North Village 2 Robin Hood 2

Liam Evans struck late as Robin Hood grabbed a share of the spoils at Bernard Park yesterday.

Evans pounced on a loose ball after Miles Brewer, the Hood substitute, had used his substantial presence to cause chaos in the North Village Rams’ penalty area.

Hood probably just about deserved a draw after a game in which they took the lead through Jaylon Bather, fell behind, and wasted a host of chances before and after they had scored first.

In between Ralph Bean, the player-manager, scored on his first start of the season, and Keishon Bean’s tap-in looked to have given his side their second successive league win.

Ralph Bean’s disgust at the result was evident from his quick departure from the field at the final whistle, although he should be thankful that Troy Hall, the Village goalkeeper, had a good day between the posts, and Antwan Russell, the Hood striker, had a bad day in front of them.

“In the end it looks like two points lost,” Kyle Lightbourne, the Hood manager, said. “In the first half we had enough chances to probably be two or three up.

“Antwan [Russell] had the one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the one in the dying minutes to win it.

“He’s been brilliant for us this season, it was just an off day for him.”

That Village came away disappointed had much to do with Hall’s performance in goal, and in the first half he single-handedly kept his side in the game, denying Russell twice, Tre Dill once, and Evans on the stroke of half time.

Even so, there was little that Hall could do about Bather’s opener, a sweetly-struck free-kick from 20-yards out that dipped over the wall and nestled inside the near post.

If Hood dominated the first half, Village controlled the second, and it took just two minutes after the re-start for them to draw level. Ralph Bean out-muscled Phil Froncioni down the right, cut inside, and his low shot beat Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, inside his near post.

With Russell struggling up front, and Hood being squeezed in midfield there seemed little likelihood of an equaliser coming. Brewer’s introduction changed all that.

Direct at the best of times, Hood peppered the Village defence with a succession of long balls out of the back, and high crosses into the box, and as Tankard and Burgess tired the breakthrough came. Hall, Brewer, and Tah-Mi Williams, the Village midfielder all went for the same ball and a tangle of bodies and legs ensued.

Evans was quickest to the loose ball and hammered it home. As unsatisfactory as a draw was, the manner of his side’s recovery left Lightbourne optimistic for the second half of the season. Still, he knows there is plenty of work for his side still to do if they are to maintain their Premier Division status.