Hamilton Parish 0 Devonshire Cougars 2

Devonshire Cougars recovered from a disappointing Dudley Eve Final loss last week to battle to a 2-0 win over a stubborn Hamilton Parish outfit at Wellington Oval yesterday.

A goal in each half from Jazario Brimmer and substitute Nyeem Simmons helped Cougars to secure all three points and leapfrog St. George’s Colts into second place in the standings much to the delight of coach Kwame Steede.

“It was a great day today,” Steede said. “We showed up and played football unlike last week. We came with a purpose and carried out the gameplan to secure the victory and get the shutout. We are carrying a few injuries so we have to manage this but overall I am satisfied with our performance.”

Cougars were first out of the blocks forcing Parish to concede a free-kick at the top of the box as early as the third minute. Parish goalkeeper Paul Tohill did well to dive to his right to palm Zari Simmons’ low drive to safety as his shot beat the wall. The early pressure paid off when Elisha Darrell and Brimmer interchanged passes before the former shot from an angle and Tohill could only parry into the path of Brimmer, who had the easy task of side-footing past the stranded goalkeeper.

Parish responded almost immediately when captain and centre back Quinn Outerbridge stayed forward after a corner to apply pressure and forced an interception. The ball was played to Zuhri Burgess who dribbled before unleashing a firm drive which Cougars goalkeeper Keitaro Darrell palmed straight to Jordan Outerbridge but his attempted bicycle kick was easily saved by a recovering Darrell.

Cougars captain Zeko White then made a threatening run forward and left three defenders in his wake before slipping a pass to Darrell, who forced Tohill to block his shot at the near post. They also had a golden opportunity to double their lead before the break when Che’Kai Casey put Jayori Fox through but he sidefooted over the top with just Tohill to beat.

Parish started the second half with more urgency and were unlucky not to score when a corner resulted in a goalmouth scramble and Darrell maded a reflex save on the line from a deflected shot and the home side followed that with a period of dominance but Burgess and Jordan Outerbridge would both place their efforts wide from good positions.

Cougars substitute Simmons was introduced in the 69th minute and had an immediate impact when Elisha Darrell intercepted a bad goalkick to put the burly striker through on goal. Simmons held off his marker to slot his shot beyond the advancing goalkeeper to double the lead and release the tension on the Cougars bench.

Parish never gave up and thought they had scored late in the game when Jordan Outerbridge’s free-kick was headed on to the underside of the crossbar but goalkeeper Darrell made another fine save to keep it from going over the line as the Parish players appealed for a goal. After consulting with his assistant, referee Anthony Francis allowed play to continue with Cougars keeping their clean sheet and securing the three points.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: J Brimmer 12, N Simmons 80

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): P Tohill 8 —- K Knights 6, Q Outerbridge 7, M Turner 6, J Bean 6 — Z Burgess 7, S McKittrick 6 —- A Nelson 6, S Hollis 6, J Outerbridge 6 —-K Richardson 5 (sub: S Albuoy, 72min). Substitutes not used: C Lindo, D McKittrick, S Burgess, Q Glasford. Booked: A Nelson.

Devonshire Cougars (4-1-4-1) K Darrell 7 — D Coddington 6, Z White 7, Chris Casey 6, J Thomas 6 (sub: N Simmons, 69 7) — Z Simmons — Che’Kai Caisey 6, J Brimmer 6, D Daniels 6 (sub: J Wade, 76) , J Fox 6 (sub: Jasekani Furbert-Wade, 87) — E Darrell 7. Substitutes not used: J Eve, C Albuoy, Z Simmons. Booked: J Brimmer, N Simmons.

Referee: A Simons