North Village 3

Robin Hood 2

North Village moved into the top four in the Premier Division after Keston Lewis scored twice at Bernard Park to help his side claim all three points against Robin Hood.

Village were deserving of the points, despite Robin Hood making it close at the end when Shaun Brown, on as a substitute, scored in the 88th minute.

Lejuan Simmons then blasted over the crossbar for Hood from a tight angle deep into injury time as Village finished with ten men, after substitute Jahzardae Samuels was sent off for a foul on Antwan Russell.

Samuels had only been on the field fifteen minutes as a replacement for Trey Durham when he was dismissed by Elihu Holmes, the referee.

“I thought it was harsh to get a straight red, but it is what it is,” Richard Todd, the Village coach, said.

Village made their intentions known from the outset when, after just 80 seconds, Lewis saw Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, off his line, but put his lobbed effort well wide.

Hood went even closer a few minutes later when Russell’s cross into the box struck Jalen Harvey before hitting the near upright, and was finally cleared for a corner.

Village broke the deadlock in the fourteenth minute when Jason Lee lobbed the ball over Simons, as Jason Titterton tried to clear it off the line. Robin Hood went close again when Russell’s snapshot from the edge of the penalty area brought off a good diving save from Jason Williams.

Village struck a crucial second goal when the Hood defence failed to clear a long ball into the box, and Lewis reacted quickest to fire the ball home.

That two-goal cushion lasted only a few minutes as Hood pulled a goal back just before the break. Russell intercepted a pass outside the Village box, sent Lejuan Simmons through, and he beat Williams at his near post.

Village, with Keishen Bean, Durham and Demetre Daniels playing well in midfield, continued to press for a third goal in the second half. The hard work paid off in the 68th minute when a Shayne Hollis back heel fell to Lewis, who drove home from ten yards.

The home side made three late substitutions in their bid to see the game through to the end.

After a shot on the turn from Zenawi Bowen was saved by Simons, Village allowed their opponents to make it close again when a lapse in concentration enabled Brown to score two minutes from the end.

However, the home team then hung on for six minutes of injury time, during which they lost Samuels for his reckless challenge on Russell.

“I’m a little bit disappointed in that goals come as a result of mistakes, at times when we could clear our lines,” Todd said. “It was a good performance today, we had four starters out from the last match, but depth allowed players to come in and do a job.

“With Keston Lewis we just had to stick with him, he has to come good for us and he did that.”

Kyle Lightbourne, the Hood coach, was disappointed with his team’s performance, admitting Village were the better team.

“I’m disappointed with the result today, I thought Village played well in the first half and in the second half it was more even,” Lightbourne said. “They just had that goal advantage on us. We could have taken the lead with the one that hit the post, but Village deserved to be in front.

“Credit to North Village, they outplayed us for long periods and we couldn’t get a hold of their two midfielders. In the end we got that second goal, but they were already 3-1 up by then.”