Favourites fall on day of Dudley Eve upsets
On a day of upsets it was hard to decide which result surprised the most.
Somerset Trojans and Dandy Town were supposed to meet in the final of the Dudley Eve Trophy on November 11, instead they will have to find something else to do next Wednesday.
Trojans, last year’s beaten finalists, lost to Robin Hood 7-6 in a penalty shootout, with Shaquille Bean, the Somerset goalkeeper, the villain, and Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, the hero of the day.
Bean failed to stop an Antwan Russell shot that he should have saved, allowing Hood to equalise eight minutes before the end of normal time. Simons, meanwhile, saved Jonathan Bean’s penalty to send his side into their first Dudley Eve final.
Then there was PHC, hammered 4-0 just weeks ago by Dandy Town, the team with a proud cup tradition bounced back to win 2-0.
Hood took the long route, beating the Trojans after the scores were still level 1-1 after two periods of extra time, as the heat began to take its toll on the players.
When the dust had finally settled Hood were through to the final after Jonathan Bean’s mis-hit kick from the penalty spot was saved by Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, low to his right.
Relief showed on the faces of the Hood players after clinching a spot in their second major final, against a Somerset team with a history of winning cup competitions, including winning the Dudley Eve two years ago.
Hood had trailed to a 65th minute goal by Tahj Wade, before Antwan Russell beat Shaquille Bean in the Somerset goal with a low shot at the near post that the goalkeeper should have saved eight minutes from the end, which sent the match into extra time.
“Looking at the overall game I thought we had the first half, Somerset had the second half, and we got a fortunate goal in the end which I thought the goalkeeper should have saved,” said Kyle Lightbourne, the Robin Hood coach who will now meet his former team, PHC, in the final at Wellington Oval.
PHC took the lead on a fluke goal two minutes into the second half. Shakir Smith blocked K’wonde Lathan’s attempted clearance on the left corner of the box, and the ball rebounded in under the crossbar.
A better taken second goal from Cecoy Robinson, the PHC captain, eleven minutes later settled the match, as Dandy Town crashed to only their second loss of the season.
“We beat the team that is running hot, we’re coming off a 4-0 loss to them,” Mark Wade, the PHC coach, said.