DRAX HALL, St Mary — Desperate Highgate with a second half surge defeated relegated Savannah 5-0 in their bottom-tier Red Stripe Premier League game at Drax Hall on Sunday.

On target for the demotion-threatened Highgate were Sheldon Davis (49th minute), Christopher Harris (63rd), Nicholas Sewell (68th), Omerio Yorke (85th) and Severo Murphy (92nd).

From the first whistle, Highgate were in attacking mode but failed to convert their dominance into goals as a result of faulty finishing.

Still, Savannah had their moments when they ventured forward but Highgate custodian Romaine Hamilton was in fine form to deny the threat.

With half ending 0-0, Savannah at that point must have fancied their chance of dragging Highgate into relegation hell with them, but the St Mary-based outfit decided they were going to go down fighting.

And they announced their plan of assault when they took the lead shortly after substitute Davis took the field.

Highgate went further ahead when Harris fired home from just inside the penalty area, while Sewell made it 3-0 from a Severo Murphy pass in quick succession.

Another substitute Yorke made added another from a long range shot outside the penalty area. Murphy put the icing on the cake from a 30-yard free kick that went around the wall, beating Savannah captain and custodian Chad Blair.

While the win gave Highgate a lifeline, their only chance of escaping the drop is to win their home match against Cavalier and hope that the other relegation-threatened team Sporting Central Academy lose to Montego Bay United in Sunday’s final set of matches.

Highgate coach Michael Smith was philosophical in articulating his team’s chances of plotting the great escape.

“From there is life, there is hope and this team is not going to lie down and play dead… I know that this Premier League is going to come down to the final day, so in training we will put in some more transitional and finishing (work) and see how well we can come out against Cavalier on Sunday,” he said.