Devonshire Cougars 1 X-Roads 1

Kahmori Brangman’s late equaliser rescued a point for X-Roads against home side Devonshire Cougars at Devonshire Recreation Club yesterday.

The winger drove in Daniel Baker’s cross eight minutes from the end of regulation time to cancel out Chae Brangman’s first-half strike.

The visiting side were the better team and were unfortunate not to come away with the win, having dominated possession, created more chances and also struck the woodwork.

A disjointed Cougars found opportunities hard to come by but nearly regained the lead immediately after Brangman brought the teams level when Mark Steede, on as late substitute, struck the post with an angled drive.

Philip Parsons, the X-Roads captain, felt they shaded the game. “I thought we probably should have had all three,” he said. “It was just one silly error from us and a couple of chances I thought we could have put away on a different day.”

Zeko White, the Cougars captain, felt his team showed enough character to come away with a point.

“We didn’t do enough today [to win] and our decision-making was off,” said White, who played as a holding midfielder rather than his customary position as central defender. But the team fought hard and a point is better than nothing.”

X-Roads dominated the early exchanges and bombarded Cougars’ goal in search of the breakthrough. The first real chance fell to X-Roads’s winger Brangman, who brought off a fine save by Ricardo Brangman, the Cougars goalkeeper, at the near post.

However, a blunder by Dashun Cooper, the X-Roads goalkeeper, undid all the visiting side’s hard work and gifted Cougars the lead.

Cooper sliced an attempted short pass to William Aaron-Spencer towards Cougars striker Brangman, who headed into the empty net. Cougars’ goal arrived during their best spell and they were unfortunate not to pull further ahead on a promising attack. X-Roads were ripped apart by a through ball, however Cooper was equal to the task as he raced off his line to clear.

X-Roads maintained their slight edge after the break and should have been back on level terms from a set piece early in the second half. Teiko Lowe whipped in a free kick that Tymon Daniels nodded over.

X-Roads kept up their relentless assault on goal and were nearly rewarded when Brangman tipped Daniels’s free kick against the bar before Cougars cleared their lines.

Cougars luck eventually ran out when Brangman grabbed a late equaliser. Both teams had chances to snatch a late victory; Cougars substitute Steede pinging the bottom of the near post and X-Roads’s substitute Khomeini Talbot scuffing a partial clearance.

SCORERS

Devonshire Cougars

Chae Brangman 29

X-Roads

Brangman 82

TEAMS

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): R Brangman — Z Simmons (sub: S Jones, 59min), Zekiro White, C Maybury, D Williams — Zeko White, J Smith, M Steede (sub: A Douglas, 64) — J Mallory, Cashun Brangman (sub: M Steede, 76), Chae Brangman. Substitutes not used: D Simmons, O Bascome, N Simmons, L Tota. Booked: Williams.

X-Roads (4-3-3): D Cooper — O Williams, P Parsons, A Burgess, T Aaron-Spencer — J Swan, Teiko Lowe (sub: K Godfrey, 68) T Daniels — K Davis — Jones (sub: K Talbot, 79), K Brangman, D Baker (sub: Terencio Lowe. 90). Substitutes not used: J Burrows, K Brown.

Referee: C Trott.