North Village 2 Somerset Trojans 0

High-flying North Village extended their unbeaten run while bringing ten-man Somerset Trojans’ unblemished record to a grinding halt with a convincing victory at Bernard Park yesterday.

Thomas Watson, the midfielder, gave Village a 1-0 advantage at the half with a clinical header before substitute Nacori Smith pounced on loose defending to make the points safe after the break. Village’s victory kept them level on points with Premier Division leaders PHC Zebras, the remaining unbeaten team in the top flight.

However, victory did not come without a cost for the home side, as captain Kieshen Bean suffered a blow to the head during a goalmouth scramble and was subsequently taken to hospital with a suspected concussion.

Trojans’ frustrations were perhaps best summed up by the sending-off of substitute Antione Seaman, who was booked twice in the space of eight second-half minutes.

After a cagey start, Trojans should have taken the lead on a counter-attack. Jonathan Bean played the ball into space for fellow forward Tahj Wade, whose cross found the unmarked Duante Woods inside the six-yard box. But with only goalkeeper Tahj Bell standing in the way, Woods scoffed his effort and presented an easy save.

The home team gave a glimpse of things to come with Phillip Parsons nodding Shayne Hollis’s corner wide and Shaquille Bean, the Trojans goalkeeper, rushing outside of his box to thwart a counter-attack. Bean picked up a booking in the process for a foul on Enyche Zuill, the Village striker, as the latter tried to get off a shot towards the empty goal.

Parsons squandered a glorious opportunity when he shot tamely into Bean’s arms from point-blank range after a neat give-and-go in the box with Zuill.

Village were denied by the woodwork near the break. A Hollis corner was partially cleared towards Parsons, whose overhead kick was tipped on to the bar by Bean. The rebound fell to Village’s Kieshen Bean, who was kicked in the face as his header was cleared off the line by Keiron Wilson, the Trojans left back.

Tempers flared with both teams coming together in midfield as Bean received treatment.

When the dust settled, Village’s pressure finally told from the ensuing throw-in. Kyler Knight’s diagonal cross was beautifully converted by the unmarked Watson, whose header from the penalty spot drifted into the top left-hand corner.

Trojans were let off the hook when Hollis blasted a Ralph Bean Jr cross off the woodwork over from close range.

The goal that Village’s persistence warranted arrived when the unmarked Smith lashed home from close range after Trojans failed to deal with a cross from left back Devrae Tankard.

At this juncture, it was not a matter of would Village win but rather by how much, and Hollis and late substitute Zenawi Bowen should have done better after being picked out unmarked by two beautifully weighted Tankard crosses.

Trojans’ only chance in the second half fell to substitute Jadan Ratteray-Smith who failed to get a boot on to Jonathan Bean’s pullback at the back post with only Bell to beat.

Somerset suffered a further setback when Seaman received his marching orders ten minutes after replacing Vernon Perinchief.

The Trojans forward picked up his first booking after being on the pitch for only two minutes for a late tackle on Tankard and was sent off for another late challenge on Ralph Bean Jr.