St George’s Colts 2 X-Roads 2

St George’s Colts captain Kashe Hall scored twice from the penalty spot to earn his team a draw with X-Roads at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

Hall struck from 12 yards in the 53rd and 78th minute, with the penalties two of three in the match awarded by referee Anthony Francis. Paul Simons scored the other for X-Roads in the 55th minute after he had given’s Farid El Karfa’s side the lead five minutes into the encounter.

It was the third draw in six matches for St George’s in the Premier Division this season but Hall thought his side deserved a victory.

“I’m disappointed that we drew because I feel like we should have won that game,” Hall said.

“We started off slow again and every single time we conceded, we started on the back foot.”

El Karfa, whose side trail leaders Devonshire Colts by a point after now playing a game more, felt that his strikers wasted a lot of opportunities to put the game to bed.

“You cannot be happy when you drop points when you’re trying to be on top of the table,” El Karfa said.

“It’s definitely not a good result for us. I know we faced a tough opposition today and St George’s played very well. They were ready, but we could have put the game away in the first half and we missed some chances, which we should have put away.

“The game always comes down to taking your chances or not, and today we did not do that, but I’m still proud of the boys as they put in a good fight.

“We’ve been unlucky with injuries and that of course affects the team's performance. It’s a long season and we still have a lot of matches to play. We just have to stay focused and keep working hard.”

X-Roads, looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss to Devonshire Colts, their first league defeat of the season, before the international window drew first blood when Jarye’s Bean’s cross was headed in by Simons.

In the fourteenth minute Aaron Spencer could have doubled the X-Roads lead as he powered his way into the box only for his shot at goal to lack venom.

Four minutes later, Troy Hall Jr ensured that St George’s remained within touching distance by going airborne to tip Kahmori Brangman’s dangerous strike over for a corner.

Cameron Neal had a perfect chance to find the equaliser for the home team in the 25th minute when he forced Kamran Harvey into making a diving save. The X-Roads keeper came off his line to deny Leroy Lewis Jr just before the break.

Four minutes into the second period, Lewis rattled the upright. The striker was impeded shortly after by Tymon Daniels to earn his team’s first penalty, allowing Hall to place the ball beyond Harvey’s reach.

At the other end, St George's Colts defender Oyinde Bascome bizarrely handled the ball for X-Roads to get a penalty and Simons made no mistake to complete his brace.

Harvey was then adjudged to have clipped Lewis with his hands when the two were involved in a one-to-one situation. The St George’s captain hit the roof of the net to secure the point.

Danavon Thompson, fresh from international action in the World Cup qualifiers, could have secured three points for X-Roads in the fifth minute of stoppage time but misdirected his shot.

SCORERS

St George's Colts: K Hall pen 53pen, 78pen

X-Roads: Simons 5, 55pen

TEAMS

St George's Colts (4-4-2): T Hall 6 — J Bassett 6, C Neal 6, O Bascome 6, Paynter 6 — Z McGuire 6, L Evans 6, K Hall 7, I Gibbons 6 (sub: M Trott, 64min 5) — L Lewis 7, B Hall 6. Substitutes not used: T Lowe, J Dill, M Tucker, D Lodge, I Greaves.

X-Roads (4-4-2): K Harvey 6 — A Cajee 6 (sub: T Dill, 46 5), J Sousa 6 (sub: J Lattimore, 68 5), E Abranches 7, T Daniels 6, — J Bean 6 K Brangman 6, A Spencer 6 (sub: R Simmons, 82), K Richardson 6 (sub: S McKittrick, 46, 5)— P Simons 7, D Thompson 6. Substitutes not used: C Smith, A Darrell. Booked: Cajee, Spencer.

Referee: A Francis.