Hamilton Parish 0 Dandy Town 2

Dandy Town came away with all of the spoils from this evenly fought Premier Division contest against hosts Hamilton Parish at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

Goals either side of the break from captain Angelo Simmons and Jahzardae Samuels earned their visitors their second straight league win, much to the delight of coach Aaron Jenkins.

“The win was important, it was a must for us to stay within touching distance of everybody,” Denkins told The Royal Gazette.

“The conditions were hot so it was good for the players to stick it out and dig through.

“Credit to the opponent. For them to play three games in a span of a week was very difficult for them. And they did come out and fight, so credit to them.”

Striker Samuels, who also had an assist, was just as thrilled to see he and his fellow team-mates come away with maximum points.

“It was a very hard game today. We fought hard and put the work in,” he said. “It was a good team effort.”

Parish created the first clear cut opportunity with forward Kion Knights mis-kicking captain Macquille Walker’s lay off in the box with the goal at his mercy.

After weathering some early pressure, Town began stringing passes together and creating chances of their own. The visitors had a strong appeal for a penalty denied after former player Jahquille Stowe appeared to handle in the area while Samuels placed a free header from a corner over the bar.

Town continued to press on and were finally rewarded when Samuels fed a short pass to Simmons, whose shot from 25 yards beat Parish custodian Jordan Burgess at the near post.

Both teams created further chances as the game opened heading towards the interval.

Parish’s Knights headed a free kick against the post and had a shot saved by Town goalkeeper Azir Harvey at the near post while at the other end, Burgess raced off his line to beat Town defender Edry Moore to forward Simmons’s through pass in the area.

The hosts looked to be back on even terms early in the second half. Playmaker Justin Bell had the ball in the back of the net but his effort was flagged offside.

Harvey rushed off his line again to block midfielder Diego Richardson’s path to goal as Parish kept chipping away in search of an equaliser.

The unrelenting Samuels brought off another save from Burgess before finally breaking the latter’s resistance coming down the home stretch.

The experienced player ran onto midfielder Nizigh Spence’s pass and created just enough space to fire a shot past Burgess and slam the door shut on the home team’s hopes of salvaging something from the match.

“You have to work hard to get into those positions, and it’s my team-mates that really helped me, so I thank them and my supporters for pushing me,” Samuels added.

“When you put in hard work, in and outside of training, it pays off. So I am loving football right now and enjoying it.”

SCORERS

Dandy Town: Simmons 25, Samuels 84

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): J Burgess 6 – J Bean 7, J Stowe 7, K Wade 7, R McKittrick 7 – D Richardson 7, S Valasse-Paul 7 – K Knights 7 (sub: C Lindo, 82min), L Lewis 7, J Bell 7. Substitutes not used: J Small, A Foy, T Welch. Booked: Stowe.

Dandy Town (3-5-2): A Harvey 7 – E Moore 7, D Leverock 8, M Issac 7 (sub: C Robinson, 73 7) – K Brangman 7 (sub: D Butterfield, 55), N Spence 8, E Outerbridge 7, J Chapman 6 (sub: A Lewis, 55) A Simmons 7 (sub: D Ming, 65) – J Samuels 8, T Goater 7. Booked: Goater, Leverock.

Referee: T Adams.