PHC Zebras 1 Robin Hood 3Lejaun Simmons has warned Robin Hood’s rivals they are gunning for glory across the board after brushing aside defending Friendship Trophy champions PHC Zebras in the quarter-finals at PHC Field yesterday.Although the scoreline was not as convincing as Hood’s 6-0 thrashing of PHC in the Premier Division two weeks ago, the ease of victory proved no less comfortable as goals from Tomiko Goater and Shakir Smith gave them a 2-0 half-time lead before substitute Justin Corday added a third in between Tre Ming’s consolation for the home side from the penalty spot.The Hood captain fired an ominous warning about his side’s aspirations for silverware this season, as well as hailing their strength in depth with yesterday’s squad missing striker Che Brangman, as well as Bermuda players Jaylon Bather and goalkeeper Dale Eve, who is believed to looking for a club in Britain.“The goal is to win everything we can, if it’s there then why not go for it,” said Simmons, who played as a lone striker in the continued absence of Brangman. “We’ve started the season really well and so we just have to keep that momentum going and keep pushing forward.“All that mattered today was the victory. PHC have been our main rivals for the past two to three years, so it’s always nice to get a win over them.“We gave ourselves a good lead and at 2-0 it was just about managing the game and seeing it through.“We were missing a number of players and it just shows the depth we have in the squad. We missed that a little in the past few years but you can see how strong we are now.”Hood broke the deadlock in the seventeenth minute as London Steede brought the ball out from the back before sending a defence-splitting pass towards the left wing, where Goater managed to out muscle his marker into the area before coolly slotting the ball past the onrushing Shaquille Trott.Goater was also involved in the visiting side’s second goal nine minutes later as neat interchange between the winger and midfielder Aaron Nelson on the edge of the area eventually saw the ball find its way to Smith inside the area who swept a first-time shot into the bottom right corner to double the advantage.At the other end of the field, Shakhai Trott’s dangerous free kick from the left caused all sorts of problems for Hood’s stand-in goalkeeper Jason Simons, who, under strong pressure, managed to palm the effort out, before the ball was scrambled away. Hood finished the half in the ascendancy with Nelson volleying an effort over the top from the edge of the area after good work down the right from Simmons, who also spurned a good encounter just before the interval, racing away on a counter- attack before shooting tamely at Shaquille Trott.The visiting side started the second half just as they finished the first and after a period of pressure, they spurned two further good chances in quick succession. The first, in the 60th minute, saw Goater denied by a smart save from Shaquille Trott after intricate interchange between Simmons and Nelson, before Smith raced clear of the backline but could only guide the ball wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.The home side began to grow into the game and after Ming saw a header saved by Simons, they were handed a lifeline in the 71st minute as Cecoy Robinson was brought down inside the area by Casey Castle. Ming took responsibility and made no mistake firing his effort into the bottom left corner, giving Simons no chance.However, there was to be no comeback as Hood restored their two-goal advantage just four minutes later. Simmons was instrumental, twisting and turning his way into the box from the left-hand side before cutting the ball back for Corday to drill a first-time strike past Shaquille Trott.PHC captain Robinson was left to rue a number of costly errors, citing those as the main difference between the sides.“It was a tough game for us. We started off OK but then made a couple of mistakes, gave up a couple of goals in the first half and that cost us,” he said.“The main difference today was that they didn’t make many mistakes and we did.”SCORERSRobin Hood: Goater 17, Smith 26, Corday 75PHC: Ming (pen) 71TEAMSPHC Zebras (4-3-3): Shaquille Trott — D Dowling, M Lambe, D Smith-Lightbourne, D usher (sub: N Griffith 45min) — T Ming (sub: T Welch 79), J Sealey, J Joseph — K Hypolite, C Robinson, Shakhai Trott (sub: Z Lee 74). Substitutes not used: C Fubler, M Wilson, B Degrilla. Bookings: J Sealey, T Ming.Robin Hood (4-3-3): J Simons — C Castle, L Steede, A Russell, D Williams —L Evans (sub: T Tyrell 80), C Ryan, A Nelson (sub: J Corday 61) — T Goater, L Simmons, S Smith (sub: E Outerbridge 80). Substitutes not used: A Bell, J Pereira, C Ricca. Booked: C Castle. Referee: T Simons.