Somerset Eagles 4 Ireland Rangers 1

With the Somerset Trojans having their game postponed out of respect for the funeral of Robin Hood and former PHC player Mazhye Burchall, many fans from the Somerset Community made their way to White Hill Field, where the First Division derby between the two other Somerset teams, Ireland Rangers and Somerset Eagles, took place yesterday.

It was Eagles who came away with a comfortable win with goals from Dane Simmons, Leo Burgess, Marcus Iris-Simmons and Ethan Fubler. Ireland Rangers’ lone response came from veteran and former Trojan Johnny Bean.

“Things are looking good for us right now,” said first-time Eagles coach Jensen Rogers, himself a former Trojans player. “The guys are committed to training and as long as they remain consistent and keep coming out, we will be chasing for promotion.”

The players from both teams knew the importance of this match, as tackles were hard and furious initially, but referee Tashon Simons kept them in check with a stern talking to, having to issue only two cautions.

The game was evenly poised until the 30th minute when Anwar Telford sent in a low cross for Simmons to flick pass Rangers goalkeeper Tjay Brangman, who was caught off guard on his line.

Rangers almost equalised just before the half when Bean made a forceful run down the right flank, but his cross was hit over the top by Sekai Proctor when well positioned.

Newly signed Burgess was a menace to the Rangers defence all afternoon, and it didn’t take long for him to score after the break when he cut inside from the left and unleashed a shot that beat Brangman at his near post.

Bean would pull one back for Rangers when he received a flick-on from a free kick, which left him one-on-one with Eagles goalkeeper Jermaine Rumley. Bean slid his shot under the advancing Rumley to give the visiting side hope.

Eagles made two substitutes that returned dividends. Former Ireland Rangers and Trojans player Tahj Wade came on and set up the last two Eagles goals. He gave Iris-Simmons a perfect through-ball, which he ran on to, looked up and picked his spot, placing the ball to the right of the diving goalkeeper.

Wade would then give Fubler another perfectly weighted pass, leaving him with only the goalkeeper to beat. Fubler made no mistake and buried his shot past a rooted Brangman.

SCORERS

Somerset Eagles

Simmons 30, Burgess 50, Iris-Simmons 60, Fubler 69

Ireland Rangers

Bean 52

TEAMS

Somerset Eagles (4-4-2): J Rumley — A Morrissey, L Burch, D Woolridge (sub: T Wade, 53min), S Lambert — C Medeiros, G Smith, L Burgess (sub: A Wilkinson, 84), D Simmons (sub: E Fubler, 65) — A Telford, M Iris-Simmons. Substitutes not used: K Brown, G Fubler, J Hollis, L Lambert. Booked: Burch.

Ireland Rangers (4-4-2): T Brangman — J Hayward (sub: R Burgess, 53), R Gomes, K Simmons, S Gomes (sub: R Richardson, 75) — S Proctor, J Outerbridge, J Powell (sub: R Simons, 46), J Bean — D Woods, R. Smith. Substitutes not used: T Mallory, R Seaman, W Hill. Booked: Woods.

Referee: T. Simons.