The young ones shall lead them!
Teenaged striker Kemar Headley scored the season’s fastest goal while notching a double strike to guide Weymouth Wales to a 2-0 victory over KDJ Auto Parts/Gatorade Dayrells Road in the Digicel Premier League at the National Stadium on Sunday night.
The victory was Wales’ ninth of the season and carried the unbeaten Carrington Village, St Michael side, seeking their first Premiership title since 1986, to 29 points.
They are still seven points ahead of the Barbados Defence Force, who won from Pinelands 3-1 in another match at Orange Hill, on Sunday.
Headley, 18, found the nets after just ten seconds when he darted in from the right side, eluded Dayrells Roads’ central defenders Jomo Brathwaite and Roland Sandiford, who both missed their challenge, and easily beat goalkeeper Andre Small.
He added a second goal in the 48th minute, following a good build-up by Wales when he collected a loose ball after Paul “Soup” Lovell missed his one-time shot, switched the ball to his right foot, and slotted past Small.
Afterwards, Small prevented nine-man Dayrells Road from being beaten by a bigger margin, coming up with a series of remarkable saves to deny Headley, Dwayne Stanford and Jabar Greene, in one-on-one situations.
Dayrells Road lost Brathwaite, who got his second yellow card for a foul on Stanford while Sandiford was ejected by referee Rayon Small for denying Greene a clear goal-scoring opportunity after he broke free.
Headley, with six Premiership goals, was given the chance to score a hat-trick but hit the resulting penalty onto the right post.
In the feature match, Mackeson Brittons Hill got their fifth win of the season, withstanding relentless pressure to edge goal-shy Claytons Kola Tonic Notre Dame 1-0 through a Walton Burrowes’ 69th-minute header to remain in third position on 19 points.
Dames, badly missing the inspiration of recuperating coach Tony Jarvis and captain John “Nobby” Parris, who was on the bench, assisting with team strategy, still only have 13 points and are now just outside the relegation zone.
The Dames, who have been overtaken by defending champions, Meridian Castrol Youth Milan who beat lowly Bagatelle 2-0 in the opening game to move to 15 points, created a number of goal-scoring opportunities, forcing Brittons Hill to make a first-half substitution, replacing Rohan Hall with Jermaine Caesar.
National player Carl Joseph was the chief culprit, missing a number of one-on-ones with goalkeeper Kerry Holder while there were also misses for Zico Edmee, Jamar Moore and defender Kimoi Seale.
Defensive midfielder Aaron Leacock was unlucky to see his header from a Renaldo Gilkes’ corner, ricochet off the inside of the upright and straight into the hands of Holder.
The Dames paid dearly as a Gregory Goodridge free-kick was headed across the goalmouth by six-footer Hendy Richards for Burrowes to head home.
Youth Milan’s victory was marred by the sending off of defenders Corey “Santa” Barrow in the 37th minute and Ryan Griffith, in the 88th minute by referee Edwin Adams.
Norman Forde gave Milan a 1-0 lead on the half-hour and CGI Maple off-spinner Ramon Greaves, fresh from a five-wicket haul in the Elite Division on Saturday, got the other goal in the fifth minute of injury time, after replacing fellow cricketer Brian Corbin.
The game between Direct TV Paradise and Pride of Gall Hill, which was scheduled for the Gall Hill Ground in St John, was not played because workmen, who were installing underground cables on the outfield, had not completed their task.
