St George’s 2 Dandy Town 1

St George’s enhanced their league position with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Dandy Town at Wellington Oval on Saturday.

First-half goals from Cavun Ottley and Blair Hall were enough to secure maximum points for an east end crew prepping for the FA Cup final.

However, while the encounter held a great measure of meaningfulness for the home side, there was little incentive outside of pride for Dandy Town, a club unable to win the league nor in danger of relegation, and early on the St John’s Road outfit played like a side with nothing to fight for.

Town were made to pay for their listlessness early as Oyinde Bascome exposed frailties on the left side of the Hornets’ defence in the 14th minute, bursting down the right side before cutting in and passing inside the penalty area to a wide-open Ottley, who calmly yet forcefully planted his sidefoot effort past goalkeeper Azir Harvey.

“This was a real character building win and a good scoring win for us,” said St George’s coach Jarreau Hayward after the match.

“It was a good victory ahead of the FA Cup final. We are a bit depleted right now with a few injuries and some players that are abroad right now, so we’re happy with this victory and hopeful that we can climb up the table some more ahead of the final.

“For us every game matters, so no game is unimportant for us ahead of the final.”

The second Colts’ goal came in the 39th minute and again had poor defending as a key ingredient with Manoj Paynter taking advantage of a poor clearance deep in opposition territory and gaining possession.

Paynter proceeded to split two central defenders on his path toward goal, drawing out Harvey before presenting Hall with the easiest of opportunities to score in an empty net.

Intrigue was restored to the contest just before half time, when Town’s Jahzardae Samuels replied during one of Town’s infrequent first-half forays.

Following an impassioned castigation from coach Scott Morton, the Hornets played with more urgency and purpose, more than holding their own but failing to score in the second half.

“There’s always something to play for and it’s called pride of your club, first and foremost,” said Town coach Scott Morton.

“That’s something that always has to be upfront in the minds of the players and they have to recognise that.

“Today I did not see that from them. The last few games that I’ve been here they have done it. They have progressively got better each game but today they did not psychologically stay in the game.

“You have to earn the right to play for this club. You have to earn victories and remain patient for things to work out in one’s favour.”

Scorers:

St George’s: Ottley 14, B Hall 39

Dandy Town: Samuels 42

Teams:

St George’s (4-3-3): Z Burgess 6 — N Paynter 6, E Signor 6, A Simons 6, A Cannonier 7 — K Hall 6, B Hall 7, H Daniels, 6 — O Bascome 6 (sub: C Burns, 6 51min), M Paynter 7, C Ottley 7 (sub: P Anderson, 90). Substitute not used: R Phipps.

Dandy Town (4-3-2-1): A Harvey 6 — A Lewis 6, M Issac 6, T Webb 6, E Blankendal 6 — D Cook 7, T Goater 6, J Bean-Lindo 6 (sub: W Watson, 78) — C Robinson 7, J Samuels 7 — N Spence 7.