Tahj Bell and his Hitchin Town FC were back to winning ways as they put on an inspired performance against a poor Banbury United.
It took just 2 minutes for Hitchin to score - Captain Callum Donnelly making the most of an unconvincing clearance and striking the ball nicely in to the back of the net. Then, less than ten minutes later, Mitchell Bryant made it 2-0 from close range.
The two quick goals induced some much needed confidence in the Canaries after their recent defeats and sure enough, on 19 minutes, Matt Lench capitalized on Callum's win of a 50/50 ball and made it 3-0.
The second-half did not quite have the same intensity as the first, although Hitchin did find another two goals. Simon Martin's diving header from Donnelly's corner made it 4-0 on 52 minutes and Michael King fired home in the 90th minute to make it five for the home side.
Hitchen Town put on a great show of team unity and desire for goals in their five-goal triumph. In fact, they easily could have had more - finishing the game with a healthy tally of missed opportunities and half chances.
In contrast, Banbury had a game to forget - with just one real shot from Talabi in the first-half that Bell pushed onto the bar. Banbury Captain Kynan Isaac could not hide his frustration with the overall performance of the team...including his own.
For two sides that went into the game level on points, they could not have been further apart in the 90 minutes at Top Field.
Monday, March 10, 2014
First & Premier Standings & Goalscorers
Premier Division Leading Scorer Keston Lewis
IslandStats.com
Following the ten Bermuda Football Association’s First & Premier Division match over the weekend, www.islandstats.com now brings you the stats and standings for the First & Premier Division.
First Division
In the First Division, Robin Hood remains on the top of the table on goal difference over the St. George’s Colts. Both have 38 points, with Robin Hood having a +33 Goal Difference, while St. George’s Colts are +24. Devonshire Colts are in third just three points back and they play the St. George’s Colts in their final game of the season March 16th at the Wellington Oval.
Tristan Daniels from X’Road’s is the League’s leading goalscorer with 22 goals, while Kyle Jones from the Devonshire Colts is in second with 16 goals, Jesse Kirkland from Robin Hood is in third with the 13 goals, while Aaron Williams from the Boulevard Blazers moved onto 10 goals, Joshua DeSilva from BAA and Lozendro Symonds from Devonshire Colts both have scored 9 times.
First Division Standings
38 Robin Hood 38 St. George's Colts 35 Devonshire Colts 28 X-Roads 26 BAA 26 Somerset Eagles 18 Boulevard Blazers 16 Ireland Rangers 09 Young Men's Social Club 02 Paget Lions
Premier Division The Dandy Town Hornets remained on top of the Premier Division Standings by two points they currently have 34 points, with the North Village Rams in second place with 32. The Somerset Trojans are third with 27 points with a game in hand, Devonshire Cougars and the Flanagan’s Onion’s both have 26 points, while the Flanagan’s Onion’s also have a game in hand.
Keston Lewis from the Flanagan’s Onions is the Premier Division Leading Goalscorer with 13 League Goals, Keishen Bean from the North Village Rams has found the back of the net 12 times. Drewonde Bascome from the Devonshire Cougars and Jahquan Smith-Deshields, share the third with 10 goals. Donovan Thompson from Hamilton Parish has 9 points on the season thus far, Shakir Smith along with Cecoy Robinson both from the PHC Zebras with 8 goals each.
Premier Division Standings
34 Dandy Town Hornets 32 North Village Rams 27 Somerset Trojans 26 Devonshire Cougars 26 Flanagan's Onions 22 PHC Zebras 22 Hamilton Parish 15 Southampton Rangers 14 St. David's 13 Wolves
Premier Division Leading Goalscorers
13 Keston Lewis - Flanagan's Onion's 12 Keishen Bean - North Village Rams 10 Drewonde Bascome - Devonshire Cougars 10 Jahquan Smith-Deshields - North Village Rams 9 Donovan Thompson - Hamilton Parish 8 Shakir Smith - PHC Zebras 8 Cecoy Robinson - PHC Zebras 7 Vincent Minors Jr. - Wolves 7 Shayne Hollis - Hamilton Parish 6 Deunte Darrell - Somerset Trojans 6 Temiko Wilson - Dandy Town Hornets
Kevin Wilson admitted that Rai Simons and his Ilkeston FC teammates got what they deserved when they were beaten 3-1 at the New Manor Ground by promotion-chasing Matlock Town.
The damage was caused by poor defending in the first period that gifted three goals to Matlock in the opening 40 minutes and although the Robins were much tighter at the back after the break, there was no way back.
Said Wilson, "There haven't been too many occasions this season when I've had a hold up my hands and admit that we didn't deserve any more than we got. But it was a poor performance - especially our defending - and I'm very disappointed.
"We knew what Matlock were all about. They're an experienced team who get the ball down the sides and feed off the hard work of their two front-men and we didn't match it with a similar work ethic of our own.
"It was a tough lesson for our youngsters and I sincerely hope they learned something from the afternoon. The bottom line was that we didn't work hard enough - individually or collectively - and that's unforgivable."
Matlock had the edge right from the start yet when they went in front after 24 minutes, the opportunity for Danny Hollands to score from close range should never have been presented to him.
The same applied five minutes later when the Robins failed to deal with a corner from the left and defender David Heggerty turned the ball in from inside the six-yard box.
Three minutes later, Wilson's men pulled one back when an intelligent quick-throw from James Reid gave Kane Richards the chance to claim a well-taken goal - his second in successive home games - from a shape angle.
