North Village 2 PHC 0

De’Andre Wainwright enjoyed a dream debut for North Village after helping his new side clinch the first silverware of the season with a 2-0 victory over PHC to lift the Charity Cup at Devonshire Rec on Sunday night.

The powerful forward, a summer signing from Premier Division rivals Somerset Trojans, broke the deadlock in spectacular style by curling home a sumptuous free kick in the 55th minute, with Tre Ming heading home a second from close range 15 minutes later to wrap up proceedings.

Having introduced himself to the Village faithful in the ideal fashion, Wainwright is keen to help the club challenge for further titles this campaign.

“I’m really delighted to be able to score on my debut,” he said. “With any new team you join, you want to make an immediate impression and so to do that and win a trophy already is great.

“Tre [Ming] asked me if I wanted the free kick; I was feeling confident and as soon as I struck it I knew it was going in, it was a great feeling.

“I came here to be a part of a better team, score more goals and try to win things. It’s a great chance to further develop myself as a player and that was major reason in joining the club.

“That’s one title down and so the target for everyone now is to try and win every other title that we can this season, that’s what we want.”

After a somewhat sluggish start to proceedings from both sides, Village finally created the first clear opportunity in the fourteenth minute when Wainwright raced on to a through ball from Daion Swan-DaSilva but could not beat the onrushing Quinaceo Hunt.

The PHC goalkeeper had to be at his best in the 28th minute as he somehow denied Jordan Outerbridge scoring on his Village debut, diverting the forward’s point-blank effort at the back post past the opposite upright.

At the other end, Kadeem Abraham finally called Detre Bell into the action, with the goalkeeper reacting well to keep out the midfielder’s volley to ensure the sides went in level at the interval.

Village started the second half on the front foot with Wainwright again thwarted by Hunt in the 54th minute, as the goalkeeper made himself big to stop the striker’s driven effort smartly with his feet.

However, there was absolutely nothing Hunt could do just a minute later as Wainwright finally found a breakthrough, curling home a perfectly executed free kick from 25 yards, which went beyond the outstretched reach of the goalkeeper and into the top-left corner.

With momentum firmly in their favour, Village added a second 15 minutes later when Wainwright’s speculative effort from the right-hand side of the area inadvertently found an unmarked Ming at the back post to head past a helpless Hunt.

Village played out the rest of the match to seal a victory, which saw them claim the cup for a record eighth time to move them level with PHC as the most successful club with 54 league and cup titles overall.

It proved a disappointing start to Quincy Hunt’s tenure as PHC coach and he reflected on a difficult return to action for his club after the tragic loss of former captain Marco Warren, who died after a suspected hit-and-run incident in May.

“A loss is always disappointing, none of us are involved in football to lose games,” said Hunt, who joined both sets of players, coaches and fans in a minute of silence before kick-off.

“It is still an ongoing situation with what happened to Marco and our community does not feel as if we have had closure. It’s been extremely hard for everyone and obviously we all miss him.

“We have to try to keep going and do Marco proud. He was all about team and community and is a huge loss for the club, the community and the entire island.

“In terms of on the field and our aspirations, we are PHC. We have to fight for titles and trophies because it’s in our DNA. We have to keep that tradition going.”

Photo gallery

SCORERS

North Village: Wainwright 55, Ming 70

TEAMS

PHC Zebras (4-5-1): Q Hunt 8 — D Smith-Lightbourne 6, J Bather 7, N Griffith 7, D Usher 6 — S Nisbett 6, K Abraham 7, T Showers 6, J Hassell 6 (sub: R Hassell, 84), J Sealey 7 — K Bean 7 (sub: J Ebbin, 84). Substitutes not used: W Trott, J Iris, N Furbert, D Dowling, M Simmons, A Wade, A Burgess. Booked: Hassell, Bather.

North Village (5-4-1): D Bell 7 — L Evans 6 (sub: J Smith-Deshields, 52min 6), T Williams 7, R Sampson 6, L Steede 6, J Outerbridge 7 — D Swan-DaSilva 7 (sub: P Smith, 84), K Harrison 6, I Simmons 6, T Ming 7 — D Wainwright 7 (sub: Z Tucker, 88). Booked: Harrison, Outerbridge, Bell.

Referee: S Maybury.