Young Men’s Social Club 2 St George’s 2

Malachi Trott scored a beautiful free-kick 12 minutes from time to secure St George’s a battling draw with Young Men’s Social Club at a soggy Police Field on Sunday.

Both sides had their early moments in a tense and physical first half, with the two teams determined to attack in the driving rain.

St George’s had the first dangerous opening inside four minutes, but Blaiz Hall lacked conviction, skewing his attempted shot over the bar.

About ten minutes later, Social Club had their best opening in the first quarter when Zeiko Lewis and Ryan Parris both had shots from the edge of the penalty area blocked.

Jarazinho Bassett then sprung the offside trap for St George’s and latched on to a beautiful through ball by Kashe Hall, but he lacked composure and tamely placed his shot into the body of Social Club keeper Ryan Evans.

Jah-Nai Smith clipped a good ball into Giniko Butterfield midway through the first half, but the Social Club attacking midfielder failed to control.

But the home side seized momentum thereafter and opened the scoring with another moment of individual skill from Zeiko Lewis. He took one touch to settle a looping loose ball following a free kick, and then drove his effort through several St George’s bodies into the far corner past a motionless Troy Hall.

St George’s pushed hard for the equaliser before the break and Liam Evans brought namesake Ryan to another save with a powerful effort from just inside the penalty area.

St George’s did not let their wasted moments in attack dent their effort and they had their best period in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Their most cohesive move of the game culminated in their first equaliser, when Kashe Hall found younger brother Blaiz in acres of space on the left, and he squared for Bassett to sidefoot past Evans.

Moments after getting back on terms, Isai Gibbons should have created another chance to give St George’s the lead. Kashe Hall did well to fend off the challenge of Amon Simons and feed Gibbons, but the winger’s cross was too strong for Bassett at the back post.

Social Club saw the profligacy of their visitors in the final third and introduced the industrial Clay Darrell to bring additional pressure to the St George’s defence.

They regained the momentum and went back in front four minutes after the hour. Lewis collected a loose pass by St George’s keeper Troy Hall and cut back for Josh Hardtman to strike into the far corner and give the home side the advantage again.

Blaiz Hall found Bassett in space for St George’s yet again midway through the second half but played his pass too wide. However, Bassett did well to keep it in and Evans punched his attempted cross out to safety before it could reach Liam Evans.

The next few minutes were sloppy as both clubs jostled for territory, with neither side really forcing the opposite defence to panic.

However, Kashe Hall showed quick feet to evade the challenge of Social Club captain Parris and win a set-piece on the edge of the penalty area. Substitute Malachi Trott drilled the free kick through a crowd into the near post past a helpless Evans.

SCORERS

Young Men’s Social Club: Lewis 36, Hardtman 62

St George’s Colts: Bassett 53, Trott 78

TEAMS

Young Men’s Social Club (4-2-3-1): R Evans 7 — T Butterfield 6 (sub: C Woolridge, 83min), A Samuels 6 (sub: Z Jennings-Barnett, 45 5), A Simons 6, J Smith 6 (sub: B Swan Jr, 83) — R Parris 6 (sub: A Matthews, 65 5), Z Lewis 7 — K Smith 6, G Butterfield 5 (sub: C Darrell, 59 6), M Wilson 6 — J Hardtman 7. Substitutes not used: Q Simmons, K Butterfield. Booked: Matthews, K Smith.

St George’s (4-2-3-1): T Hall 6 — R Phipps 5 (sub: Z McGuire, 63 6), J Schroder 6, N Paynter 6, I Greaves 7 (sub: A Cumberbatch, 63 5) — L Evans 6 (sub: M Trott, 76 7), C Neal 6 — B Hall 6, K Hall 7, I Gibbons 5 (sub: M Simmons, 63 6) — J Bassett 7. Substitutes not used: R Souttar, K Jacobs, R Richards. Booked: Phipps.

Referee: A Francis