North Village 3

Hamilton Parish 2

Keishen Bean, the North Village Rams captain, struck a double salvo to help his side defeat Hamilton Parish in their opening Dudley Eve Trophy match at Bernard Park yesterday.

Both teams were reduced to ten men midway through the second half after Chris Caisey, the Parish captain, and Devrae Tankard were dismissed after an altercation in wake of robust challenge by the Village defender.

Village fell behind on the half-hour mark when Patrick Richardson, the Parish striker, volleyed home from close range after being picked out with a pinpoint cross by Ryan Tyrell.

But Bean ensured the home side were back on level terms seven minutes later when he was released by midfielder Jonathan Briers with a slide-rule pass that dissected the Parish backline.

A calm and collected Bean took his time after rounding Nigel Burgess, the Parish goalkeeper, checking back onto his right foot before drilling a low shot into the corner of the net.

Bean added his second from the penalty spot moments later after Pierre Smith, the Village winger, was tripped by Parish defender Ijahmon Mallory in the area.

Coolridge Durham went close to finding an equaliser for Parish early in the second half, heading wide from a Caisey free kick with Troy Hall, the Village goalkeeper, left stranded after making an error in judgment by attempting to collect the cross.

Jason Lee handed Village a two-goal cushion on 55 minutes with a simple tap-in after Nacori Smith’s cross-come-shot struck the crossbar and bounced invitingly into the fit-again striker’s path. Parish’s uphill struggle then became an even greater climb after Caisey was sent off along with Tankard after a heated exchange between the pair.

To their credit, Parish continued to push forward and reduced the deficit when Zenawi Bowen headed home after Hall had parried a strike from substitute Macquille Walker.

Village almost added a fourth when Jonathan Briers attempted an audacious lob after spotting that Burgess had strayed off his line, with the goalkeeper doing well to acrobatically tip the ball over the crossbar.

Ralph Bean, the Village coach, believed that he could take plenty of encouragement from his side’s performance, especially their attacking invention in the final third of the pitch.

“It was important to get off to a good start and I was proud of our performance,” Bean said. “If anything, Parish became more dangerous when they had ten men and they gave it a good go.

“But we showed some good ability going forward and I was very pleased with that.

“We’re always looking to bring the club’s young blood through and give them opportunities, while trying to maintain the right balance of the side.”