Kyle Lightbourne asked for a reaction and his team delivered in bulk after thrashing Southampton Rangers 6-1 in the Premier Division yesterday.

Hood suffered a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Dandy Town in midweek, but responded with a hefty win at Southampton Oval to earn plenty of praise from their satisfied coach.

Antwan Russell, the Hood striker, rediscovered his scoring touch with a hat-trick, including a second half penalty.

Also getting their names on the scoresheet were Aaron Nelson, Lejuan Simmons and Mackih McGowan as Hood got their league season “up and running” in style.

“It was important we bounced back from our midweek defeat because we just gave up after [Town] scored three goals,” Lightbourne said.

“We needed to get our season up running and we were a little jittery but we got the result we needed. Rangers caused us a few problems at 2-1, but I actually felt we could have scored a few more.”

Trevin Ming, the Somerset Trojans captain, hailed his team’s defensive resilience after their goalless draw against North Village at Bernard Park.

Village enjoyed plenty of possession but found Trojans’ unyielding backline difficult to breakdown, with scoring chances at a premium for both sides.

“I felt like the game could have gone either way,” Ming said. “We’re happy with the clean sheet and the point — it’s certainly better than losing.

“I thought we defended well today just as we did for much of last season.”

Trojans continually looked to play quick balls forward and hit Village on the break but failed to really test Jason Williams, the Village goalkeeper.

“We’re just looking to be dominant in all aspects of the game and hopefully we can keep improving,” Ming said.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Boulevard triumphed in 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller against Hamilton Parish at Police Field, and at St John’s Field, Dandy Town Hornets thrashed PHC Zebras 4-1 with Tomiko Goater grabbing a hat-trick.