PHC Zebras 3 Hamilton Parish 1

(aet; 0-0 at 90min)

PHC gained sweet revenge over Hamilton Parish on Saturday night to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup, but needed extra time to do it.

Unlike the Premier Division match against Hot Peppers last week, when Zebras were but ghosts of themselves in a 4-0 drubbing, this time the home side were dominant.

“The first game we simply did not show up and they played well enough to put some licks on us on our own patch,” said a satisfied PHC coach Winston Trott.

“Tonight we showed heart. We worked hard this week and they called an extra session for themselves and they really pushed tonight.”

Often slow to to get into top gear, PHC were clearly inspired from the outset and determined to not allow Parish early inroads into the contest, as had been the case just more than a week ago, when they were unable to recover from two early strikes.

Although consistently thwarted in their attempts to score during the first 90 minutes PHC were a class above their opponents and always appeared the more likely to score.

Captain Marco Warren was at his playmaking best in midfield, dictating possession and tempo, while Paul Simons was a constant threat up front, constantly forcing Parish’s defence on the back foot.

It was thus a surprise when, after a goalless 90 minutes, it was Parish who scored first in extra time to add real juice to the contest.

Six minutes into that initial extra period, Parish went ahead through Mauriq Hill, with the centre back pushing forward into the opposing penalty area and succeeding in getting on the end of a right-wing free kick from former PHC defender Casey Castle.

Barely had Parish time to celebrate, when less than two minutes later PHC were back on level terms.

A swift attacking move orchestrated by Warren again caught the Parish defence at odds and after a bit of bobbling around in the area, substitute Shakhai Trott claimed possession before sliding his shot past an exposed Nigel Burgess.

After being dominant without reward for much of the match, PHC finally began to reap the fruits of their labour.

A counterattack down the right side in the 107th minute featured Trott finding Warren just inside the penalty area, with the latter proceeding to the byline before picking out Jenico Sealey in the middle, and he gave Burgess no chance with his shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

Sealey made certain of the result in the 119th minute with his second goal of the night, unearthing a beautiful chip from 25 yards, which dropped over the head of Nigel Burgess, who paid a severe price for wandering off his line.

Coach Trott was hopeful the victory would mark a return to the form that had garnered the club the Friendship Trophy and had thrust them to the top of the Premier Division before suffering a recent dip.

“This is what I expect from them every week,” he said. “We haven’t played well the last four games and tonight was icing on the cake, as a result of them really pushing and working hard.

“They really pushed tonight and I’m proud of them for the effort.”

Trott will have to do without key midfielder Kadeem Abraham for their next outing. He and Parish’s Castle were shown red cards at the end of extra time as tensions boiled over.

SCORERS

PHC: Trott 98, Sealey 107, 119

Hamilton Parish: Hill 96

TEAMS

PHC (4-4-2): C Fubler 6 — D Usher 6 N Griffith 6, J Bather 6, D Smith-Lightbourne 6 — D Lodge 6 (sub: D Dowling, 57min 6), M Warren 7, K Abraham 5, S Nesbitt 6 (sub: S Trott, 87 6) — K Bean 6 (sub: J Sealey, 65 7), P Simons 7. Substitutes not used: T Showers, J Hassell, S Andrew. Booked: Usher, Smith-Lightbourne, Griffith. Sent off: Abraham.

Hamilton Parish (4-5-1): N Burgess 6 — M Hill 6, M Turner 6, J Bean 6 (sub: K Wade, 80 5), Z Burgess 6 — C Castle 5, A Nelson 5, J Outerbridge 5 (sub: K Richardson, 43 5; sub: E Furbert, 116), S McKittrick 5 (sub: C Lindo, 80 5), K Knights 5 — M Walker 5. Substitute not used: P Tohill. Booked: Castle, Hill, Richardson, Walker. Sent off: Castle.

Referee: D Parchment (Jamaica).