Somerset Eagles 2

Devonshire Colts 2

Shentoine Lambert proved an inspired substitution for Somerset Eagles when he scored twice in the second half to help last season’s First Division champions to their first point of the new season at White Hill Field.

Yesterday’s only Premier Division encounter proved to be a match of two halves as Colts were comfortably 2-0 at the break and Eagles in desperate need of a second-half injection.

Lambert, introduced in the 41st minute for Jordan Santos, provided it with goals early and late in the half, after dominance by Eagles saw them claim a deserved point.

A second-half red card for Quinton Jones, the Colts midfielder, for a finger gesture to a fan, hurt the visiting side, who had to play the final 11 minutes with ten men.

Lambert capitalised with his second goal of the game eight minutes from the end. The draw earned Eagles and Colts their first point of the season, leaving champions Dandy Town alone on the bottom of the standings after two losses.

“I was disappointed in the end that we didn’t get three, I thought we played well enough to get three points,” Roger Lee, the Eagles assistant coach, said. “In the first half we didn’t play that well, we were down 2-0 but came out in the second half and showed a lot of character.

“We dominated them in the second half which is something we can build on. I thought it was there for the taking when we drew level at two all. We had some chances and missed quite a lot today. We’ve got to take our chances when they present themselves.

“I thought the guys maintained the discipline and were able to play through some of the challenges from the first half. To be able to come out and score early in the second half was good. The second goal gave us a chance to win something at the end.”

Colts took the lead midway through the first half when Jomei Bean-Lindo’s shot from a free kick on the right side was deflected past Lorenzo Lambert, the Eagles goalkeeper, by his own defender Vernell Lambe.

D’Andre Wainwright, the son and grandson of former athletes Dennis Wainwright Jr and Sr, gave Colts a comfortable 2-0 lead going into the break when he doubled his side’s lead in the 36th minute, tucking a shot into the far bottom corner after a cross from Eli Smith.

It was the 16-year-old striker’s second goal of the season, and had he scored a third for Colts inside the first minute of the second half, the outcome might have been different. Wainwright’s left-footed shot was turned around the far post for a corner by Lambert.

Eagles were in no mood to lose a second straight match, and the substitution of Shentoine Lambert proved crucial as he pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute to begin the fightback. Lambert combined with another substitute, Whakail Tucker, who chipped over the defence for Davin Riley-Clarke to cross into the box, where Lambert slotted past Gregory Rose, the Colts goalkeeper.

Marcus Iris-Simmons missed the target with a sidefooted effort as Eagles wasted a good chance to draw level on the hour as they continued to pile on the pressure.

They got a break in the 79th minute when Colts were reduced to ten men with the ejection of Jones, who was booked for delaying a restart and then shown the red card in the same incident when he stuck a finger up at a spectator after an exchange of words.

Eagles scored a deserved equaliser just three minutes later when Lambert netted from close range, though Colts, too, felt they could have won the match.

“We had the momentum in the first half but in the second half we went into a panic mode unnecessarily,” Ray Jones, the Colts coach, said. “He [Jones] is one of our more senior players so his actions were even more unacceptable.”

Colts were hanging on to a slim lead at that point as Eagles kept on the pressure.

“The first goal they got just gave them a little energy to keep running,” the Colts coach said. “It was long, hopeful balls and we didn’t deal with them.

“Then, going down a man didn’t help, we had just started to weather the storm. In the end, ten men for the last 15 minutes, you could say fair result.

“As you can see it is a really young team and it will get better as the season goes on.

“We’ll take the positives out of this, a point on the road, and continue to grow.”

TEAMS

Scorers

Somerset Eagles (S Lambert 53, 82)

Devonshire Colts (Lamb 23, Wainwright 36)

Somerset Eagles (4-3-3): L Lambert – C Medeiros (sub: M Rojas 74min), L Burch, G Smith, K Evans — K Harrison, M Iris-Simmons, A Telford — J Santos (sub: S Lambert 41), D Riley-Clarke, R Seaman (sub: W Tucker, 46). Substitutes not used: A Furbert, S Johns, D Simmons, J Simmons, K Virgil. Booked: Santos, G Smith.

Devonshire Colts (4-3-3): G Rose — J Burgess, V Lambe, K Wilkinson, A Hart — Q Jones, J Bean-Lindo (sub: K Jones, 57), L Symonds — D Wainwright (sub: D Ball, 77), J Woodley, E Smith. Substitutes not used: J Maybury, B O’Connor, D Lambe, Q Simmons, K Darrell. Booked: Woodley. Sent off: Q Jones.

Referee: L Raynor.