Devonshire Cougars 1 PHC Zebras 2

Keishon Bean’s second-half brace catapulted PHC Zebras back to the top of the Premier Division at Devonshire Recreation Club last night.

The striker’s goals were enough for the away to side to edge fellow title contenders Devonshire Cougars, who replied through Nathan Furbert’s own goal in an evenly fought contest.

The victory means PHC regain top spot in the league after trailing overnight leaders North Village by a point heading into the match, while also avenging the defeat against Cougars in the reverse fixture last October.

“It feels good to be back at the top of the table,” PHC captain Daren Usher told The Royal Gazette.

“To come here and get a win off Cougars isn’t an easy task, and the boys put in the work tonight to get the result.

“This one goes out to Muzzy [Mazhye Burchall) and Marco [Warren], of course, but it’s Muzzy’s birthday so this one is for him.”

PHC were cruising to victory and held a 2-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining before an own goal threw Cougars a lifeline and they battled hard in search of an equaliser which never came.

“That’s how the game goes, but the boys grinded it out,” Usher said. “We fought to the end, didn’t give up anything else and the result is the most important thing. We are back to the top and we have to keep pushing on.”

The outcome dealt a crushing blow to Cougars’ title bid as they now sit third, six points behind PHC and five points off second-placed North Village with just six games left to play.

“The title is a now a distance and scores will have to go our way as it’s not in our hands,” Cougars coach Kwame Steede said.

“We got scored against on two lapses that hurt us, but it was a good game. No excuses, we lost and the better team won on the night.”

Bean squandered a glorious opportunity to give PHC an early lead when he failed to convert on a breakaway after Cougars goalkeeper Jerez Eve rushed off his line to block the striker’s effort with his feet.

Cougars’ livewire forward Domico Coddington then brought back-to-back saves from Zebras goalkeeper Quinaceo Hunt during a good spell of possession for the home side.

After weathering some pressure, PHC threatened again with midfielder Jenico Sealey dragging a shot from the edge of the box wide and then having another from inside of the area saved by Eve.

Cougars went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when Coddington’s thunderbolt free kick from just outside the box rattled the bar and the forward then forced another save by Hunt and had a goal ruled out for offside to leave the game scoreless at the interval.

PHC finally made the breakthrough just before the hour mark after the Cougars defence switched off. T’ysi Showers knocked fellow midfielder Kadeem Abraham’s cross down at the near post and the unmarked Bean controlled with his right foot before firing a left-foot shot into the bottom corner.

The home side were again punished for poor defending just six minutes later when the wide-open Bean latched on to a wayward shot and clipped the ball past the advancing Eve into the empty net after Cougars failed to clear Usher’s initial cross.

The Premier Division champions were coasting at this stage but the game took another twist when Furbert’s intended back-pass rolled past the onrushing Hunt.

That defensive blunder lifted Cougars’ spirits and they should have equalised when Maynard’s inch-perfect cross in the area picked out Coddington, but with the goal at his mercy, the experienced forward was unable to fire off a shot and the chance went begging.

Their last opportunity to salvage a point came when Coddington charged into the box but Zebras’ defensive midfielder De-Aun Lodge timed his tackle well to remove the danger.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: Furbert og 73

PHC Zebras: Bean 59, 65

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): J Eve 7 – J Thomas 7, L Millett 7, D Simmons 7, J Fox 7 – M Thomas 7, D Daniels 7 – J Brimmer 7 (sub: N Simmons, 78min), S Burrows 7 (sub: C Albouy, 78), D Coddington 8 – Q Maynard 7. Substitutes not used: N Carmichael, C Johnson, J Wade, K DeSilva. Booked: N Simmons.

PHC Zebras (4-2-3-1): Q Hunt 7 – D Smith- Lightbourne 7, J Bather 7, N Furbert 7, D Usher 7 – K Abraham 7, D Lodge 7 – J Iris 7, T Showers 7 (sub: D Dowling, 84), J Sealey 7 (sub: D Richardson, 84) – K Bean 8. Substitutes not used: S Trott, R Hassell, M Simmons, J Ebbin, R Simmons. Booked: Abraham, Lodge, Q Hunt (coach).

Referee: J Springer (Barbados).