Cannonier's free kick just enough
St David's CC 1 Somerset Eagles 0
An Angelo Cannonier free kick was enough to give St David's a narrow win in the Shield Competition final at the National Sports Centre yesterday.
Cannonier scored in the early stages of a game that St David's dominated for large parts, and the margain of victory would have been greater had it not been for some fine goalkeeping and woeful finishing.
St David's wasted a host of chances during the game, with Cannonier and his strike partner Corey Casey both guilty of some glaring misses. Casey's was the worst, the striker somehow managing to blast the ball over the bar from just two yards out.
For their part, Somerset Eagles never really got going, and it wasn't until the final ten minutes that they actually forced George O'Brien, the St David's goalkeeper, into making a meaningful save.
Until that point they had struggled to make an impact, being reduced to taking pot shots from outside the area. Shaun Brown, the Somerset striker, endured a rather fruitless afternoon of chasing lost causes and long balls.
The goal too will have been a disappointment to Somerset. Although it was a fine strike from Cannonier from the edge of the area, it went through an almost non-existent wall on its way to the bottom corner of the Somerset goal.
Eunico Trott, the Somerset goalkeeper, did his best to keep his side in the game, twice denying Cannonier with fine saves, but for all their dominance St David's failed to kill the game off, and nearly paid dearly for it.
In a frantic finish, Roger Lee, Kenny Thompson, and Anthony Webb all came close to scoring. But a couple of good saves from O'Brien, and a bit of luck, was enough to see St David's through.
In the Commercial Knock-Out Cup final, Lobster Pot strolled to an easy 3-0 win over Tuff Dogs.
A goal on the stroke of half time from Tom Cusack gave Pot the advantage, before Mahadao Shahaid added a second soon after the break.
Dogs created several chances to get back into the game, but failed to take them and Nick Gilliland's scored two minutes from time to wrap up the win for Pot.
St David's: G.O'Brien, A.Cannonier, F.Sewell, D.Butterfield, M.Jones, A.Lugo, D.Paynter, A.Russell, T.Crockwell (A.Crockwell 72 mins), A.Cannonier, C.Casey (G.Rudgers 90 mins). Subs not used: A.Lugo, A.Burchall, G.Outerbridge, L.Minors, C.Richardson.
Somerset Eagles: E.Trott, L.Woods (K.Fray 86 mins), J.Davis (I.Mullins 58 mins), T.Fubler, T.Fray, K.Thompson, D.Dowling, D.Seymour, R.Lee, S.Brown (A.Webb 70 mins), T.Tucker. Subs not used: G.Logie, K.Butterfield, L.Burch, T.Flood.
Referee: R.Cann.