Somerset Trojans 0

North Village 5North Village celebrated their most lopsided win over Somerset Trojans at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday to keep pace with league leaders Boulevard.

Village, who host Blazers this Sunday at Bernard Park, trail their cross-town rivals by two points with only three matches remaining in the league season.

Firing on all cylinders in the West End yesterday, Village upstaged their hosts in every facet of the game by defending well at the rear, maintaining control of midfield and capitalising on a porous Trojans defence to leave the Somerset community in a total state of shock.

For the Reds, it was another memorable chapter in their illustrious history. But for Trojans it was a nightmare that will take some time to shake off — and a match they’ll probably want to quickly forget.

Former Somerset resident Vernon Tankard laid the foundations for his team’s convincing win by netting a first-half brace, before second-half strikes from Keishen Bean, Ralph Bean jr and super-sub Nakia Smith put the match well beyond Trojans’ reach.

Temperamental Trojans coach Dennis Brown — currently overseas — probably tossed and turned in his sleep last night, along with the entire Somerset defence who were sloppy at best in defence.

Yet with so much riding on this match, with the exception of Village assistant coach Maceo Dill, nobody else could’ve predicted such a blow out.

“I’m not surprised that my team can play like they did today,” Dill said.

“We have been in this position (title race) before. We got through the difficult periods during the first half of the season and now we are showing some consistency and taking things one game at a time.”

In an attempt to seize the early initiative, Trojans came running at Village from the opening whistle.

But after absorbing the pressure, Village pulled their hosts’ bluff and grabbed the lead for good against the run of play with a goal virtually handed to them on a silver platter.

After receiving a short goal-kick from ‘keeper Timmy Figureido, full back Butterfield’s attempted punt up field fell right at the feet of Tankard — who dribbled several yards before slotting the ball home at the near post.

“Somerset came out aggressive today but we held firm and took our chances at the other end. And that was part of the game plan because we had been giving up too many goals and needed to defend better,” Dill added.

Somerset responded with midfielders Stephen Astwood, Adolphus Lambert and Jelani (Roots) Butterfield all coming close to levelling the scores.

First a subdued Astwood connected poorly with Dion Stovell’s cross into the box with the goal at his mercy, Lambert had a scissors kick brilliantly saved by Zane Hendrickson while Butterfield headed over unchallenged in the six-yard box.

Trojans paid dearly for these squandered opportunities as Tankard rifled home a Ralph Bean jr cross that was parried into his path by Figureido from close range to give the Reds a 2-0 cushion at the half. And shortly after the break the dreadlocked player nearly grabbed a hat-trick with a delicate lob that dipped just over the bar.

Yet Trojans soldiered on with Lambert almost slicing Village’s lead in half. Given space down the left side, the Trojans midfielder could only watch in disbelief as Hendrickson pushed his well-struck effort onto the bar.

But this ultimately proved to be the closest Somerset would come to scoring as Village pressed their foot firmly on the accelerator while the home team continued to self-destruct.

Keishen Bean knocked the wind completely from Trojans’ sails after combining with Ralph Bean and young Shayne Hollis to net Village’s third in the 76th minute. Hollis, on as a 40th-minute substitute for Carlos Trott, sent a long ball forward which Ralph Bean crossed into the middle after gliding past Butterfield for his namesake to drill past Figureido.

But Village weren’t done just yet. Ralph Bean — the league’s top-scorer — then added his name to the scoresheet four minutes later before super-sub Smith fashioned a gem of a goal in the closing moments to put the proverbial icing on the cake.

After getting goal-side of Somerset fullback Butterfield, Ralph Bean cut inwards and dribbled parallel with the goal line before pivoting and beating Figureido at the near post.

But the best was yet to come as Village sub Smith administered the last rites and proved that he can also bend it like David Beckham with a spectacular curling free kick from just outside the 18 yard box.

On the pitch for less than 30 seconds, Smith controlled and laid off a throw-in before running into space to receive a pass played over the top. After riding a challenge Smith was brought down from behind as he shaped up to shoot. Electing to take the kick himself, Smith delicately bent the ball around the wall and into Figureido’s top left corner to put Trojans out of their misery. “We lost our shape while Village were the smarter team on the day,” Somerset assistant coach Paul Scope lamented.

Somerset: T.Figureido, M.Butterfield, S.Riley, S.Simmons, D.Minors, J.Scott, J.Butterfield, D.Swan (D.Basden, 55 mins), S.Astwood (R.Wilson, 65 mins), D.Stovell, A.Lamber>

North Village: Z.Hendrickson, J.Boyles, R.Spence, R.Wilson, K.Dill, Kai.Dill (T.Outerbridge, 76 mins), R.Bean jr (capt), J.Jennings, V.Tankard, K.Bean (N.Smith, 86 mins),C.Trott (S.Hollis, 40 mins).

Yellow car$>: S.Astwood (Somerset); J.Jennings (Village)

Men of the ma<$>: D.Stovell (Somerset); V.Tankard (Village)

Referee: Anthony Mouchette.