Deshields notches maiden hat-trick
North Village 3 Somerset Trojans 0
Jaizel Smith-Deshields notched a superb hat-trick to keep North Village firmly on course for a first Premier Division title in nine seasons.
The 21-year-old striker struck a double salvo during the first half before completing his treble after the break to complete Village’s comfortable shutout win over relegation threatened Somerset Trojans.
“I came into this game hungry and it feels good to get my first hat-trick in my first real season,” Smith-Deshields said.
“It was definitely one of my better performances. I woke up feeling like today would be a good day and I just applied myself on the pitch and felt confident trying to score.
“Right now it’s crunch time and so I put my all into it and it all worked out today.”
Smith-Deshields refused to take all the credit.
“My team-mates made it easy for me to get the hat-trick to be honest,” he added. “With everyone doing good on the field behind me, it’s not that hard to score when you have a full ten behind you supporting you.”
Kenny Thompson, the Village coach, hailed his striker’s brilliant display.
“Jaizel has a lot of potential,” he said. “He was one of the players here when I came in and is really, really exciting to be able to work with him.
“A young player that still has a lot of improving to do. But over the course of this season he has improved tremendously, and we are pleased that he was able to score three today.”
The result restored Village’s lead at the top of the table back to five-points over nearest rival Robin Hood with three matches remaining in the season.
Hood moved to within two points of Village after defeating X-Roads 3-0 on Saturday.
“Robin Hood got their points before us, so we knew we had to concentrate against an opponent that is fighting for something themselves,” Thompson added.
“We felt it was going to be a challenge and we rose well to it.
“The team spirit is good and the thing is that we are playing as a team, so there’s a framework for freedom.
“The framework keeps us together as a team, but there’s also the leeway for players to express themselves, and I thought we found a good balance today.”
Village were the first to settle into a rhythm with their possessive brand of football and created the first chance of the match which saw Dequan Crockwell, the Somerset goalkeeper, save Village forward Justin Bell’s free kick at the near post.
The home team continued to press and were finally rewarded when Bell raced into space down the left side and whipped in a low cross which left Smith-Deshields with an easy tap in.
Village should have extended their lead when Somerset were caught in possession deep in their own half. Demetre Daniels intercepted a poor pass, but chipped his effort just over the bar.
Somerset would not be as fortunate moments later as Smith-Deshields exchanged two passes with Troy Tucker in the box before slotting past Crockwell to earn Village a comfortable advantage at the break.
The visiting side suffered another setback early in the second half after striker Dion Stovell was injured in a midfield challenge and was replaced.
Somerset showed more purpose in the second half, but lacked the cutting edge needed to penetrate a well-organised Village defence that would not budge.
After being denied twice by some brilliant goalkeeping by Crockwell, Smith-Deshields pounced again from inside the box to complete his treble and cap Village’s dominant display.
SCORERS
North Village: Smith-Deshields 19, 42, 68
TEAMS
North Village (4-1-4-1): T Bell — A Darrell, T Fray, Q Lema, K Knights — J Briers, D Daniels, T Tucker, K Bean, J Bell- J Smith-DeShields (sub: J Daniels, 73). Booked: Bean. Substitutes not used: T Bean, R Rochester, R Simons, P Castle, W Shakir.
Somerset Trojans (4-2-3-1): D Crockwell — T Ming, D Seymour Jr, C Durham, M Joell — D Swan, J Ratteray-Smith, K Jennings, L Burgess, D Wainwright — D Stovell. Booked: Durham, Jennings, Ming, Ratteray-Smith, Swan. Substitutes not used: J Stowe, R Seaman, Z Smith.
Referee: A Francis.