Robin Hood 6 BAA 1

Robin Hood’s assistant manager Tim Figureido admitted he was surprised by the ease of their comfortable 6-1 rout over fellow high-flyers BAA at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

The two teams were separated by just one place in the Premier Division heading into the clash, Hood in third and visiting side BAA in fourth, however, on the field the difference between the sides was far more glaringly apparent as the home side ran riot.

A hat-trick from Tomiko Goater was added to with a brace from Shakir Smith after Lejuan Simmons had earlier broken the deadlock. Nathan Rego grabbed the consolation for the visiting side in an afternoon that very much belonged to Hood.

“I didn’t expect it to be that comfortable but once we got the first goal, the match opened up and luckily we were able to finish our chances,” said Figureido. “It is was a comfortable result but it could have been even better.

“Going forward we look strong but some areas defensively we could be better and we will need to be against the top teams.”

Meanwhile, BAA coach Andrew Bascome admitted his team were given a dose of reality after the newly promoted side’s positive start to the season, before reminding his team that they can not afford to rest on their laurels if they are to fulfil their aspirations of securing their top-flight status.

“I’m very disappointed but I’m realistic,” Bascome said. “I know we are up against it when we play the top sides. Because of that we have to play as a collective just to give ourselves a fighting chance in this division.

“That is certainly the case against teams like Robin Hood and I think some of the players are realising that now.

“I’m happy with where we are at in the table but you can never settle because that is dangerous. We have to keep going and secure our status in the Premier Division.”

Hood capitalised on their bright start to open the scoring in the sixteenth minute through Simmons’s low strike from just inside the area.

The advantage was doubled just four minutes later as Smith found himself perfectly placed at the back post to fire past Daniel Johnson, finishing off a driven cross from the right-hand side.

Refusing to let up, Hood continued to dominate possession with a third goal duly arriving after 30 minutes as Goater broke beyond BAA’s high defensive line before keeping his cool to slot the ball past Johnson.

Further chances followed for the home side with Simmons and Casey Castle both going close, the latter seeing a vicious long-range effort tipped onto the cross bar, before a fourth was added in first-half added time.

Custodian Johnson reacted well to Phillip Parsons’s stinging strike from the edge of the area but could only watch on as the ball fell kindly to Goater to simply tap the ball home for his second.

Much to their credit, BAA refused to lay down and reduced the deficit five minutes after the restart. The lively Rego evaded the static Hood defence to race on to Keishen Bean’s pass before slipping the ball under the on-rushing Dale Eve.

The second-half proved a far more even affair than the first with the sides trading chances at either end. However, it was Hood who scored the next goal, their fifth, as Goater completed his hat-trick after 71 minutes, volleying home from close range after good work down the right by Parsons.

Five became six just seven minutes later as Goater turned provider. Afforded too much time on the right, the striker picked out Smith, who in turn fired a left-foot effort into the bottom to grab his second of the afternoon.

SCORERS

Robin Hood 6

Simmons, 16, Smith, 20, 77, Goater, 30, 45, 71

BAA 1

Rego 50

TEAMS

Robin Hood (4-3-3): D Eve — J Pereira, C Castle, J Bather, D Andrade — P Parsons, L Simmons, S Smith — C Ryan (sub: Lozendro Symonds, 46min), A Russell, T Goater (sub: C Ricca, 79). Substitutes not used: E Outerbridge.

BAA (4-3-3): D Johnson — T Burgess, Z Robinson, I Simmons, Q Lema (sub: London Roberts, 66) — D Bascome, M Iris, K McQueen — T Tucker, K Bean, N Rego. Substitutes not used: A McDowall, A Butterfield, A Darrell, M Brangman.

Referee: T Simons.