Robin Hood 0 Devonshire Cougars 1

Devonshire Cougars carried their good league form over into the Friendship Trophy to record a hard-fought victory at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

The game-deciding goal for Cougars was scored by Trey Tucker, although it came somewhat against the run of play.

Hood can feel somewhat hard done by, as they dominated large portions of the game. The game initially began with a flurry, as both sides had half chances to score within the opening few minutes. In the first minute, Antwan Russell, the Robin Hood striker, almost scored after a mix-up in the Cougars defence.

Then, a moments later, Tucker, the Cougars forward, also spurned a good chance, after the Hood goalkeeper, Jason Simons, missed a long ball into the box.

After the initial burst, the game calmed down, as both teams struggled to create clear-cut chances. Just before the half-hour mark, Hood carved out two glorious opportunities to go in front. First, a diagonal ball from midfield picked out Russell, but the Hood striker put his shot wide from a good position.

Then, a minute later, Shakir Smith, the Hood winger, escaped his defender and found space in the edge of the area to flash a shot across goal that the Cougars goalkeeper, Xyon Outerbridge-Smith, was just able to push it wide for a corner.

Missing those two chances would come back to bite Hood, as Cougars scored just five minutes later. Hood had been playing pretty well and had prevented Cougars from threatening. However, a defensive lapse in the 33rd minute changed all of that.

Darius Cox, the Hood and former Cougars defender, was guilty of casual play on the edge of his box. Machi Battersbee, the industrious Cougars midfielder, pressed Cox and was able to rob him of the ball, and fed it through for Tucker, the Cougars forward.

Tucker’s initial shot was saved by Simons, but Tucker was persistent and was able to chase down the rebound and put the ball in the back of the net at the second attempt to put his side ahead.

Hood were shocked by Tucker’s goal as they had been seemingly controlling the match. Nonetheless, Hood almost had an equaliser five minutes later, but Russell’s well-crafted free kick struck a post.

After the interval, Hood continued to carve out the majority of the chances. Ten minutes into the second half, a partial clearance from the Cougars defence fell to Smith, the Hood forward, but he was unable to punish the Cougars’ mistake.

Next, Russell provided an intelligent pass that put Lejuan Simmons through into the area, but he could only strike the crossbar from just a couple of yards out. Next Cox would try his luck, with the defender firing in a hopeful shot from the halfway line.

On the stroke of full-time, Juma Mouchette almost doubled Cougars lead after exchanging passes with Tucker on the edge of the box. Mouchette was unable to put his shot away, but it did not matter, as the one goal proved to be enough.

SCORER

Devonshire Cougars

Tucker 33

TEAMS

Robin Hood (4-3-3): J Simons — D Taylor (sub: L Evans, 69min), D Cox, N Peskett, K Elkinson — D Brangman, Z Burgess, C Caisey (sub: M Walker, 73) — S Smith, A Russell, L Simmons. Substitutes not used: J Pereira, Marcelos Thomas, R Wray. Booked: Russell.

Devonshire Cougars (4-4-2): X Outerbridge-Smith — D Williams, Zekiro White, Zeko White, M Rudo (sub: J Furbert-Wade, 65) — Mikkiel Thomas, M Battersbee (sub: J Mouchette, 80), Z Simmons, J Smith — C Burns (sub: C Brangman, 75), T Tucker. Substitutes not used: J Mallory, C Maybury, Z Parsons, H Stevens-Carty. Booked: Outerbridge-Smith, Rudo, Zekiro White, Williams.

Referee: L Raynor.