Somerset Trojans 0 PHC Zebras 3

PHC Zebras brushed Somerset Trojans aside to get back to winning ways at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday.

It was Trojans who started the brightest, however, the visitors found a foothold in proceedings and created a number of clear-cut chances.

First, Kadeem Abraham found Ryan Hassell, who turned past O’Neil Moore and spread the play for Keishen Bean, whose curling effort was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Trojans’ young keeper Yizharyah Williams.

PHC continued to pepper the home side’s goal, and forced another smart save when Jahiem Iris picked out Enrique Russell on the opposite flank, but this time Williams tipped his curling effort around the far post.

Somerset tried their hardest to stem the flow of the first half, and could have found a goal of their own if Jiriko Powell had weighted his pass properly for the run of Rio Russell, but Jaylon Bather did well to read the intentions of the Trojans attacker.

The defending Premier Division champions finally opened the scoring, ironically from a goalkeeping mistake. Bean turned provider from a set-piece, which Williams failed to get a clean punch from, and Bather headed home unmarked into the near post.

Both sides became really sloppy for the opening ten minutes of the second half, during which neither could find a way into the opposition’s final third.

However, that soon changed as Zebras enjoyed a period of pressure, before doubling their lead.

T’Syi Showers found Enrique Russell, who sprinted past Maquel Nisbett-Tankard before being upended by an onrushing Williams. Russell picked himself up and fired the spot-kick past Williams to give Zebras an important two-goal cushion.

Zebras dominated the final stages of the game, forcing Williams into action when Shavon Nisbett was found via a cutback by Ryan Hassell, but the goalkeeper was equal to it, making another reflex save.

The visitors finally put the game beyond reach when Kadeem Abraham finished off a flowing move between Bean, Iris and the Russell siblings, with Ryan outmuscling Tankard to lay off for Abraham to drive his strike low past Williams into the bottom corner.

“The result was massively important today,” said PHC captain Daren Usher. “We like to control the tempo, instead of rushing the play and kicking the ball long.”

SCORERS

PHC Zebras: Bather 40, E Russell 61, Abraham 67

TEAMS

Somerset Trojans (4-2-3-1): Y Williams 6 – M Eve 5 (sub: I Francis 82), O Moore 5 (sub: Z Brown 65 6), M Tear-DeLeon 5, M Nisbett-Tankard 6 – Jaden Ratteray-Smith 6, J Shields 5 (sub: J Simmons 84) – J Furbert 5, J Butterfield 6, J Powell 5 (sub: H Eve 71) – R Russell 5 (sub: E Mendes 46 6). Substitutes not used: Jaz Ratteray-Smith, K Evans, H Butterfield. Booked: Nisbett-Tankard

PHC Zebras (4-3-3): Q Hunt 6 – D Usher 6, J Bather 6, D Dowling 6, D Smith-Lightbourne 6 – T Showers 7, K Abraham 7, K Bean 6 – J Iris 5 (sub: S Nisbett 74), R Russell 6 (sub: J Douglas 85), E Russell 7 (sub: J Ebbin 85). Substitutes not used: S Trott, Y Burgess, N Furbert, R Wilson. Booked: Iris

Referee: K Williams (Trinidad)