Paget Lions 4 Dandy Town 2

Referee Tashun Simons handed out three red cards, nine yellow cards and awarded two penalties as Paget Lions won a six-goal thriller at Southampton Oval on Sunday.

Paget opened the scoring after only five minutes through a classic strike from captain Daije Hart when his curling left-footed free kick found the top left corner of the net giving Town goalkeeper Azir Harvey no chance.

Jahzardae Samuels missed a golden opportunity to equalise for Town when he rose highest to meet Jomei Bean-Lindo’s cross but headed inches over from within the six-yard box.

This should have been a warning to the Paget defence as Town started to come into their game and they scored on their very next attack when Nizigh Spence met captain Angelo Simmons’s corner to head home through a maze of players to level the score.

Paget goalscorer Hart then turned provider when his cross found national cricket captain Delray Rawlins, who timed his run to perfection to head home without breaking stride.

It was after that the game started to become increasingly physical with Simons issuing five yellow cards, including to Paget coach Antwan Russell, before the interval.

Town pulled level on the stroke of half-time when Samuels used his trickery and skill to get inside the box before being bundled over. After dusting himself off, he planted his spot-kick in the bottom left corner despite a diving effort from Paget goalkeeper Troy Hall.

Town made two substitutes at the interval, bringing on former national captain Danté Leverock at centre half and Tomiko Goater to help stabilise the midfield.

Leverock was called upon within minutes as he toe-poked the ball away from Shakir Smith’s boot as he shaped to shoot for goal but the defender turned from hero to villain moments later when hacking down Rawlins to deny him a goalscoring opportunity.

The foul resulted in a straight red card for Leverock and a penalty for Paget, with Hart composing himself to send Harvey the wrong way and give his team the lead.

A good build-up between Bean-Lindo and Simmons presented Spence with a golden opportunity to tie the match but he placed his header straight at Hall when either corner was a good option.

This miss would haunt Town as Paget doubled their lead three minutes later with goalkeeper Hall providing an assist. His quick release led to Kushae Hypolite outrunning his marker before unleashing a thunderbolt shot, which beat Harvey for pace.

Town substitue Goater would then receive his marching orders for a second cautionable offence after previously being booked for a late challenge on the same player, Rakeem DeShields, to reduce Town to nine men.

It was no surprise that Paget began to dominate possession with a two-goal and two-man advantage but they lost a player of their own late on when substitute Aquino Grant was booked for a careless foul. Referee Simons immediately followed that with a second yellow card for dissent after Grant disputed the decision.

Paget captain Hart welcomed the three points which moved them into fourth place.

“We fought hard as we haven’t had a victory in our last three games,” Hart said.

“Coach had a firm talk with us at the half and asked us to put our heads down and keep playing, which is what we did.”

SCORERS

Paget: Hart 5, 63 pen, Rawlins 42, Hypolite 75

Dandy Town: Spence 34, J Samuels 45 pen

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): T Hall 6 — K Simons 5 (sub: K Durrant), R DeShields 6, J Carpenter 6, S Smith 6 — P Castle 6 (sub: A Grant), S Lambert 6 (sub: A Russell) — D Hart 8, K Davis 6, K Hypolite 7 (sub: M Wade) — D Rawlins 7. Substitutes not used: O Deshields, D Stovell. Booked: Lambert, Russell, Rawlins, Davis, Simons, Castle. Sent off: Grant

Dandy Town Hornets (4-1-4-1): A Harvey 6 — D Cook 6, T Webb 6, E Moore 6, E Outerbridge 5 (sub: T Goater, 46min 4) — A Furbert 5, A Simmons 6, N Spence 6, C Robinson 4 (sub: D Leverock, 46 5) — J Samuels 7 (sub: K Sharrieff-Hayward). Substitutes not used: A Martin, K Brangman, M Isaac, J Richardson-Martin, S Darrell. Booked: Lindo-Bean, Webb, Sharrieff-Hayward. Sent off: Leverock, Goater.

Referee: T Simons.