X-Roads 2 Somerset Trojans 2

Somerset Trojans twice came from behind to salvage a share of the spoils with a rejuvenated X-Roads in an evenly fought Dudley Eve Trophy contest at Goose Gosling Field last night.

Striker Donavan Thompson put X-Roads ahead before Justin Corday, the Somerset captain, equalised shortly after with his second goal in as matches to leave the teams deadlocked at the interval.

Jaman Lottimore restored X-Roads lead only for Simeon Burrows to bring the teams level for good from the penalty spot nine minutes from the end of regulation time.

“I think we could have come away victorious but kudos to Somerset,” Ralph Bean Jr, the X-Roads coach, said. “They continued to press to give us something to think about and in the end they got the equaliser.

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the W, but I can’t fully complain at this point.“

Somerset captain Corday felt his team deserved more than a share of the spoils given the chances they squandered.

“I definitely feel we deserve more than what we got, but nobody is going to give anything to us,” Corday said. “We are playing with the big boys and our young guys have got to step up and we’ve got to take our chances.

“We had enough chances to win the game and it just didn’t work out that way. But it is still encouraging what we see.”

Both teams took a while to settle into their penultimate group match with Somerset midfielder Burrows firing off the game’s first shot from outside the box that was comfortably gathered by X-Roads goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell.

X-Roads created the first real chance when Thompson’s pull-back in the six-yard box was cleared away by the Somerset defence.

Somerset also went close when Darrell palmed away Burrows’s firmly struck drive from 25 yards.

Thompson was unable to convert on a promising raid when he shot high and wide from just outside the box after being picked out by Lottimore’s long pass over the top.

However, the experienced player made amends when he tapped in Lottimore’s parried shot from a free kick he won in his own half to put X-Roads in front but their lead was short-lived as Corday prodded Burrows’s short pass over the line five minutes later.

Somerset suffered a setback after losing defender Jaden Ratteray-Smith and midfielder Mohamed Aden to injury in the space of two minutes.

X-Roads started the second half on the front foot with midfielder Che Brangman pulling off a diving save from Somerset goalkeeper Jade Morrissey.

The game continued in end-to-end fashion with Somerset substitute DeAndre Wainwright failing to get a boot to Burrows’s free kick in the area and Thompson fizzing a shot just inches over the bar.

Lottimore eventually put X-Roads back in front. Thompson fed a pass out wide to Kahmori Brangman whose cross was lashed in by Lottimore from a tight angle at the far post.

However, Somerset refused to roll over and went close when midfielder Damon Ming saw his effort cleared off the line by X-Roads defender Jamin Furbert.

Somerset pressed on and their persistence finally paid off with Furbert going from hero to villain after Burrows went down under his challenge in the area.

The Somerset midfielder made no mistake from 12-yards as he tucked the ball in the bottom left corner.

X-Roads threatened twice in the closing stages. But Morrissey was equal to the task as he denied Ramar Simons and Furbert as Somerset held on.

SCORERSs

X-Roads: Thompson 28, Lottimore 63

Somerset Trojans: Corday 33, Burrows 81 pen

TEAMS

X-Roads (4-1-4-1): Q Darrell 7 - T Lowe 7, D Teleman 7, J Furbert 7, D Baker 7 - T Daniels 7 - D Simons 7 (sub: R Simmons 75 7), K Brangman 7, C Brangman 7, J Lottimore 8 (sub: J Morgan 67 7) - D Thompson 8. Substitutes not used: R Beek, S Boyles, J Dill. Booked: Morgan (sub).

Somerset Trojans (4-2-3-1): J Morrissey 7 - Z Saltus-Seymour 7, M Nisbett-Tankard 7, T Ming 7, J Ratteray-Smith 7 (Sub: D Wainwright 40 6) - D Ming 8, M Aden 7 (E Mendes 42 7) - J Butterfield 7, S Burrows 8, K McNeil 7 (sub: M Joell 64 7) - J Corday 8. Substitutes not used: C Durham, K Cann. Booked: Ming.

Referee: A Majors.