Somerset Eagles 3 Devonshire Colts 3

Ethan Fubler, the Somerset Eagles captain, hailed his team’s character, after they came from behind twice to earn a share of the spoils against Premier Division rivals Devonshire Colts at Somerset Cricket Club last night.

Just when it seemed as though Jaquari Paynter’s 74th minute strike that put Colts ahead 3-2 would be enough, Shakir Smith grabbed an equaliser two minutes from time to salvage a hard-fought point for the home side.

“We definitely showed a lot of character from being two goals down,” Fubler said.

“But we don’t want to be two goals down. We shouldn’t have to be two down to show the character.”

Eagles enjoyed a good spell of possession in the early going but found themselves trailing 2-0 as Colts struck twice in the space of 14 minutes against the grain.

Brandon O’Connor opened the scoring when he headed in Zuhri Burgess’s free kick at the back post.

Shaki Swan then doubled Colts’s lead when he ran onto Paynter’s through ball and slotted home from an angle.

Eagles came out swinging at the start of the second half and went close when Smith had a shot saved off the line.

Fubler finally pulled one back when he rammed the ball in the roof of the net from 15 yards, after being afforded plenty of time and space in the box.

Colts blew a golden opportunity to restore their two-goal advantage when Rahzir Smith-Jones blasted over from point-blank range with only Eagles goalkeeper Jermaine Rumley standing in his way.

Eagles pressed on and were again rewarded when Rayquan Woodley-Smith slotted home from an angle after linking up with Smith on a quick break down the middle.

The home side had the ball in the net again but the effort was waved off by the referee assistant’s flag.

Colts regained the lead when Paynter beat Rumley with a fierce drive from 25-yards that hit the bar and went in off the goalkeeper’s back.

However, Eagles’s never-say-die attitude once again shone through as Smith brought the teams level for good at the death.

“The first half was slow and we definitely didn’t play like how we want to play,” Fubler added.

“The second half we came out and pressed higher with more intensity. We started getting what we want to do; play it shorter and our game ended up getting us the goals.”

Scorers

Somerset Eagles: Fubler 56, Woodley-Smith 59, Smith 88

Devonshire Colts: O’Connor 14, Swan 28, Paynter 74

Teams

Somerset Eagles (4-1-4-1): J Rumley 7 – M Iris-Simmons 7 (sub: S Jones, 51 mins 7), J Rogers 7, K Harrison 7, K Durrant 7 – D Joell 7 – D Simmons 7 R Woodley-Smith 8, E Fubler 8, K Astwood 8 – S Smith 8. Booked: Fubler, Durrant, Iris-Simmons

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Francis 7 – C Minors 7, C Trott 7, M Williams 7, J Paynter 7 (sub: J Saunders, 86) ‒ M Bean- Brown 7 (sub: L Symonds, 74), Z Burgess 8 – C Henry 8, B O' Connor 7, R Smith-Jones 7 – S Swan 8 (sub: J Eve, 80). Substitutes not used: J Tucker, R Weldon, K Bailey, R Robinson. Booked: Minors.

Referee: A Francis.