Flanagan’s Onions 1 St David’s 5

St David’s struck five second half goals to gain revenge over Flanagan’s Onions and advance to the semi-finals of the Friendship Trophy at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

Trailing at half-time against an Onions side that defeated them 5-1 in the league last weekend, St David’s punished their opponents for their uncharacteristic sloppiness during a goal-laden second period.

Neither side had created much in the way of clear-cut chances until Onions broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark when rangy striker Kevin Ronaldson swept home Martel Laws’ neat flick-on.

St David’s restored parity soon after the interval through Aaron Crockwell, who struck a first-time shot from the edge of the box after Onions’ defence had only partially cleared a corner.

Moments later an error by Onions’ second choice goalkeeper Dermot O’Sullivan handed St David’s a somewhat fortuitous lead. O’Sullivan could only watch in despair as his intended pass for defender Sam Butler ricocheted off St David’s striker Allan Douglas, bouncing beyond the shot stopper’s despairing dive and into the net.

Onions were beginning to leave gaping holes in their backline as they went in pursuit of an equaliser and found themselves further behind when Douglas was afforded too much time and space to add his second.

The hosts, who opted to rest several key players, conceded a fourth virtually straight from the restart after Crockwell picked up a loose ball, drove through the heart of Onions’ defence before setting up Shakil Robertson for the simplest of finishes.

Onions’ misery was complete in the final minute when Fiqre Crockwell’s inswinging corner somehow squirmed into the net to hand St David’s a morale-boosting victory.

Otis Minors, the St David’s player-coach, pointed out that his team’s win had been against a below-strength Onions but said he was still proud of his side’s performance.

“I’m pleased with the win although I think Onions put out a B team today,” he said.

“They chose to rest a few players as I think the league is their main priority, as it is ours.

“This result will certainly give us a real lift before Christmas though, and it’s always nice to reach the semi-finals of a cup competition.

“To be honest, I wasn’t looking for revenge after [last weekend’s] defeat, but I know the players were determined to make a bit of a statement after losing so heavily against Onions in the league.”