Somerset Trojans 0

North Village 1

Jahquan Smith-Deshields was all smiles on Saturday night after his goal gave North Village their first victory over Somerset Trojans in five years at Somerset Cricket Club.

His strike came nine minutes into the second half and proved to be the goal that separated the two sides.

The win took Village to the top of the Premier Division pile before Dandy Town reclaimed first place with victory over Flanagan’s Onions yesterday.

“That was a really big win for us in terms of the points and the positions the two teams are in,” Smith-Deshields said. “We wanted to move up the table and I don’t know too many teams that have come to Somerset and got three points this season. So it was big in that regard.

“It put us in a good situation. The win puts us in with a chance in the final three games of the season. All we have to do is be consistent and work hard.”

In the match of the weekend that pitted Village, in third place at the time, making the trip west to play the league leaders on their home turf, the first half did not live up to expectations.

The best chance of the opening 45 minutes fell to Village, but midfielder Jonathan Briers put his header over the bar from a free kick.

Smith-Deshields would have the next chance of the match and he made no mistake after he latched on to a long ball from deep inside his own half.

Finding himself behind the Trojans defence, he slotted home past Shaquille Bean.

The home side tried to claw their way back into the match, with Damon Swan going close to opening their account, but his audacious chip was pushed over the crossbar by Troy Hall Jr.

The visiting side had a chance to kill off the match when striker Jahron Dickinson was wrecklessly bundled over by Dane Benjamin midway through the second half. Dickinson stepped up to take the spot-kick himself, but hit the inside of Bean’s left-hand post and the goalkeeper recovered quickly enough to save the rebound from Jeleel Crockwell.

Jaz Rattery-Smith, the Somerset winger, was giving Jason Davis a rough go of things down the right flank and had a late opportunity cleared by Tyrell Burgess.

Trevin Ming, the Somerset captain who scored twice in the recent win over Dandy Town, was next to try his luck against Hall, but again the Village goalkeeper was up to the task, pushing away his powerful header from a corner.

“If the penalty had gone in for us, it would have made us a lot less anxious, but to preserve the lead showed a lot of character,” Smith-Deshields said.

“I am proud of the guys. We have performed superb in the last three games. We tend to be a second-half team for some reason. I don’t know what that’s about, but we always seem to find form heading into the final stretch.

“We have to stay grounded and know that our work is wasted if we don’t continue to be consistent.”