Hamilton Parish 0 Somerset Trojans 1

Somerset Trojans’ long trip east was not in vain as they wrestled all three points from Hamilton Parish in a scrappy affair at Wellington Oval on Sunday.

Captain Simeon Burrows scored the only goal of the game to keep Trojans three points clear of the relegation zone from Boulevard Blazers with a narrow win over Parish, who finished the match with nine players and coach Sergio Goater ejected as referee Tashun Simons was kept busy all afternoon.

“We knew the Boulevard result from last night so we had to match that to keep them behind us”, said Trojans’ assistant coach, Jensen Rogers, who was again deputising for the sick Scott Morton.

“It was a scrappy affair but at the end of the day, we take the 1-0 and the three points’.

Trojans started the match the hungrier of the two teams and scored on their first threatening attack when Enrique Mendes’s cross was partially blocked with the loose ball falling to captain Burrows on the edge of the box.

His right-footed drive from the outside of his boot curled and eluded Parish goalkeeper Paul Tohill before deflecting off the upright and landing in the back of the net.

Burrows almost doubled the lead in similar fashion but this time the ball rolled back into play after hitting thepost.

Parish pressed hard for the equaliser with captain Mauriq Hill pushing forward from his centre back position, but this left gapping holes at the back which Trojans nearly capitalised on when Makai Joell ran down the middle from deep before Tohill blocked his shot.

Just before the half, Parish coach Goater came on the field to tend to an injured Kyle Wade but after an exchange of words with referee Simons, he was booked for delaying the restart.

Trojans kept up the intensity after the restart and continued to attack down the centre of the pitch. In the 60th minute, DeAndre Wainwright put Jahiem Iris through with goalkeeper Tohill only for the goalkeeper to pull him down outside the box and receive a straight red card.

The injured Wade donned the goalkeeper’s jersey and did a remarkable job to deny two-point blank attempts and Trojans’ goalkeeper Yizharyah Williams was also in good form, keeping his team’s one goal advantage intact when diving full length to turn Aaron Nelson’s drive away after he was put through by Macquille Walker.

Midway through the second half, Parish had a moment of indiscipline, when coach Goater received his second yellow card closely followed by Walker for foul and abusive language as the Trojans kept their heads to close out the game and secure the vital points.

SCORERS

Somerset: Burrows 17

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): P Tohill 6 --- K Wade 7, M Hill 6, M Turner 6, K Knights 6 --- Z Burgess 6, A Nelson 7 --- C Lindo 5 (sub: J Steede, 85min), S Holis 5, S McKittrick 6 --- M Walker 5. Substitutes not used: J Small, E Furbert. Booked: M Hill, S McKittrick, Z Burgess. Sent off: P Tohill, M Walker, S Goater (Coach)

Somerset Trojans (4-2-3-1): Y Williams 6 ---Jadan Ratteray-Smith 7, Jez Ratteray-Smith 6, T Ming 6, M Nisbett-Tankard 6 ---M Joell 7, S Burrows 7 --- E Mendes 7 (sub: K Cann, 76), J Iris 7, J Shields 7, D Wainwright 7 (sub: R Burrows, 76). Substitutes not used: J Morrissey, M Aden, A Morrissey. Booked: S Burrows, Jadan Ratteray-Smith, M Joell.

Referee: T Simons