Somerset Trojans 1 Flanagan’s Onions 0

Somerset Trojans hung on for an important three points as veteran striker Johnny Bean netted the game’s only goal last night.

After a first half of few clear-cut chances, the game opened up when Bean beat goalkeeper Stephen Gould with his well-placed header.

The home side then had to absorb constant pressure in the final 15 minutes as Onions pressed hard for an equaliser. The win, only Somerset’s third in the league, enabled them to strengthen their grip on fifth place, while Onions remain four points ahead of the relegation zone.

“We went up 1-0 and in the remainder of the game they tried to push us close, but we kept our heads and stayed focus to get the clean sheet,” captain Trevin Ming said.

“It’s something to build on, we drew a lot of games including this one in the first game of the season, so we just wanted to make a statement. We are still unbeaten on our home ground so we want to build on that.”

The visiting side came back into the match after Bean’s goal, with Miles Brewer hooking the ball over the bar for Onions following a corner from Treshun Smith. The best chances for Onions came in the final 15 minutes when they kept the home side on the defensive for long periods.

Lewis side-footed a sharp chance wide of the near post and then moments later Mikale Williams drove a long range shot over the bar as the visitors kept on the pressure.

Ming and his defence had their hands full with the threat posed by striker Keston Lewis, who went close on a couple of occasions late in the game. Lewis almost scored again when he turned inside the box and dribbled forward before steering a shot towards goal that was cleared by a defender.

It was virtually all Onions as the Somerset back four of Ming, Sean Brangman and Taj-rae Outerbridge and Keiron Wilson on the flanks kept their heads to deal with the threats. Onions relied on Lewis to produce something for them, but lacked that decisive touch inside the penalty area.

“That was expected, everybody knows that Keston is one of the best strikers in the league,” Ming said. “We just had to put a man on him and always be aware that he was around. We kept a clean sheet so we did our job.”

One of the last chances for Onions came when substitute Michael Lindsey-Bailey spotted Bean off his line and tried a chip from 20 yards that dropped just over the crossbar.

SCORER

Somerset Trojans

J Bean 49

TEAMS

Somerset (4-4-2): S Bean — T Outerbridge, S Brangman, T Ming, K Wilson — J Corday, A Seaman (sub: J Ratteray-Smith, 70min), D Swan, A Trott (sub: D Woods, 64) — J Bean, M Jones (sub: V Perinchief, 83). Substitutes not used: D Lister, V Wall-Brown, R Simmons. Booked: Outerbridge, Woods, Ratteray-Smith.

Flanagan’s Onions (4-4-2): S Gould — A Brookes, P Robey, M Laws, C Burns — K Knights (sub: D Thompson, 86), T Smith, M Aden (sub: S Swan, 76), M Williams — K Lewis, M Brewer (sub: M Lindsay-Bailey, 59).

Referee: R Cann.