X-Roads 2 North Village 2

A late equaliser from Jaizel Smith-Deshields saved North Village from the jaws of defeat against X-Roads at a windy Garrison Field yesterday.

“This was the first match back after the Christmas break. We were a little rusty,” Kenny Thompson, the Village coach said. “The conditions made it difficult to play but we did well to adjust. I would settle for the point under the circumstances.”

Village goalkeeper Tahj Bell was called upon when a Donavan Thompson’s cross deflected off defender Devrae Tankard and was heading for the goal before the goalkeeper pushed the ball around the post for a corner.

Village took the lead soon after courtesy of an own goal when Simons attempted to flick a low cross but missed the ball completely. The move wrong-footed X-Roads captain Kijuan Wilkinson, with the ball hitting his legs and ricocheted into the net.

X-Roads moved midfielder Simons up front after the break and the move paid immediate dividends in the 50th minute when he met a Patrick Richardson cross at the near post to head powerfully past Bell.

X-Roads took the lead in the 64th minute when Richardson recovered a partial clearance to send in a cross which bounced past the outstretched arm of Bell leaving defender Mauriq Hill the simple task of heading home.

Village almost equalised courtesy of an assist from referee Martin Wyer when an intended Village pass accidentally hit Wyer and disrupted the play. As per the new rule, Wyer dropped the ball unchallenged to a Village player who played through Jason Lee, with the forward firing wide much to the referee’s relief.

Thompson should have sealed the win for X-Roads late on but his shot struck the cross bar and was collected by Bell. To add insult to injury, Bell’s long pass forward caused a defensive mix-up allowing Smith-Deshields to run around his marker and slip the ball under the advancing goalkeeper for the equaliser.

“This is work in progress’ said X-Roads caretaker coach, Wendell Furbert.

“I’m very happy to come away with a point although three would have been better. We trained hard and I like the players’ commitment. Overall, I was satisfied with our performance.”

SCORERS

X-Roads: Simons 50, Hill 64

North Village: Wilkinson 37 og, Smith-DeShields 86

TEAMS

X-Roads (4-3-3): D Cooper — A Spencer, C McDowall, K Wilkinson, M Hill — P Simons, J Hardtman (sub: D Woolridge 80min), T Daniels — Patrick Richardson (sub: Andre Burgess, 69), Tyrell Burgess, D Thompson. Substitutions not used: Q Sanchez, K Richardson, Nasir Richardson, K Brangman. Booked: J Hardtman.

North Village (4-2-3-1): T Bell — T Bean (sub: T Fray, 71), T Knights, D Tankard, Z Robinson — J Briers, S Somner (sub: P Smith, 64) — T Tucker, J Lee, J Smith-Deshields — R Simons (sub: C Caisey-Zuill 77). Substitutions not used: A Darrell, P Castle. Booked: J Smith-Deshields.

Referee: M Wyer.