Dandy Town could have definitely used Khano Smith?s scoring touch last Saturday night at Somerset Cricket Club.

For 90 minutes of this Premier Division showdown, Hornets kept Trojans pinned in their own half and threatened to run away with the match.

With a goal always appearing imminent, Carlos Smith had a goal-bound shot stopped, Maurice Lowe?s long range efforts drifted wide and Michael Parsons twice came within inches of the target.

But instead of coming away with at very least a share of the spoils, all Town?s hard work went down the drain as Adolphus Lambert?s decisive second-half strike finally settled the encounter.

And while Town were losing, their former frontman Smith was helping the New England Revolution through their MLS play-off match against the MetroStars, netting the decisive goal in a 3-2 aggregate victory.

?Khano certainly could have helped us . . . or anyone else capable of getting the ball across the line,? lamentedTown coach Devarr Boyles lamented.

?It was just one of those things . . . our performance had everything except for the goals. I was very happy with our performance and I?m certain we will win more games than we lose playing the way we did on Saturday night.

?And this is what we need to take to heart and gain comfort from. Our guys know what they did and the things they need to improve upon. And we should have won based on our performance.?

Still, Boyles insisted his players gained something from the game.

?We took a lot of encouragement from the match. It didn?t happen for us on this particular night, but we still managed to send a signal to the other team, showing them what we are capable of,? the former Hornets and Bermuda international midfielder added.

?Our players know football is all about chances and they realise they did not take them. But we are still happy with all the other elements of the match. The defending was good, the build-up was good and with better decision making around goal it could have easily been a lopsided result. And so we take a lot of encouragement from that.?

The result marked Town?s second league loss of the season and third overall having also been beaten by Trojans earlier during the Martonmere Cup group stage.

Somerset have a bye this weekend while Hornets host the Premier Division?s other remaining unbeaten team, PHC Zebras, at the Barn.

Town are due to face off with Trojans on November 11 in the Martonmere Cup final at the National Sports Centre ? the first final between the two clubs in a decade but their fifth overall.

?We?d rather play this weekend. This is another typical week for us and I?m glad to have a match against good quality opposition such as PHC to put us in good stead before the final,? Boyles added.

He anticipates next week?s cup final ? Town?s eighth final appearance in the past five seasons ? to be another cliffhanger.

?Somerset seem to be finding ways of getting the job done and so we now hope to take a page from their book,? Boyles said. ?I just envision the final and the result being tight and so we will prepare ourselves. And based on the fact we were runners-up (Martonmere Cup) last year we are very motivated for the final.?

And as far as the race for the league championship is concerned, Boyles noted: ?We are not too disturbed by the two losses as long as we can consolidate with a few wins. This is what is needed to keep pace with the lead group because it?s really the second half of the season which separates everyone per se.

?Last year we had a lead going into the break (Christmas) and two negative results in the second half blew everything wide open. There?s still a long way to go and I think we stand a chance as long as we can stay in range.?