St George’s 3 Devonshire Cougars 3

Devonshire Cougars clawed their way back from a two-goal deficit and a man down to earn a valuable point against St George’s Colts at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

Chae Brangman lead the Cougars charge as he set up the first goal then scored the remaining two with the equaliser coming from the penalty spot in added time

St. George’s, sporting many FC Bascome Academy youth players, were first out of the blocks. Blaiz Hall made a darting run down the left before playing a pass inside to Leroy Lewis, but Cougars goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell was well positioned to make a point-blank save off his chest. Minutes later, Hall robbed centre-back Matteo Turner but sliced wide under pressure.

Cougars finally awoke and created a promising attack through their midfield before Mosiais Mills’s shot grazed the upright and went wide. Youth player Isai Gibbons then put Hall through but Turner stayed in pursuit and made the block.

The constant St George’s pressure was too much Cougars to resist and the home side opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Zachary McGuire’s shot was stopped by Hall, who dribbled to finish as Cougars appealed for an offside which was never given.

After finding the opener, St. George’s continued to run at the visitors forcing them to concede a free kick at the edge of the box. Malachi Trott’s curling right-footed shot tucked into Darrell’s near post to give the home team a two-goal lead.

A three-player combination involving Jecoa Thomas, Brangman and Chemari Burns resulted in the latter hitting a firm drive on target but St George’s goalkeeper Tahj Bell held on to the ball with ease.

St. George’s took a deserved 2-0 lead into the break from a half which they dominated.

After a stern half-time talk from coach Mark Mills, Cougars turned the tables and came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. They were rewarded within minutes, when Brangman’s cheeky back-heel fell into the path of Kydan Browne, who squeezed his shot into the bottom near post of Bell’s net to reduce the deficit to one.

However, their celebrations were short-lived as St George's; s replied within a minute. A cross from the left found Lewis free at the back post. He would control and then hit a firm drive, which beat Darrell for pace to rattle the back of the net and restore the East Enders’ two-goal lead.

Cougars continued to battle and should have scored but Browne was guilty of allowing a cross in the goalmouth to roll beyond him without sticking out a boot as it just missed the upright. A Mills curling free kick from an angle then beat Bell but smashed of the bottom upright and was cleared to safety.

Cougars scored their second when Brangman collected a partially blocked cross from Mills. The burly striker turned on a dime while holding off his marker before hitting a low drive into the bottom left corner, leaving Bell flat-footed.

With just under 15 minutes to play and the score 3-2 to St. George’s, Cougars were reduced to ten men when Thomas was given a straight red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity as he fouled Hall from behind after he broke through the Cougars defence and was heading for goal.

With their backs against the wall and time ticking down, Cougars threw everything forward and found the equaliser in the first minute of added time through a determined Brangman. After holding off his marker to snake along the touchline, he squared to Browne, who was brought down as he shaped to shoot, with referee Anthony Francis awarding a penalty. Brangman kept his nerve to place his penalty to the right of Bell to level the score and bring the match to a close.

Scorers

St George’s: B Hall 21, Trott 26, Lewis 49

Devonshire Cougars: Browne 48, C Brangman 74, 90 +1

Teams

St. George’s Colts (4-2-3-1): T Bell 6 ― J Schroder 6, M Moreno 6 (sub: J Dickinson, 72min), C Neal 6, N Paynter 5 (sub: R Phipps, 18 5) ― Z McGuire 6, K Hall 6 ― L Lewis 6, I Gibbons 6, B Hall 7 ― M Trott 6 (sub: M Simmons 46 5). Substitutes not used: J Bassett, T Hall, A Foy. Booked: Phipps.

Devonshire Cougars (4-2-3-1): Q Darrell 6 ― J Thomas 6, L Millett 6, M Turner 7, M Thomas 5 (sub: S Valasse-Paul, 75) ― K Browne 6, Zari Simmons 6 ― J Fox 6 (sub: T Tucker 66, 5), M Mills 6 (sub: C Albuoy, 75), C Burns 5 (sub: D Codington, 62 6) ― C Brangman 8. Substitutes not used: J Wade, O Smith, Zion Simmons. Booked: Mills. Sent off: J Thomas

Referee: A Francis