St George’s 2 Devonshire Cougars 2

Substitute Tah-Ki Tucker scored a late equaliser to secure a valuable point for St George’s at Wellington Oval on Saturday.

In challenging conditions, the home side started off on the front foot with the wind at their backs, pressing Cougars when out of possession and keeping the ball well when they won it back.

This strong start was illustrated by a neat interchange between Ne-Jai Tucker and Riley Robinson as St George’s took the lead inside ten minutes. Tucker stepped inside Zari Simmons and smashed his finish through the outstretched arms of Cougars goalkeeper Jaquan Darrell.

Cougars nearly equalised within five minutes of going behind when Domico Coddington slipped a pass wide for Kamali Davis to strike at goal. St George’s goalkeeper Troy Hall parried that strike directly back to Davis, who accurately found fellow attacker Coddington with his cut-back. However, Hall acrobatically tipped his effort around the near post.

Cougars got themselves level midway through the first half when Che-Kai Caisey picked out Davis on the right. The tricky attacker, who had switched wings from his customary left position, cut inside and whipped a glorious effort past the despairing dive of Hall into the postage stamp at the far left corner.

Robinson should have given St George’s their second lead of the game, but his powerful strike was pushed over the bar from a reflex save by Darrell. Neither side were able to create anything else of note in the first half as the winds continued to swirl across the pitch, and they went into the locker rooms all square.

Cougars must have felt satisfied with their first-half showing given they were disadvantaged by the direction of the wind and that showed with their start to the second period.

They forced St George’s into numerous lapses of concentration, with Caisey, Davis and Coddington involved in more effective areas.

Cougars controlled more of the possession, although the midfield battle was largely scrappy and physical due to the inclement conditions, but they were vulnerable to the counter-attack.

The away side went ahead in the 83rd minute following a moment of beautiful vision by Jecoa Thomas, who drove a pass right to an open Coddington. The former Cougars captain controlled the pass and struck a low effort through the legs of Hall to give his side what appeared to be the likely winning goal.

But with just two minutes to go, St George’s salvaged a point when Kashe Hall played a lovely through ball to split the Cougars defence open and Tah-Ki Tucker placed his finish past Darrell.

Cougars had the chance to claim victory with their last attack but a poorly weighted pass by Simmons to Manoj Paynter put an end to their hope of three points.

SCORERS

St George’s: N Tucker 9, T Tucker 88

Devonshire Cougars: Davis 26, Coddington 83

TEAMS

St George’s (4-2-3-1): T Hall 6 – I Gibbons 5 (sub: T Tucker, 85 min), J Schroder 6, N Paynter 5, J Richardson 6 – C Neal 6, N Tucker 7 – B Hall 5, K Hall 6, R Robinson 5 (sub: S Mitchell, 77) – Q Maynard 5 (sub: J Dickinson, 85). Substitutes not used: G Wade, A Simons, A Cannonier, D Lodge. Booked: N Tucker, Richardson, Paynter.

Devonshire Cougars (4-3-3): J Darrell 6 – J Thomas 7, Z White 5, L Millett 5, M Paynter 6 – Z Simmons 5, M Thomas 5, C Burns 5 – C Caisey 6, Domico Coddington 6, K Davis 6. Substitutes not used: M Mills, N Simmons, J Brimmer, J Mouchette, D’Ari Coddington, N Carmichael. Booked: Z Simmons.

Referee: W Woodley.