Flanagan’s Onions 1 North Village 3

North Village kept their Premier Division title hopes alive with two late goals against Flanagan’s Onions at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

In the final minute with the score locked a 1-1, Village’s Tyrell Burgess scored from close range after Onions goalkeeper Stephen Gould had done well to parry an effort from substitute striker Jahron Dickinson.

A visibly crushed Onions then conceded again two minutes into injury time when the lively Jahquan Smith-DeShields crashed a first-time volley into the top corner from outside the box.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Onions who had defended superbly for the majority of the closely fought game, but lacked their opponents’ quality in the final third.

Onions opened the scoring in the 29th minute when Kevin Ronaldson followed up Micky Ward’s drive which had been spilled by Village goalkeeper Randell Bassett.

Village were soon on level terms, however, when diminutive striker Pierre Smith headed home after Onions goalkeeper Stephen Gould seemed to misjudge Jahleel Crockwell’s right wing cross.

Although Village were by far the slicker passing side, the visitors were finding the compact and combative Onions difficult to breakdown.

Smith probably should have done better when he wriggled his way through the host’s backline but his weak lob was easily foiled by the outsrushing Gould.

At the other end, Onions were occasionally threatening and caused Village’s hearts to flutter when a dangerous cross from substitute Keith Szmierek somehow evaded everybody.

Both teams rattled the woodwork, Village from a menacing free-kick from Burgess while Onions’ Keston Lewis, spotting Bassett off his line, saw an opportunist chip hit the post.

Lewis was then presented with a wonderful opportunity when Bassett, in a moment of madness, threw the ball straight to the Trinidadian’s feet only for the Onions striker to balloon his effort wildy over the bar.

With time running out for Village, Burgess broke Onions’ hearts when the defender squeezed the ball home from a tight angle much to the despair of Nathan Peskett and Sam Butler who both manfully tried to prevent the ball from crossing the line.

Moments before the final whistle, Smith-DeShields scored the goal of the game, volleying home with the outside of his right boot to secure the victory which lifts Village into third place in the standings.

Ralph Bean Jr, the Village coach, said he always had faith his team would prevail against Onions. Village’s win was made all the more important with title rivals Dandy Town, Somerset Trojans and Devonshire Cougars all dropping points.

“The three points were definitely vital for us today as they have kept us within striking distance,” Bean said. “We fought hard for [the win] and I’m proud of the team today. I never believed [we couldn’t win]; you can’t think like that, if you do you will miss the opportunity to get the three points. I always thought we were going to win and we had them on the back foot for the whole second half, and [the goal] was only a matter of the time.

“We kept at it and tried to keep our width as [Onions] like to try and stay compact. There’s still some games to play and if we don’t get [to the title] it won’t be through any lack of effort.”