before the break.

Town finished the half strongly with Brangman clearing away Robinson’s header at the far post and then blocking Takyh Sharrieff-Hayward’s shot in the area.

It was virtually all one-way traffic during the second half as Town maintained a tight grip on proceedings but were unable to add to their tally.

The closest they came to scoring was when Simmons pinged the bar with a fierce drive while Spence was twice denied by Darrell.

Scorers:

X-Roads

Thompson 18

Dandy Town

Robinson 9, Simmons 11

TEAMS

X-Roads (4-1-4-1): Q Darrell 6 – R Simmons 5 (sub: J Gibbons, 64mins 5), T Daniels 5, D Woolridge 5, N Smith 5 – C Brangman 5 – A Daniels 5, J Lottimore 5 (sub: Z McCarter, 78), K Brangman 5, A Wilson 5 (sub: J Morgan, 78), – D Thompson 5 (sub: D Simons, 40 5). Booked: Smith. Substitutes not used: S Dill, J Dill

Dandy Town (4-1-4-1): D Johnson 6 – K Sharrieff-Hayward 6, E Moore 6, S Darrell 6 (sub: J Richardson-Martin, 72 6), T Sharrieff-Hayward 6 (sub: M Parsons, 80) – A Furbert 6 – J Lindo-Bean 6, N Spence 6, T Goater 6 (sub: D Scraders, 68 6), A Simmons 6 – C Robinson 6 (sub: J Wilson-Butterfield, 80). Booked: Simmons, Wilson-Butterfield (sub). Substitutes not used: T Smith, K Lathan, C Henry

Referee: O Nation (Jamaica).