Just two days after winning the Martonmere Cup for a record seventh time, Somerset Trojans suffered a demoralising home loss last night that saw them toppled from the top of the First Division tables.

Devonshire Colts' hard-working forward Ellington Weldon killed the Trojans with a goal 10 minutes from the end, whipping in the ball following a cross from the right by Craig Smith who had only just switched over from his customary position on the left side.

The diminutive Weldon skillfully collected the ball from in close after the defence failed to clear Smith's cross and hammered it home from just a few yards.

It was the first defeat of the season for the home team who just never seemed to be in a mood to score goals in this match.

The Trojans matched their opponents throughout, penetrating goal-worthy areas but failing to score time and time again with striker Dwight Basden among the chief culprits.

Basden headed a Jerry Webb corner over after 30 minutes, had goalkeeper Andrew Hendrickson block his shot from close in after 37 minutes and then missed a sitter from just a few yards five minutes before the break.

But this series of misses came after the Trojans were forced to play catch-up soccer against a spirited, young Colts team who produced some good, clinical approach work during the first 20 minutes.

However, Colts too had their problems up front, especially during the early stages when they pinned down the defence.

Craig Smith had his share of near misses, putting an 18-yard drive into the chest of goalkeeper Winslow Williams after two minutes and firing a wicked drive just over after 14 minutes. Busy midfielder Leonard Hypolite shot at Williams after seven minutes and the watched in anguish after 19 minutes when his shot was tipped over the bar by Williams.

Colts started out in command for a short period after the break before the home team found themselves but continued to be frustrated when they reached within scoring range.

Just when a scoreless draw looked inevitable Weldon broke the deadlock with the goal that clinched both points for his team.

The Trojans forced three corners during the closing stages but just could not get the equaliser. Rodney Bascome, still struggling to regain his form of a year ago, missed pulling it off near the end when he placed a shot over from 16 yards.

Somerset: W.Williams; B.Simons, P.Place, T.Dickinson, L.Simmons; K.Tucker, S.Riley, R.Tucker (S.Simmons, 76 mins); R.Bascome, D.Basden (R.Scott, 76 mins), J.Webb.

Devonshire Colts: A.Hendrickson; K.Burchall (J.Samuels, 60 mins), C.Wright, L.Symonds, A.Wilson; D.Wright, M.Ray, L.Hypolite; E.Weldon, K.Smith (Q.Aberdeen, 70 mins), C.Smith.

Referee: Peter Sousa.

Men of the match: Winslow Williams (Somerset); Andre Hendrickson (Devonshire Colts).

In the opening women's fixture, league champions Telecom defeated Rude Girls 3-0 after leading by two goals at the interval.

Terry-Lyn Paynter scored the first goal after 36 minutes and added a second three minutes later while Timeco Talbot got the third after 75 minutes.