St. George's made a confident initial foray into the Martonmere Cup last night, stomping jaded arch rivals Somerset 2-0.

A goal in each half by the East Enders sealed the fate of a highly regarded Somerset outfit that was never permitted to gain a niche in the contest.

Ricky Hill opened his and the team's account on the half hour and was followed into the scoring column when Jerome Laws deflected a header off the body of converted defender Richard Scott past the flailing arms of goalkeeper Andre Hendrickson nine minutes from full-time.

In the end tempered jubilation filled the St. George's camp after an historic victory for Herbie Bascome's bunch.

"I would describe it as an excellent performance,'' said first year coach Bascome, struggling to camouflage his obvious delight. "This is a great start and the stepping stone that we were looking for.

"I'm proud of all my players and will be looking for more from them.'' A great start indeed, as Bascome's men came out highly charged, while Somerset were akin to soda without the fizz.

The initial stanza typified the match as St. George's ran roughshod over forlorn opponents lacking direction and drive, something not often seen among the proud West Enders.

Clay Smith was the chief portrayer of destruction, his intricate ball skills and clever reading of the game serving to cause disruption among a Somerset defence lacking cohesion.

Smith first served notice as to what lay in store as early as the 14th minute when he latched onto a long kick by 'keeper Troy Hall, squeezed between two defenders only to have his attempted shot blocked by Hendrickson.

Still it was Hill who provided the ultimate fireworks after a lengthy period of domination by his team when he greeted a low cross from Stevie Dickinson on the left with a thunderous drive from all of 25 yards that whistled past Hendrickson into the low right corner.

The trend of St. George's in the role of dictator continued beyond the interval as their frontline of Laws, Smith and Dickinson continually placed their counterparts under the gun.

It was just a matter of time before they struck again and as in the first instance it was Dickinson in the role of supplier, this time lofting a cross into the penalty area to be met by the head of Laws, who watched in delight as his effort ricocheted off the body of Richard Scott and nestled in the roof of the net.

St. George's: T.Hall; P.Bailey (D.Richardson 87 mins); Q.Francis, A.Todd (N.Paynter 75 mins); D.Bailey; M.Outerbridge, R.Hill, L.Robinson, S.Dickinson, C.Greaves (J.Laws 10 mins), C.Smith Somerset: A.Hendrickson; R.Scott; J.Tucker, J.Burrows (D.Woolridge 83 mins); D.DeRoza, D.Binns, R.Bascome, A.Rahman, L.Crofton, C.Grant (A.Burchall 80 mins).

Men of the Match: Clay Smith (St. George's), Andrew Rahman (Somerset).

Referee: Cal Simons.

CLAY SMITH -- man of the match.