Somerset Trojans 1

Hamilton Parish 0

Trevin Ming praised his side’s focus in their win over Hamilton Parish at Somerset Cricket Club on Saturday night.

The Somerset captain led from the back, marshalling a sturdy defence that limited the visiting team to two solitary efforts on target.

If the home side had made the most of the chances they had created, then the margin of victory would have been far greater.

As it was, Jonathan Bean’s strike moments before half-time was enough to settle matters.

“I think we played pretty well actually,” Ming said. “We possessed the ball a lot and played in their half most of the game. I think it was a good 1-0 victory.

“It was also good to keep a clean sheet. It’s not easy to stay focused the whole game so we just have to keep talking to each other and we got the clean sheet.

“We had a lot of chances and should have scored more goals. That’s how it goes sometimes, but we were able to stay focused for the whole game.”

Bean linked up well with Dion Stovell, his strike partner, before drilling a low angled shot inside goalkeeper Nigel Burgess’s far post to earn the home side maximum points, and more importantly breathe further life into Somerset’s title defence.

The West Enders have now won their past two league matches, suggesting their early-season struggles are behind them. And the scoreline flattered Hamilton Parish, as Somerset should have won by a wider margin.

That they did not take their opportunities kept Parish in the match, and had the visiting side been more willing to pull the trigger instead of trying to walk the ball into the net, they might have come away with something.

Parish certainly had their share of half-chances, but were unable to break down a defence well-marshalled by Ming.

Such was the resilience of Somerset’s back four that Shaquille Bean, the goalkeeper, was exposed only once, when he had to turn an angled shot from Brandon Edward, the Parish winger, around the near post.

The closest that Parish came to scoring was when Yannick Dill, the full back, headed a corner kick against the crossbar.

Dill’s night ended prematurely when he was substituted at the beginning of the second half after suffering a suspected shoulder injury.

Somerset came charging out of the blocks from the off, and Parish were defending for long periods. Still, Somerset nearly fell behind to a sucker punch when Dill rose above the defence only to see his header crash against the crossbar.

Dill’s effort seemed to inspire the visiting side, who, after getting a foothold in midfield, began to penetrate deep into Somerset’s territory with a belief belying their position as a side deep in the relegation zone.

Parish dominated possession during the latter part of the first half, and threatened again when Chris Caisey, the midfielder, fired into the side-netting when scoring seemed easier.

Caisey’s glaring miss came back to haunt Parish when Bean grabbed the winner, his second goal in as many outings.

Stovell gained possession deep inside the Parish half and moved the ball on to Bean, whose thunderous shot beat Burgess for pace at the far post.

Among Somerset’s wasted opportunities to pad the score, Trae Harvey dragged an effort wide from 12 yards, Jadan Ratteray-Smith curled an effort just over from outside the box, Burgess denied Stovell from point-blank range and Adolphus Lambert fired into the side-netting just before the end.