North Village 0

Somerset Trojans 0

North Village had to settle for a share of the spoils after struggling to breakdown a watertight Somerset Trojans defence in the Premier Division at Bernard Park.

After an opening day draw at PHC Zebras two weeks’ ago, Village were eager for a first win of the season but were left frustrated in their attempts to get the better of a well-organised Trojans side.

The closest they came to breaking the deadlock was early on when Keishen Bean, the Village captain, drilled a low shot past Shaquille Bean, the Trojans goalkeeper, which struck the inside of the post and squirted across the goalline and out of play.

At the other end, Jason Williams, the Village goalkeeper, denied Leo Burgess with his feet after the Trojans midfielder struck a first-time effort at goal, having caught the inexperienced Village defence napping.

Early in the second half Burgess was in the thick of things again when, on another Trojans counterattack, he bulldozed his way through the home side’s defence before firing well wide with his weaker left foot.

Looking to control the midfield through Bean, Shayne Hollis, Phillip Parsons, Village adopted a high-tempo passing game and were successful in cutting through their opponents’ backline with a superb passing move involving all three players.

The waspish Hollis picked up a loose ball on the halfway line, rolled his marker before laying it off for holding midfielder Parsons, who then hooked a ball over the top into the path of the onrushing Bean.

Showing superb control to bring the bouncing ball under his spell, Bean then struck a powerful effort at goal that appeared destined for the net before being blocked by a desperate lunge by Trevin Ming, the Trojans captain.

Sensing the need to freshen things up, Richard Todd, the Village coach, made his first change of the afternoon on the hour mark, bringing on the experienced Keston Lewis for the largely ineffectual Dimitre Daniels.

The switch enabled Bean to push further forward into the central striker’s role, with Lewis, the former Flanagan’s Onions forward, dropping into a deeper role and looking to helping the home side keep the ball for longer periods in the final third.

Still, Village found chances hard to come by as Trojans continued to catch the home side on the break, with Vashun Blanchette trying his luck from distance with a long-range effort that sailed harmlessly over.

Understandably, Trojans looked more than happy to come away with the point, with Village growing increasingly exasperated in their efforts to carve out clear-cut scoring chances.

Unfortunately for Todd’s side, a pair of late opportunities fell to two defensive-minded players, with Jerome Bailey, the left back, volleying straight at goalkeeper Bean after good work by Hollis on the edge of the box.

Village had other opportunity to grab the winner in the final few minutes, with Parsons finding himself through on goal but the midfielder made a hash of his chipped effort which was easily saved by Bean.