Paget Lions 1

Somerset Eagles 3

Somerset Eagles made hard work of their victory against Paget Lions in the First Division Shield preliminary round match at Devonshire Recreation Club last night.

Eagles, who are seventh in the table, largely dominated the early passages of play and opened the scoring through Lamar Crofton who fired home in the 33rd minute.

Paget, two places below Eagles in the standings, found a leveller when Dante Wellman’s effort took a slight deflection en route to the net.

Brian Iris’s Paget were showing plenty of heart but could not quite match the extra quality in the Eagles ranks, with the visiting side adding a second when Khimo Harrison headed in from a free kick on 78. Crofton then finished from close range for his second of the game late on.

Eagles should have increased their lead in the final minute when Marlon Rojas, the substitute, decided to pull the ball back rather than pull the trigger when in a good position, allowing Paget’s defence to clear the danger.

Rojas, the Eagles player-coach, who has only recently to the Island after moving to Switzerland for work, said that he believed his side should have won by a greater margin.

“For the most part it was an easy game,” said Rojas, a former Trinidad defender.

“We didn’t really play with a high tempo and that made it harder for us.”

Rojas, who was playing in only his second game this season, added: “At 1-1, I decided to bring myself on as I’m trying to get my fitness back and wanted to get a feel for the game again. We had opportunities for a few more goals and I think the guys have to be a bit more aggressive up top and bury our chances.”