St George’s 1

Somerset Trojans 3

Five players were sent off when a relatively calm match erupted into a violent mêlée after the final whistle at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Somerset Trojans’ comfortable win over St George’s Colts was overshadowed by the brawl featuring numerous players on either side, which required police intervention.

Jelani Carlington, the St George’s captain, was among the quintet that was shown the red card for violent conduct, along with team-mates Kodi Carlington, an unused substitute, and Damon Darrell; Zakai Iris and Alton Trott were dismissed for the visiting side.

It was not clear exactly what sparked the trouble because the game had slowly petered out after Jensen Rogers’s decisive third goal at the start of the second half.

But as the teams trudged off the pitch, a bout of seemingly routine pushing and shoving suddenly escalated into wild punching and kicking, with at least half a dozen players from each side congregating in an angry mass.

Police, who had maintained a visible presence throughout the match, walked on to the playing area to break up the fighting, while referee Elihu Holmes busily flashed his red card; however, it took several seconds to restore order, with isolated scuffles continuing to flare up. It was a sour end to an otherwise excellent day for the Trojans, whose attack, led by Tahj Wade, had caused problems for St George’s throughout.

Wade’s clever link-up play ensured that Adolphus Lambert and Vashun Blanchette, the wingers, got plenty of chances to use their pace and trickery.

However, for all their attractive approach play, it was power and persistence, and a little bit of luck, that brought the Trojans their goals — all from set-pieces.

St George’s had actually started very brightly, with Macai Simmons slotting home a penalty after the lively Jarazinho Bassett was tripped in the box in the fifth minute. They would have been in front even earlier, if Shaquille Bean had not tipped over Darrell’s close-range header.

Trojans responded quickly after falling behind and Lambert’s corner on the right was headed into his own net by David Signor at the near post.

The home side found Lambert particularly difficult to contain and, when he was brought down on the left side of the box, Wade’s nicely flighted free kick was met with an unstoppable header by Trevin Ming, the captain.

Bassett looked the most likely to bring St George’s back into the game, but despite some darting runs, he was unable to seriously test Bean.

Early in the second half, Wade’s corner led to a scramble, with Rogers, the Trojans defender, sweeping the ball over the line from close range.

St George’s hustled and bustled to get back into the game, but it never looked like being their day.

Mackie Crane, on as a substitute, had a couple of hopeful shots, but was unable to repeat his goalscoring heroics from the previous week when he scored the winner against Dandy Town.

When Kontai Burton, another substitute, headed wide, it appeared St George’s final hope had gone, and the game drifted towards what at least seemed like would be a quiet ending.

Kameron Fox, the St George’s coach, and Neil Paynter, the manager, declined to comment after the match, while Danvers Seymour Jr, the Trojans coach, and George Cann, the manager, could not be reached.