Devonshire Cougars 3 Devonshire Colts 1

Devonshire Cougars clawed their way to a comfortable victory against neighbours Colts at The Den on Saturday night but two moments of indiscipline took the spotlight in this feisty Premier Division affair, much to the disappointment of coach Kwame Steede.

“I thought the performance was excellent even when we went down to ten men. We kept our shape but the victory got tarnished with the lack of discipline. As players, especially senior players, our discipline has to be a lot better, on and off the pitch,” said Steede.

Cougars established a foothold in the game early when Chekai Caisey was on the end of a precision pass from Quadir Maynard to sidestep the advancing Colts goalkeeper Jahniko Francis and tuck the ball into an empty net.

Before Colts could recover, Cougars would double their lead when Elisha Darrell’s back-post floater was side-footed home by Drewonde Bascome.

Colts’ best chance of the half fell to Zuhri Burgess who forced Cougars goalkeeper Ricardo Brangman to punch his inswinging corner to safety.

Immediately after the break, scorer Bascome turned villain as he retaliated to a tackle from Brandon O’Connor, giving Steffon Dewar, a visiting referee from Jamaica, no other option but to show a red card and leave Cougars to play the majority of the second half with ten men.

This energised the youthful Colts outfit who picked up the pace and pressured Cougars for every ball. Sareiko Thomas got on the end of another Burgess corner forcing Brangman to push his dipping header over the top. The pressure paid dividends as O’Connor dispossessed Cougars captain Zeko White at the top of his area to slot the ball beyond a flat-footed Brangman.

Cougars brought on Bermuda player Lejaun Simmons to booster their attack as he teamed up with Domico Coddington who had earlier come on as a substitute. They would score their third from a beautiful build-up as Maynard played a defence-splitting pass to wing back Juma Mouchette, whose cross was met with a half-volley from Coddington, giving Colts custodian Francis no chance.

Simmons was booked for kicking the ball away after been blown for offside and just as the final whistle went, he was shown the red card for foul and abusive language as he protested the initial yellow card and had to be held back by his team-mates.

Cougars’ next Premier Division match is against second-placed PHC, whom they must face without the suspended Bascome and Simmons. To make matters worse, captain White limped off the pitch holding his hamstring and may also be unavailable for this encounter.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars: Chekai Caisey 6, Bascome 11, Coddington 68

Devonshire Colts: O’Connor 63

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): R Brangman 6 ‒ J Mouchette 6, Z White 6, Zion Simmons 6, J Thomas 6 ‒ Q Maynard 7, Zari Simmons 6 (sub: D Coddington 54min, 6) ‒ Chekai Caisey 7 (sub: M Battersbee 80), Chris Caisey 6, E Darrell 6 (sub: L Simmons 63, 5) ‒ D Bascome 5. Substitutes not used: D Williams, K Minors, C Albuoy. Booked: J Thomas. Sent off: Bascome, L Simmons.

Devonshire Colts (4-1-4-1): J Francis 5 (sub: J Tucker 36, 5) ‒ F Lema 5, C Minors 6, S Thomas 6, M Williams 5 (sub: A Zuill 74) ‒ K Cann 5 (sub: K Burch 74) ‒ Z Burgess 6, K Bailey 5 (sub: B Robinson 46, 5), J Paynter 6, B O’Connor 7 ‒ S Swan 5 (sub: L Symonds 74). Substitutes not used: T Axelsen, G Todd, A Hart. Booked: Minors, Swan.

Referee: S Dewar (Jamaica).