Dandy Town 0 Devonshire Cougars 4

It was a late finish for the hardy spectators who stayed late following a delayed start to the match but Cougars fans will not be complaining after their side ran out easy winners in the Dudley Eve Trophy quarter-final.

With the match scheduled to start at 9pm only kicking off after 10pm because of two serious injuries in the first match of a double-header at PHC Field, players were left to wait around for the game to start and Town never got going.

It took until the 27th minute for Cougars to break the deadlock as Domico Coddington found himself on the receiving end of a threaded pass from Chae Brangman before hitting a firm drive beyond Town goalkeeper Treadwell Gibbons.

Town would have expected an opportunity to fight back as Cougars were reduced to ten men just minutes later when Simeon Burrows picked up two yellow cards in quick succession for kicking the ball away and using foul and abusive language towards referee Amaury Majors.

However, the Town comeback never maaterialised and, despite being a man down, Cougars continued to dominate play and doubled their lead when Coddington snaked his way into the box only to be hacked down from behind by defender Khiari Sharieff-Hayward. Brangman planted his spot-kick to the left of the goalkeeper.

Town nearly pulled a goal back early in the second half when captain Angelo Simmons put substitute Cecoy Robinson through on goal only for Cougars’ goalkeeper Alexander Ingham to advance off his line and block the goalbound shot.

Cougars continued to find freedom down Town’s left flank and scored their third when sub Jayori Fox had his initial shot blocked by Gibbons but was first to the rebound to tap into an empty net.

Town midfielder Damon Ming looked lively with some forceful runs forward and one of his crosses was headed over by Sharieff-Hayward in his side’s last real chance of the match.

It was Elisha Darrell who closed out the scoring for Cougars when Coddington outpaced his marker down Town’s vulnerable left side to pick out the forward at the back post and he sidefooted past the stranded Gibbons.  

Scorers:

Cougars: Coddington 27, Brangman 43, Fox 75, Darrell 88

Teams

Dandy Town (4-1-4-1): T Gibbons 5 — E Moore 5, D Leverock 5, M Issac 5, K Sharieff 6 (sub: J Richardson-Martin, 83min) — D Ming 6 — T Goater 5 (sub: Q Watson, 83), N Spence 5, A Furbert 5 (sub: J Champan, 46 5), K Brangman 5 (sub: C Robinson, 52 6) — A Simmons 5. Substitutions not used: D Johnson, D Simons. Booked: T Goater, J Chapman, D Ming.

Devonshire Cougars (4-5-1): A Ingram 6 — Z White 6, T Tucker 5, J Thomas 6, M Joell 6 — S Burrows 5, Q Maynard 5, E Darrell 6, D Coddington 7, L Simmons 5 (sub: Z Simmons 66, 5) — C Brangman 6 (sub: J Fox, 45 6). Substitutions not used: D Hendrickson, D Williams, L Millett, J Brimmer, J Furbert-Wade. Sent off: Burrows

Referee: A Majors