Rams denied by super sub Stovell
Somerset Trojans 2 North Village 2Super sub Dion Stovell struck a double salvo as Somerset Trojans and North Village shared the spoils at Somerset Cricket Club on Saturday night.Trojans, who defeated Village in the Dudley Eve final last month, took the lead in the 55th minute when Stovell broke the deadlock with a powerful strike past veteran goalkeeper Dwayne (Streaker) Adams.Village equalised almost immediately, though, when winger Clay Darrell scored in his second successive game since joining the club with a neat finish after clever build-up play from Keishen Bean.The Rams struck again when substitute striker Pierre Smith found the net with his first touch of the game after replacing youngster Tah-mi Williams to give Shaun Goater’s side the lead.Village continued to threaten with Darrell almost connecting with a Ralph Bean centre while Keishen Bean was close to wriggling his way through the host’s backline before being crowded out.Stovell denied Village what would have been an impressive away win when he unleashed an unstoppable left foot volley to level.Dreadlocked wide man Tahj Wade, who came on as a second-half sub, almost gave Trojans the victory but somehow squirted his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.Trojans skipper Trevin Ming believed a draw had been a fair result before praising the contribution of national team cricketer Stovell.“I think we played well. It was important for us to keep playing strong in the league and we didn’t want to appear to have a hangover from the Dudley Eve win,” said the defender, whose team beat Village 2-1 after extra-time to win the first trophy of the season, the Dudley Eve.“This was a good performance and we’re happy with the point tonight it’s better than a loss.“We had chances to win but that’s football and we’re still keeping our heads high.”He added: “(Stovell) is a big a player for us and he steps up at the right moment. At the same time it’s a collective unit and we all play to each other’s strengths and give the best we can.“It’s important we keep our heads up, keep together as a unit, and everything else will fall into place.”Somerset Trojans: S Bean, T Ming, I Mallory, J Outerbridge, A Trott, S Brangman, M Jones (T Wade, 80), T Burgess, L Burgess, Naquan Smith, A Burrow (D Stovell, 45)Substitutes not used: Nacori Smith, J Bean, J Simmons, R BrangmanGoals: Stovell, 55, 77North Village: D Adams, D Grant, R Bean, K Trott (P Castle, 88), J DeSheilds, K Bean, T Jennings, K Dill, J Jennings, T Williams (P Smith, 60), C Darrell (J DeSilva, 75)Substitutes not used: K Knight, C Boyce, W Ming, Z HendricksonGoals: Darrell, 57, Smith, 61Referee: L RaynorMan of the match: J Jennings (Village)