Paget Lions 2 Young Men's Social Club 1

Paget Lions got the new Premier Division campaign off to the ideal start with a hard-fought victory of fellow promoted side Young Men’s Social Club at PHC Field last night.

Somewhat against the run of the play, it was Paget who broke the deadlock in the seventeenth minute as a free kick from the right-hand side was only partially cleared as far as Julian Carpenter, who took a touch before acrobatically firing into the top right corner.

With Social Club still reeling from the setback, they found themselves a further goal behind just three minutes later as Paget’s Kyjah Simons wove his way down the left-hand side before somehow squeezing a shot through a crowded penalty area and into the net.

Just after the half-hour mark, Social Club were handed a lifeline when Malique Wilson was brought down inside the area by Koshun Durrant. Captain Ryan Parris took responsibility and made no mistake, sending Omari DeShields the wrong way to slot his spot-kick into the bottom left corner.

A rejuvenated Social Club enjoyed the clearer of the chances in the second half, with Parris’s deep free kick from the right evading everyone to go narrowly wide of the far post, while Jomeko Mallory also curled an effort just wide with DeShields well beaten.

With just ten minutes remaining, Social Club’s persistence was almost duly rewarded, only for DeShields to brilliantly deny substitute Ronaldo Clacken from close range, ensuring his side claimed all three points.

SCORERS

Paget Lions: Carpenter 17, Simons 20

Young Men’s Social Club: Parris 33 pen

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-3-3): O DeShields 8 – R DeShields 7 , J Carpenter 8, K Durrant 6 (sub: S Smith, 46min 6), Z Weller 6 – P Castle 6 (sub: D Joell, 81), D Hart 7, K Davis 6 — O Tucker 6 (sub: K Hypolite, 46 6), K Simons 6, A Grant 6 (sub: A Russell, 58 7). Substitutes not used: M Wade, J Warren-Smith, S Lambert. Booked: Castle, R DeShields

Young Men’s Social Club (4-5-1): D Jones 6 – Kelvon Butterfield 6, J Richardson (sub: K Smith, 50 6), R Parris 7, T Butterfield 7 – J Johnston 6 (sub: G Butterfield, 72) B Swan 6 (sub: R Clacken, 72), C Woolridge 6, M Wilson 6 (sub: N Armstrong, 88), R Evans 7 – J Mallory 6. Substitutes not used: Keshun Butterfield, M Rudo, M Williams, E Lewis.

Referee: T Adams.