X-Roads 1 Devonshire Colts 1

X-Roads Warriors climbed one spot out of the Premier Division basement, while Devonshire Colts dropped a place after the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw at windswept Lord’s, St David’s on Sunday.

Strong crosswinds mixed with rain made for torrid conditions at the coastal venue, with home-standing Warriors the first to adjust and gain traction.

Despite sitting bottom of the table, Warriors pressured Colts early, testing a makeshift defence with Elisha Darrell, normally a key attacker, at centre back.

Key to X-Roads’ early forays was midfield schemer Aaron Spence, who dominated the middle and final third.

Spence almost put his side ahead in the 25th minute after a pass from Kneiko Richardson picked him out at the top right edge of the penalty area, and he delivered a delicate chip that crashed off the crossbar, with goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert beaten.

Six minutes later Spence decisively unlocked Colts’ rearguard with a splitting through-ball to Donovan Thompson, positioned at the top-left corner of the penalty area.

With two defenders drawn, Thompson was left to beat only goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert, and he did so with ease, sidestepping him before knocking the ball over the goal line.

“We're a little short-handed,” explained Colts coach Ray Jones, referring to the team’s defensive challenges. “We're not going to use that as an excuse, because we are a squad.

“Our skipper Jorj Dublin is a big miss. He’s travelling and Rahzir Jones picked up an injury during our last game and hasn’t been able to shake it off, so that’s two key players that have had us ticking.”

Colts' best chance of the first half came a minute before the interval when Senoj Mitchell got on the end of a right-wing corner, but his firm effort sailed a foot wide of the near post.

Even as the visitors came more into the match after the break, X-Roads should have doubled their lead in the 70th minute.

As in the first half, Spence created a wide-open avenue for Thompson yards inside the penalty area, but with Mills-Furbert exposed to the left and right, the offering was a tame shot directly at the goalkeeper.

Six minutes later, X-Roads were made to rue the miss when Colts were awarded a penalty and Jahzarde Samuels converted it after Cory Booth brought down a rampaging San-Tze Burgess.

After surrendering the lead, rather than looking downcast, X-Roads elevated their play, laying siege to the opponents' half but without reward, leaving coach Farid El-Karfa disappointed at not claiming maximum points.

“For me, the performance we put in today, I really think we should be walking with three points,” said El-Karfa after the match. “We played very well. We dominated the first half. I'm sure we created the most chances.

“We could have scored more. So it’s unlucky that we gave away a penalty at the end, allowing Colts to get one point.

“I think we were the better team. We created a lot of chances. We played really good football today, so it's very unlucky for me that we are only walking away with one point.”

Perhaps knowing his side had dodged a bullet, Jones expressed some satisfaction at sharing the spoils away from home against a team much better than their position indicated.

“If you look at the standings, you might call the result disappointing,” said Jones. “This is a team [X-Roads] that’s already in a final and they’re not in the Dudley Eve final because they're a bad team.

“So for us to come on the road, with the conditions as they are today and us being a touch-playing team, not able to knock the ball around, I'm actually proud of the team.

“Down 1-0 on the road, we just kept battling to the end, and I’ll take the point under these conditions.”

SCORERS

X-Roads: Thompson 31

Devonshire Colts: Samuels 76 pen

TEAMS

X-Roads: K Harvey; J Richardson, C Smith, S Harvey, T Dill; C Booth, T Daniels, A Spence, K Brangman; K Richardson, D Thompson. Substitutes: C Binie, T Talbot, A Darrell, A Cajee, R Simmons, D Usher, N Foster Skelton.

Devonshire Colts: J Mills-Furbert; S Burgess, E Darrell, D Jackson, S Robinson; Z Burgess, J Greaves, Jahzarde Samuels, C Henry, S Mitchell, S Blair-Paynter. Substitutes: H Eve, K Burch, Jordan Samuels, D Davis, C Thompson, R Whitter, A Van Duyne.