Young Men’s Social Club 2 Somerset Trojans 2

Somerset Trojans battled back from two goals down to earn a share of the spoils at Devonshire Rec on Monday night .

Trojans were staring at defeat after an hour in their opening game of the new campaign after goals from Jinairo Johnston and Ryan Parris put Social Club firmly in control.

However, Trojans staged a superb fightback with Jaz Ratteray-Smith’s 62nd minute penalty reducing the deficit before captain Jeze Butterfield added a second with a little more than ten minutes remaining to earn a point.

“Having fallen two goals down it’s always good to get a point,” said Trojans’ coach Jensen Rogers, whose side had opportunities late on to complete an unlikely turnaround.

“It was disappointing to go behind like that but I can’t argue with the character shown by the players to come back.

“The first half we were not ourselves, but in the second we looked a lot more like the team that I know and we even had chances to go on and win it.

“We have a young squad and they showed a lot of spirit but there are certainly lessons to be learnt going forward. This is our first game and we have something to build on.”

Social Club started on the front foot and after Komeko Mallory and David Jones Jr were both denied early on by Yizharyah Williams, they deservedly went ahead in the 26th minute.

Parris’s deep free-kick caught Trojans’ static defensive line flat-footed, allowing an unmarked Johnston to nip in ans volley home.

Trojans came out with renewed urgency after the interval but, despite dominating the early stages of the second half, they found themselves a further goal behind on the hour mark as Parris’s driven free-kick from the edge of the area squirmed under the body of Williams.

Just two minutes later Rogers’s side were handed a route back into the match when substitute Rio Russell was bundled over in the area, leaving referee Tashun Simons no choice but to point to the spot. Jaz Ratteray-Smith took responsibility and made no mistake, emphatically dispatching the penalty.

Almost immediately Trojans had another strong shout for a penalty as Russell again went down, only for Simons to this time wave away the vehement protests.

Undeterred, the visitors continued to pour forward and were finally rewarded for their persistence in the 78th minute when Butterfield managed to weave his way into the area before firing an effort into the bottom left corner.

In a frantic final ten minutes both sides had further chances to snatch all three points as Williams produced a magnificent point-blank save to deny Johnston, while at the other end Butterfield saw an effort come back off the post after racing clear of the Social Club defence.

SCORERS

Young Men’s Social Club: Johnston 26, Parris 60

Somerset Trojans: Jaz Ratteray-Smith 62, J Butterfield 78

TEAMS

Young Men’s Social Club (4-5-1): R Evans 5 – K Butterfield 6, K Smith 6 (sub: S Jennings, 55min 5), C Woolridge 6, B Swan 6 – R Clackten 7, R Parris 8 (sub: M Williams, 72), J Mallory 7, J Johnston 7, M Wilson 7 – D Jones Jr 8. Substitutes not used: T Butterfield, M Rudo, M Smith. Booked: J Johnston.

Somerset Trojans (4-5-1): Y Williams 7 – Jaz Ratteray-Smith 7, K Evans 6 (sub: J Furbert, 46 8), M Eve 6 (sub: J Shields, 70), M Tear-Deleon 6 – J Butterfield 8, M Nisbett-Tankard 7 (sub: R Russell, 46), Jadan Ratteray-Smith 6, J Powell 6 (sub: J Simmons 86), K McNeil 7 (sub: D Bean, 86). Substitutes not used: E Mendes, I Francis, M Wilson. Booked: Eve, Evans, Jaz Ratteray-Smith, Russell.

Referee: T Simons