But Matlock re-established their two-goal advantage before half time when Shaun Tuton broke away to lob the ball over Ross Etheridge after possession had been needlessly given away on the halfway line.
Gary Ricketts squandered a gilt-edged chance to make it 3-2 before Wilson sent on Goran Seymour for his Evo-Stik League debut - along with Simons and Chey Adams - in a bid to rescue the situation and the Robins finished with seven teenagers on the field.
But Matlock deserved the success that lifts them into eighth spot in the table, while the Robins slip to14th.
Sunday, March 09, 2014
First & Premier Division Round Up
IslandStats.com
FIRST DIVISION
Young Men Social Club 2 St. George’s Colts 6
At the Bernard Park, Mitchell Tucker gave visiting St. George’s Colts the lead in the 4th minute, Macai Simmons doubled the lead with a goal in the 9th minute. Keshun Smith scored in the 20th minute to put the St. George’s Colts ahead 3 – 0 and then Simmons scored again seven minutes later to give the St. George’s Colts a 4 – 0 lead at the break. Raymond Burgess pulled a goal back for Young Men Social Club in the 60th minute, but Kodi Carlington restored the visitors four goal lead with a goal in the 67th minute, one minute later Romiko Smith made it 6 – 1 to the St. George’s Colts, Burgess would however pull a goal back for Young Men Social Club to make the final score 6 – 2 to the visitors sending them joint top of the table with Robin Hood.
Somerset Eagles 0 Devonshire Colts 1
A 4th minute strike from Teniko Eve earned the Devonshire Colts a 1 – 0 win over the Somerset Eagles, the win keeps the hopes of promotion for Devonshire Colts alive, as they will play joint League Leaders St. George’s Colts on the final game of the season.
X-Road’s 5 Ireland Rangers 1
At the Garrison Field, Jamin Furbert gave X-Road’s the lead in the 4th minute, the League Leading goalscorer Tristan Daniels doubled the X-Road’s lead on the stroke of half time. Daniels scored his second goal of game in the 52nd minute making the score 3 – 0, but Wayne Hill pulled a goal back for the visiting Ireland Rangers in the 55th minute making it 3 – 1. Daniels completed his hat-trick and restored the X-Road’s three goal lead in the 80th minute before Muhummad Boukhloufi closed out the scoring for X-Road’s two minutes later.
Boulevard Blazers 2 Paget Lions 2
At the Police Field, Aaron Williams gave the Boulevard Blazers the lead in the 6th minute, Dunn-ya Taylor doubled the Boulevard lead in the 34th minute, but from there the Paget Lions staged a comeback. Norris Wilkinson scored three minutes later to pull them within one and when Wilkinson scored again in the 41st minute it earned the Paget Lions their second point of the season with a 2 – 2 draw.
PREMIER DIVISION
North Village Rams 6 Hamilton Parish 0 < At the Bernard Park, Jahquan Smith-Deshields gave the North Village Rams the lead in the 17th minute when he lobbed the ball over an advancing Hamilton Parish goalkeeper Nigel Burgess. Smith-Deshield doubled the lead on the stroke of half time to give the North Village Rams a 2 – 0 lead at the break. Smith-Deshields completed his hat-trick with a goal in the 63rd minute, substitute Keishen Bean finally found his goalscoring boots again having been stuck on 10 for almost two months finding the back of the net four minutes later making the score 4 – 0. Bean scored his second goal of the game in the 76th minute extending the lead to 5 – 0 and then Tyrell Burgess closed out the scoring in the 81st minute to extend the Premier Division title race to the final league games of the season.
Southampton Rangers 1 Flanagan’s Onion’s 2
At the Southampton Oval, Steven Astwood gave the Southampton Rangers the lead in the 18th minute when he scored from a free kick, however the Premier Division Leading goalscorer Keston Lewis equalized for the Flanagan’s Onion’s three minutes later. The visitors winning goal came via an own goal as the Flanagan Onion’s came away with a 2 – 1 win.
St. David's 1 Dandy Town Hornets 2
At Lord’s in St. David’s, the Dandy Town Hornets remained on top the Premier Division standing by two points ahead of the North Village Rams following their 2 – 0 win over St. David’s. The league Leaders got a goal from Seoin Darrell and Reiko Trott, while Allan Douglas Jr. pulled a goal back for the home team.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
Premier, First & Corona Division Round Up
Action from the Somerset Cricket Club
IslandStats.com
PREMIER DIVISION
Somerset Trojans 0 PHC Zebras 0
Conditions at the Somerset Cricket Club proved too much for the Somerset Trojans and the PHC Zebras as this Premier Division match ended scoreless.
FIRST DIVISION
Robin Hood 0 BAA 0
At the BAA Field the First Division title race was thrown wide open following League Leaders Robin Hood’s 0 – 0 draw with BAA. Robin Hood with the draw did however secure a promotion spot back into the Premier Division.
CORONA LEAGUE
Flanagan’s Onion’s 5 Lock N Key 0
At the BAA Field, Darren Thompson scored a hat-trick to lead the Flanagan’s Onion’s to a 5 – 0 win over Lock N Key. Will Upton and an own goal made up the other two goals.
Tuff Dogs 2 Robin Hood 2
The Tuff Dogs and Robin Hood played to a 2 – 2 draw, Fabio Divioulo scored both goals for Robin Hood, while Kevin Hurdle and an own goal accounted for the Tuff Dogs goals.
