PHC Zebras 2 Paget Lions 0

Ten-man PHC Zebras left it until late before scoring twice inside of six minutes to finally see off visiting Paget Lions in a scrappy Premier Division affair at PHC Field last night.

Just when it seemed as though both teams would have to settle for a share of the spoils, Zebras midfielder Keishon Bean broke the deadlock on a quick break.

Kadeem Abraham then doubled the hosts’ advantage after being afforded time and space on a set-piece to put the game beyond Paget.

Both goals came after Zebras had defender Diondre Dowling sent off when he received a straight red for fouling Diaje Hart, the Paget captain, in the 50th minute.

After the final whistle, Bean expressed delight to see the hosts come away with the points but conceded their performance was not up to par.

“I feel like we could have did much better being the form that we are in,” he told The Royal Gazette. “But we had a little bit of sloppy play from a little fatigue and we’re just happy to get the three points.”

Despite losing a man, Zebras’ superior fitness ultimately shone through as their opponents ran out of steam in the second half.

“I think what we realised was that after the first half you could see they had no wind,” Bean added. “They were very fatigued so as a team that we are fit, we knew that we just had to keep running and keep everything going, and we got the result to fall afterwards.”

Referee Tashon Smith was kept busy as he also dished out eight yellow cards, five of which were issued to Paget as tempers flared.

Both teams enjoyed plenty of possession and had good looks at goal but lacked quality in their finishing and final pass during the first half.

Paget went close to breaking the deadlock when PHC custodian Quinaceo Hunt tipped Hart’s volley from 25 yards over the bar with the first shot of the match on target.

The visitors suffered an early setback when midfielder Joshua White pulled a hamstring and was replaced by former Somerset Trojans player Damon Swan, who joined the club during the late transfer window.

PHC also threatened to take the lead when defender Jaylon Bather had a free kick from just outside of the box brilliantly saved by Paget goalkeeper Omari DeShields, who required treatment after striking his head on the post in the process, to leave the game goalless at the interval.

Paget gained a numerical advantage when Dowling was shown straight red after Zebras were caught short at the back on the quick break.

However, they were unable to capitalise and found themselves on the back foot as Zebras bombarded their goal with Bean, Jenico Sealey and Deandre Smith-Lightbourne all squandering good opportunities.

Bean brought out another fine save by DeShields from a free kick before finally breaking Paget’s resistance. Sealey ran on to Abraham’s through-pass on a quick break but saw his shot partially saved by DeShields, leaving the unmarked Bean to head the loose ball into an empty net.

DeShields was called into action once again moments later to push PHC striker Enrique Russell’s shot from the top of the box around the post.

PHC were in full control and they managed to double their lead which all but secured the points. Bean played a short corner to Russell who picked out the wide-open Abraham whose shot from just inside the area flew into the roof of the net.

Paget had a late chance to pull one back but substitute Tristen Davis mis-kicked after running into space in the box, which perhaps best summed up his team’s frustrations on the night.

SCORERS

PHC Zebras: Bean 76, Abraham 82

TEAMS

PHC Zebras (4-1-4-1): Quinaceo Hunt 7 – D Smith-Lightbourne 7, J Bather 7, D Dowling 7, D Usher 7 – J Ebbin 6 – K Bean 7, J Iris 6, J Sealey 7 (sub: S Nisbett, 89min), K Abraham 7, E Russell 7. Substitutes not used: S Trott, M Smith, Y Burgess, C Nisbett, R Wilson, J Belboda. Booked: Iris, Sealey, Quincy Hunt (coach). Sent off: Dowling.

Paget Lions (4-4-2): O DeShields 8 – S Smith 7, J Carpenter 7, R DeShields 7, K Simons 7 – D Joell 7 (sub: S Lambert, 84), J White 6 (sub: D Swan 6), K Hypolite 6, D Hart 7- S Mitchell 7 (sub: P Castle, 69 6), A Grant 6 (sub: T Davis, 69 6). Substitutes not used: M Wade, Z Weller, J Tucker. Booked: Hart, Simons, Joell, Mitchell, Grant.

Referee: T Simons.