North Village 1 Flanagan’s Onions 0

North Village rode their luck to grab a win at Bernard Park yesterday that keeps them in first place in the Premier Division.

Flanagan’s Onions, whose draw with PHC Zebras last weekend enabled Village to take over top spot, looked like picking up another vital point against the top team.

Unfortunately, goalkeeper Stephen Gould failed to catch a high ball into his box that grazed his fingertips and captain Keishen Bean pounced on the loose ball to score into an open goal midway through the second half.

It was one of the few clear-cut chances throughout the match as Onions, second from bottom, held their own against another team from the other end of the table.

The visiting side had a couple of strong penalty claims for handball in the second half turned down by referee Anthony Bailey before Village held out for their tenth win of the season. Coach Devarr Boyles was relieved to get the points that keep the Rams in first place by a point over PHC Zebras.

“Everything starts with hard work and with working hard sometimes things go for you,” Boyles said.

“Maybe one of those calls could have gone their way but it didn’t. I thought we could have done more with the opportunities that we had.

“I think the position that Flanagan’s are in is a false position, I watched the match when they played Robin Hood and they could easily have gone into the half up 4-1. They got a draw against PHC in the last match and this one could have gone either way.”

After an uneventful first half, the match finally opened up more in the second half as Demetre Daniels, of Village, headed straight at goalkeeper Gould after he tried to lob the ball over him near the edge of the penalty box.

Village started to look a different team with the introduction of veteran Ralph Bean in the 55th minute.

His presence in midfield enabled Keishen Bean to pay further forward and the Village captain created the opening from a long ball into the Onions box by defender Rai Sampson.

Gould, at full stretch, failed to catch the ball and Bean was quick to react with both the goalkeeper and defender Martel Laws stranded and scored a simple tap-in to break the deadlock.

Onions were calling for handball inside a crowded penalty area from a corner on the left and soon after had another call for a handball ignored.

At the other end a long cross to the far post by full back Devrae Tankard found Thomas Watson but he was off target with his header.

“We have been in this position for a while and the nerves came in, but once we got the goal we settled down a bit,” Boyles said.

“We’re running out of games so it is about ticking boxes and getting results.

“We would like to play a bit more, but that is coming. What I like is that they are remaining patient and finding ways to win.

“This is probably the fifth game we have won 1-0 and I think they are comfortable knowing the games are going to be close.”

SCORER

North Village

Bean 67

TEAMS

North Village (4-3-3): T Bell — R Sampson, J Harvey, T Fray, D Tankard — J Briers, D Daniels (sub: E Zuill, 61min), K Bean — T Watson, Z Bowen (sub: R Bean, 55), L Dill (sub: K Dill, 75). Substitutes not used: P Parsons. Booked: Zuill.

Flanagan’s Onions (4-5-1): S Gould — J Scott, G Muir, Martel Laws, Markez Laws — R Calvert (sub: C Berkeley, 82), C Burns (sub: J Knight, 73), T Smith, P Robey, M Lindsey-Bailey — K Lewis. Substitutes not used: M Ward, J Cook.

Referee: A Bailey.