Somerset Trojans 1 Devonshire Colts 2

Devonshire Colts earned their first league points of the season with a determined, come-from-behind win over Somerset Trojans at Somerset Cricket Club on Sunday.

A pair of goals, one each from Elisha Darrell and Jahzarde Samuels, two minutes apart midway through the second half, more than cancelled a fantastic strike from Trojans striker Justin Donawa.

The win came after Colts dominated the first half with creative midfield manufacture that stretched and threatened the final third, but poor, indecisive finishing time and again denied them any reward.

To Somerset’s credit, resolute, often desperate defending kept them in the match when it seemed only a matter of time before Colts effected a definitive breakthrough.

In a sign of things to come, Chemari Henry wriggled free deep on the left side of Somerset’s penalty area in the fifth minute, but goalkeeper Kyjuan Symonds blocked his goalbound effort.

In the moments that followed, the attacking triumvirate of Henry, Darrell and Senoj Mitchell took turns being denied by outstretched legs or timely intervention from Symonds.

Somerset’s best effort came from midfielder Kymani McNeil, whose screaming 30-yard shot demanded the utmost attention of Colts’ goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert.

Henry should have put Colts ahead five minutes before the break when he found himself one-on-one with Symonds, but he hesitated for a brief moment, enough time for the latter to snatch the ball off his right boot.

Somerset coach Danvers Seymour introduced three substitutes in the 65th minute, including Donawa, and the move soon paid dividends.

The fresh legs allowed the Trojans to increase pressure on the Colts, forcing a foul in the 70th minute midway down the right flank.

McNeil curled a low, searching ball towards the back post, which Donawa expertly glanced off his right heel past a bewildered Mills-Furbert.

However, the lead was short-lived, as Darrell equalised from close range five minutes later after being fed by Zuhri Burgess.

Two minutes later, Samuels, a 52nd-minute replacement for an injured Jaquari Paynter, forged a Colts lead, rising from the deck after being brought down in the penalty area and planting his spot kick into the upper right corner.

Somerset mounted a furious assault as the final minutes ticked away and should have equalised in the 86th minute.

A right-sided cross was cleared only as far as Kynde Mallory at the edge of the six-yard box, but with glory beckoning he volleyed it over the crossbar.

After two early-season losses put the team on its heels, the come-from-behind win delivered what Devonshire coach Ray Jones called a “gut check”, with his side showing great character in answering Somerset’s set-piece goal.

“I think the two losses, in the Dudley Eve and the league, just put us on our heels a bit to where we were, maybe second-guessing some things,” said Jones.

“Today provided a gut check and coming from behind is probably what we need to springboard, get some consistency going, and then move on from there.

“We were not efficient in the final third. The approach play is pretty good. We're in control, creating chances. But for whatever reason, we're not converting chances, which keeps our opponents in the game.

“We were in full control of the match, and fell behind, but that's football, right? Still, what I love today is the character, whereby we went down 1-0 and immediately responded with the equaliser and followed up with the winner.”

The three points took Colts off the bottom of the standings into fourth place.

Meanwhile, Somerset coach Seymour, pressed after the final whistle, conceded his young team were too slow off the mark, something they can ill-afford against upper- echelon teams.

“We have to get over the hurdle of starting too slow,” said Seymour. “I don't want to keep making comments about getting up to the level of the Premier Division as that can be an excuse for only so long.

“We have to start better and even when we take the lead, we have to be willing to close it out. So it is a work in progress, and we're just learning, but we have to do so quickly and understand the demands of the journey.”

Goals

Somerset Trojans: Donawa 70.

Devonshire Colts: Darrell 74, Samuels 76 pen.

Teams:

Somerset Trojans: K Symonds, Jaz Ratteray Smith, M Tear-Deleon, Jaden Ratteray Smith, L Swan, J Shields, E Shakir, M Nisbett Tankard, K McNeil, M Joell, J Corday. Substitutes: C Durham, T Burgess, R Curtis, J Simmons, K Mallory, K McNeil, J Donawa, Z Saltus-Seymour, B Tyson-Gooden.

Devonshire Colts: J Mills-Furbert, S Burgess, Z Burgess, E Darrell R James, C Henry, J Dublin, J Greaves, S Mitchell, J Paynter, S Robinson. Substitutes: S Blair Paynter, D Davis, H Eve, M Isaac, D Richardson, J Samuels, R Whitter.

Referee: D Jackson.