PROPELLED by a double strike by Walton Burrowes, Mackeson Brittons Hill upstaged Claytons Kola Tonic Notre Dame 3-1 in the feature football match of a Digicel Premier League triple header at the National Stadium on Sunday.
The victory over their St Michael arch rivals carried Brittons Hill to ten points, five adrift of leaders Meridian Youth Milan. Both teams have played five matches.
Burrowes quickly atoned for an early miss when he gave Brittons Hill a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, placing a low left-foot shot out of the reach of Dames’ goalkeeper Kareem Farrell following a good exchange with Ricky Barnes.
Dames were forced to make a first-half substitute, bringing on John Hawkesworth for an out of sorts Philip King, and the former national player, in his first match of the season, quickly made his presence felt.
He found the advancing Donovan Lavine with an excellent pass inside the 18-yard box, but his firm shot was deflected by opposing goalkeeper Kerry Holder over the crossbar.
Two minutes into the second half, the Dames equalized when Maradona Lavine hit a lovely volley over the head of Holder. But captain Jeffrey Williams restored Brittons Hill’s advantage in the 72nd minute, slotting home a loose ball into an unprotected goalbar following a battle for ball possession between Hawkesworth and Luther Watson to the right of Dames’ 18-yard box.
After Dames introduced national Under-17 striker Diquan Adamson for Carl Joseph, who had squandered two relatively simple opportunities in the first 15 minutes, Burrowes sealed the outcome in injury time (90+1), shrugging off his marker to place a left-foot shot into Farrell’s far corner.
In the opening game, Bagatelle, through a contentious injury time goal by Arantes Lawrence (90+3) registered their second straight victory with a 1-0 triumph over Paradise, whose young striker Armando Lashley and with Bagatelle’s sweeper Nicholas Collymore were red-carded on the stroke of half-time for a fracas.
The second match saw Pride of Gall Hill overcoming an early scare to thrash St John Sonnets 5-1. Sonnets were unable to make the night a happy one for their new Member of Parliament, Mara Thompson, watching from the VIP Stand.
Jefferson “Butler” White put Sonnets ahead in the 13th minute but an unnecessary tackle by Ken Harewood on Curtis Odle allowed Gall Hill to equalize from the penalty spot with Andre Phillips converting.
Jemarr Smith (29th) and Odle (31st) gave Gall Hill a 2-1 half-time lead with goals in the space of two minutes, both running onto balls lobbed over the top to beat Sonnets’ rookie goalkeeper Matthew Gittens.
Ryan Griffith was credited with Gall Hill’s fourth goal in the 57th minute when he knocked Smith’s goal-bound cross firmly over the line while Barbados’ Under-17 leading goalscorer Jabarry “Pappy” Chandler beat the high Sonnets’ offside trap and rounded Gittens for an easy maiden Premiership goal.
