Devonshire Colts 1 Somerset Eagles 2

Wasted chances left injury-hit Devonshire Colts anchored at the bottom of the Premier Division yesterday after Somerset Eagles grabbed a late winner through Anwar Telford at Police Field.

Colts were missing Lozendro Symonds and Teniko Eve through injury as well as defender Quinton Jones who suffered a broken leg last weekend in the FA Cup defeat to X-Roads.

Vernel Lambe returned to bolster the Colts defence and was in the thick of the action in the first half in a match which could have a bearing on the relegation issue later in the season.

Victory for Colts would have moved them two places off the bottom, but it was Eagles who responded better to their FA Cup exit last weekend after PHC Zebras thrashed them 6-2.

The two teams had an early injury scare when a clash of heads after only three minutes between Lambe and Davin Riley-Clarke inside the Eagles penalty area held up the match for eight minutes while the Eagles defender received treatment for a head wound.

Colts had a couple of good chances to take the lead after that when youngster Brandon O’Connor shot straight at goalkeeper Lorenzo Lambert and then Eli Smith lobbed a shot just over the bar after a long ball down the middle put him clear.

The home team were made to pay for the misses as Eagles took the lead in the 29th minute from the penalty spot after Lambe knocked Kanhai Fray off his feet as he raced into the box. Fray took the penalty and scored past goalkeeper Gregory Rose.

Smith wasted another good chance soon after, this time when the ball dropped into his path on the edge of the box. With time and space to carry the ball forward, he hurried his shot and put it wide.

Colts suffered another injury just before the break when defender Ashon Hart went off with a back injury, as D’Andre Wainwright replaced him. Wainwright, who scored in the earlier fixture at White Hill Field, added some extra strength in midfield as Colts started the second half still looking the more threatening.

Kyle Jones put a free kick inches wide from outside the box after a handball before the equaliser finally came on the hour mark when Richard Quinn barged into Eli Smith and the striker made amends by converting the penalty.

With the game still deadlocked going into the closing minutes, Colts looked like having to settle for a draw which would still have been good enough to move them off the bottom ahead of Dandy Town. But Eagles grabbed all three points with ten minutes remaining when Telford headed home from a corner on the right to give his team only their second win this season.

Eagles moved ahead of Flanagan’s Onions and are now five points clear of the relegation zone. Their next opponents are Boulevard this weekend, a team two points ahead of them.

“Today is a good day, we’re glad to come away with a win which is always good,” Roger Lee, the Eagles assistant coach, said. “It was quite balanced, Colts had their opportunities and we had ours, but today we ended up being the victors and we’re happy for the three points.

“It takes us out of the relegation area which is always a good thing, we just have to take it game by game now. Coming up is Boulevard in our next match so it is in our hands. We can do better so there are some things we have to work on.”