Somerset Trojans 2 Somerset Eagles 1

Trevin Ming, the Somerset Trojans captain, hailed his team’s “best performance of the season” after defeating West End rivals Somerset Eagles in the Premier Division on Saturday night.

Ming said it was imperative Trojans defeated relegation-threatened Eagles, admitting that defeat would have left his team looking nervously over their shoulders.

It was Ming’s close-range finish from a corner kick in the tenth minute that cancelled out Alizay Furbert’s early opener from a well-placed free kick.

Trojans sealed the victory in style when midfielder Justin Corday crashed home a bouncing ball from 35 yards beyond the back-pedalling Lorenzo Lambert in the Eagles goal.

“It was one of the best games we’ve played,” Ming said. “I don’t know if it was the atmosphere or the fact it was a derby. We really stepped up after all of those losses and it was good to get the wheels rolling again. We didn’t want Eagles to get any closer to us. They would have been a point behind if they had won.”

Ming said that the chance to earn the bragging rights gave his team-mates even greater incentive for victory.

“We see these guys everyday and so we didn’t want them to start giving us banter,” he said.

Ming added: “I think all of the goals were excellent and I think the game was a treat for the Trojans supporters and all of the Somerset community.”

Trojans seized control of the game in the second half and went close to taking the lead when forward Tahj Wade struck the crossbar from a free kick.

Jonathan Bean, the Trojans striker, also had an effort cleared off the line by Eagles defender Lorenzo Burch moments before Corday’s winner. Corday nearly doubled his tally when he had a free kick tipped over the bar.

SCORERS

Somerset Trojans

Ming 10, Corday 75

Somerset Eagles

Furbert 8

TEAMS

Somerset Trojans (3-5-2): S Bean — D Swan, T Outerbridge, T Ming — L Burgess, J Ratteray-Smith, A Seaman (sub: Z Iris, 86min), A Trott, J Corday — T Wade, J Bean. Substitutes not used: D Benjamin, R Cann, D Lister, D Woods, H Butterfield, M Jones. Booked: Corday

Somerset Eagles (4-3-3): L Lambert — K Fray, K Harrison, T Harvey, L Burch — R Quinn, A Furbert (sub: K Evans, 89), D Riley-Clarke — D Simmons (sub: T Smith, 60), A Telford, N Rego (sub: J Santos, 81). Substitutes not used: A Bean, S James, C Madeiros, J Santos, R Seaman, K Virgil. Booked: Burch

Referee: A Francis