Flanagan’s Onions 2

Somerset Trojans 0

Flanagan’s Onions earned a deserved home victory against Somerset Trojans with two goals in three minutes in the Premier Division at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night.

Both teams cancelled each other out during a cagey first half and it took until the 69th minute for the deadlock to be broken with Pete Robey, the Onions midfielder, smashing the ball home after a goalmouth scramble.

Martel Laws then cushioned their lead with a pile-driver from distance that nestled into the top corner to seal an important win for Onions, whose all-action displays have been rewarded with the hard lucre of points in recent weeks.

The win was Onions’ third of the season, having lost only once in their last five games.

Onions, who embraced the Christmas spirit with their substitutes and backroom staff dressing up in festive garb, survived a first-half scare when Tahj Wade found himself through on goal only to be denied by the sharp reflexes of Stephen Gould, the goalkeeper.

Neither side created much in the way of scoring chances until the second half when Trojans failed to clear their lines allowing Robey to drill the ball into the net from close-range.

Laws then compounded Trojans’ misery when he smashed a shot from 30 yards past Shaquille Bean, the Trojans goalkeeper, to give the home side some breathing space.

The defensive midfielder was forced off moments later after being struck in the face will the ball from point-blank range.

Robey was presented with another chance after a slip by Dennis Lister, the Trojans defender, but fired his shot straight at Bean. Darren Doolin also should have done better with another good opportunity but rushed his effort when he had more time than he realised.

Gordon Cox, the assistant coach, taking charge of the team in the absence of Mick Ward, who is off the Island, said it was important that Onions were able to weather Trojans’ early pressure.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game and we knew they were going to come at us — the first half was just about holding it together,” Cox said.

“We didn’t concede in the first half which was important and then we changed things in the second half, altering our formation to allow us a bit more width. It paid dividends as we created a few chances and we finally took them.

“The second goal really helped because it meant they had to press us and that allowed for even more space in behind and we could have scored a few more.”

Cox said that the win was all the more impressive considering Onions were missing Keston Lewis and Vincent Minors, their chief attacking outlets through suspension.

“We are fortunate that we have got a big enough club to pull people together, although naturally Keston and VJ [Minors] are two players you will miss.

“But everyone stepped up tonight and did a sensational job for us.

“We also had guys who came in to help out like Jonny Knight, who came on in the second half and really added so much to our game.

“He just played it simple and allowed us to get the victory we deserved.”