Somerset Trojans 2 Boulevard 0

Somerset Trojans finished their first half of the season strongly with a highly competitive win over pointless Boulevard at Somerset Cricket Club on Saturday.

In the opening moments, the Trojans opened up the Boulevard defence when winger Jaz Ratteray-Smith played a lovely through ball, but striker Jonathan Bean just failed to latch on to it.

Boulevard nearly went right down the other end and opened the scoring, but they made a poor final pass and the Trojans goalkeeper Daiquan Crockwell comfortably gathered.

The visiting side looked a bit more controlled in possession in the early stages, but could not penetrate the stubborn Somerset defence as both midfields cancelled each other out.

A good spell of Somerset pressure midway through the opening stanza led to a few chances, most notably young winger Zaire Smith playing in a dangerous low cross without any of his team-mates getting on the end of it, before missing a good chance just wide of the far post.

The Trojans finally made their pressure count as experienced midfielder Keith Jennings would tap in from a corner after a strong flick on by Bean on 29 minutes. The first half got a bit scrappy thereafter, and the visiting side started to lose discipline, with three yellow cards given to them in the final 15 minutes of the first half. The Trojans went into the break 1-0 ahead, in a very even contest.

The Trojans thought they had doubled their lead, but Bean had been judged offside from a rebound after Jaz Ratteray-Smith had a shot blocked in the first minutes of the second half.

Boulevard then had their best period of sustained possession and pressure of the game, before they nearly scored through a decent strike by Zaire Burchall, who was subbed off soon after, which whizzed just wide of Crockwell’s near post. The Trojans brought on defensive midfielder Tahzeiko Harris for the final 25 minutes to shore up the midfield, and D’Andre Wainwright to freshen up the wide areas.

The second substitute paid off in the latter stages, with the two wingers, Smith and Wainwright, both playing significant roles.

Smith burst inside the penalty area and was brought down by goalkeeper Azir Harvey. Wainwright stepped up and slotted home the resulting penalty to give the Trojans a cushion going into the final moments.

Neither side created anything else noteworthy, despite valiant efforts from Boulevard to pull a goal back.

Dennis Brown, the Trojans coach, said: “We deserve this win after a strong effort by the guys. I was especially proud of the reasonable balance we had between the pressing game and dropping back when needed. We looked tense at times but we stuck it out for the win and, most importantly, the clean sheet.”

SCORERS

Somerset Trojans: Jennings 29, Wainwright 87 pen

TEAMS

Somerset Trojans (4-3-3): D Crockwell — J Butterfield, R Quinn, T Ming, T Sharrieff-Hayward — K Jennings, J Stowe — Jaz Ratteray-Smith, Z Smith, J Bean, M Joell. Substitutes not used: D Wainwright, R Seaman, T Harris, J Greaves. Booked: Bean, Sharrieff-Hayward, Stowe.

Boulevard (4-3-3): A Harvey — N Smith, A Smith, D Taylor, J Williams — Z Stovell, A Harvey, Z Burchall, J Symonds — T Wilson, T Davis. Substitutes not used: T Butterfield, E Zuill, T Davis, N Eversley.

Referee: D Jackson.