North Village 7

Robin Hood 0

Robin Hood were unceremoniously dumped out of the Dudley Eve Trophy after crashing to a 7-0 defeat against North Village at Police Field yesterday.

Hood only had to avoid losing by three goals to join Village in the semi-finals, but suffered a complete capitulation as the Rams ran riot with captain Keishen Bean helping himself to a hat-trick.

Joining Village in the final four of the competition will be Devonshire Cougars, who salvaged a last-minute equaliser against Hood last weekend, and PHC Zebras and Dandy Town from group A.

It was a dream first game in charge for Devarr Boyles, the Village coach, who missed his team’s 4-1 group B victory against Cougars because he was off the island.

Boyles, a former Cougars coach, said he was impressed by his team’s ruthless finishing although he believed the lopsided scoreline had slightly flattered his team.

“I just think Hood weren’t at it today and that’s opened up the window for Devonshire Cougars,” Boyles said.

“I think the scoreline flattered us a little and it was very surprising to get that sort of result against a team who finished second last season [in the Premier Division] and won the FA Cup.

“It’s always encouraging to get some goals, though, and I thought some of our build-up play was very good.

“However, there were periods when we made it look very, very hard when it really didn’t need it to be.”

Some of Hood’s woeful display can perhaps be explained by the absence of key defenders Chris Fosker and Corey Boyce, while last season’s captain Jaylon Bather has joined non-League English side Ilkeston.

Although Kyle Lightbourne, the team’s coach, will be concerned by Hood’s lack of tenacity, a chief characteristic under his watch, as well the manner in which his players’ heads dropped after conceding a third shortly before half-time.

It was Bean who opened the scoring in the fifteenth minute after latching onto a long ball and sliding it underneath Jason Simons, the onrushing Hood goalkeeper.

Village doubled their lead on the half-hour mark when forward Pierre Smith got on the end of a delightful cross from the right by the influential Bean.

Thomas Brown made it three just before the interval, taking advantage of Hood’s porous defence and keeping his cool to place his shot beyond Simons.

Things got even worse for Hood when Bean made it four in the 54th minute after being left completely unmarked to glance home a header from a cross from the left.

A shell-shocked Hood then conceded a penalty when captain Darius Cox was penalised for hand ball, with Bean stepping up to complete his treble from the spot.

Cox’s misery was further compounded when the defender deflected the ball into his own net while trying to block a shot for Village’s sixth goal during a balmy afternoon.

Village substitute Kaiwon Dill then made it seven, moments after smacking the crossbar, with a well-taken finish after being allowed to run unchecked into the box.

“I’m very encouraged with how the players have responded so far and they’re certainly enthusiastic,” Boyles added.

“Unfortunately for the group it’s been difficult as I’ve missed some of the pre-season and the previous game. Credit to Irving Romaine and Randy Spence, the team’s assistants, who have really picked it up in my absence.”

TEAMS

Scorers

North Village (Bean 15, 54, 62, Smith 30, Watson 44, Cox (og) 72, Dill 85)

North Village (4-4-2): T Bell — K Knights, Z Bowen, D Tankard, J Harvey — P Parsons, T Brown (sub: E Zuill, 78min) N Smith (sub: D Daniels, 58), P Smith (sub: K Dill, 58) — S Hollis, K Bean. Substitutes not used: T Wilson, P Castle, D Dill, E Zuill.

Robin Hood (4-5-1): J Simons — J Pereira, P Froncioni (M Johnson, 67), D Cox, D Taylor — A Nelson (sub: S Nasir, 80), A Russell (sub: S Burchall, 68), L Simmons, E Outerbridge, R Colin — N Peskett. Substitutes not used: D Andrade, L Simmons, N Figureido.

Referee: A Augustus.