Robin Hood 1 Somerset Eagles 1

Robin Hood’s title aspirations took a surprise knock as Somerset Eagles snatched a point at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

Hood were aiming to cement their position at the top of the table but would have been left bewildered at how they failed to turn their dominance into three points as Justin Corday’s first-half opener was cancelled out after the break as Nathan Rego’s speculative strike somehow squirmed under the body of goalkeeper Jason Simons.

Frustrations were clear throughout from the Hood players, summed up in an unsavoury clash between captain Lejaun Simmons and team-mate Shakir Smith at half-time, resulting in the latter receiving a booking as the players walked off towards the dressing room.

However, coach John Barry Nusum brushed off the incident as he focused on trying to move on from what proved a forgettable afternoon all-round for his side.

“It was one of those days, they happen, we just have to move on,” Nusum said. “The incident between Shakir and Lejaun was nothing more than frustration. It happens in teams where players might not agree on something and frustrations boil over. It was all sorted and they moved on.

“The energy as a whole seemed low today and it was one of those games where frustration crept in and affected what we did. In some games you’ll have one or two players having off days but we had too many guys not up to their usual standard and that filtered through the whole team.

“We had a lot of possession, but just couldn’t turn it into any more goals which is disappointing. We have to put this result behind us and move on.”

After a sluggish opening 15 minutes, Hood finally broke the deadlock three minutes later in somewhat fortuitous circumstances. Corday’s 30-yard free kick took a wicked deflection off the wall, leaving goalkeeper Lorenzo Burch not only wrong-footed, but also helpless as the ball nestled into the bottom right corner.

Hood continued to create the only real opportunities. One such chance came from another free kick in the 28th minute as Simmons deep chipped delivery into the area, found defender Jaylon Bather whose first-time volley was well saved by Burch.

Burch had to be alert not once but twice moments before the break, parrying an effort from Goater before also saving smartly from Simmons’s rebound.

Whatever was said in the home changing room after the on-field altercation between Simmons and Smith at the break, appeared to have a desired affect as Hood started the second half rejuvenated, with the chances coming thick and fast. First Simmons flashed a right-footed effort narrowly past the left upright, before five minutes later, a deep cross from the right-hand side found Smith whose header was well saved by Burch with the rebound falling to the attacker only to be denied again by Burch.

Hood continued to create chances without finishing as Goater also went close after 60 minutes, shifting the ball on to his left foot on the edge of the area before slicing wildly high and wide of the a target.

The home side were made to rue their profligacy nine minutes later as Eagles levelled against the run of play. Substitute Chare Smith picked out Rego on the edge of the area, whose weak left-footed effort somehow squirmed under the body of the diving Simons and rolled over the line.

With just three minutes remaining Hood goalkeeper Simons went someway to making amends for his earlier howler, diving full stretch to brilliantly tip Chare Smith’s glancing header away, before again being alert to hold onto a stinging strike from Rego two minutes later.

Hood created one final chance as substitute Aaron Nelson broke into the area and cut the ball back for Simmons, who looked destined to snatch a winner, only to be denied by the last-ditch intervention of Kieran Evans.

“Robin Hood are obviously a very good team, top of the table and undefeated so coming into this game we knew we had to work hard as a team to get anything,” said Jensen Rogers, the Somerset Eagles head coach.

“The game plan was just to try and remain disciplined, frustrate the opposition and then see if we could nick anything. That’s what we did and I’m really delighted.”

SCORERS

Robin Hood: Corday 18

Somerset Eagles Rego 69

TEAMS

Robin Hood (4-2-1-3): J Simons — J Pereira, J Bather, A Russell, Casey Castle — P Parsons (sub: L Evans, 59min), J Corday — T Goater — S Smith (sub: C Brangman, 82), T Tyrell (sub: A Nelson, 70), L Simmons. Substitutes not used: Z Burgess, E Outerbridge, C Ryan. Booked: Smith.

Somerset Eagles (4-3-3): L Burch — K Evans, M Iris-Simmons, J Rumley, S Lambert -A Morrissey, D Simmons, E Fubler (sub: A Butterfield, 85) — N Rego, M Thomas (sub: C Smith, 60), R Woodley-Smith (sub: R Ford II, 90). Substitutes not used: T Eve, L Lambert, C Medeiros, G Smith.

Referee: G Swainson.