North Village 1 Young Men’s Social Club 1

Substitute Adio DeShield-Tankard scored four minutes after coming off the bench to preserve Premier Division leaders North Village’s unbeaten record in an evenly fought contest at Bernard Park yesterday.

The 18-year-old midfielder entered the fray just past the hour mark with Village trailing 1-0 to Young Men’s Social Club captain Ryan Parris’s first-half stoppage-time strike and he rewarded the coaching staff by grabbing an equaliser with virtually his first touch of the ball.

DeShield-Tankard, playing his first match back from injury, then went agonisingly close to scoring a late winner for Village when his effort struck the upright.

Social Club had a confident penalty appeal fall on deaf ears in stoppage time just moments before the final whistle but a draw was perhaps the best outcome as neither team managed to stamp their authority on proceedings.

“We did’t produce the quality that we needed and made a lot of mistakes,” Village assistant coach DeVrae Tankard said.

“We made too many mistakes and didn’t play with the intensity that we needed to. We got punished for it and had to fight back to salvage a point.

“They raised their level of play and we didn’t rise the occasion and fought for a draw. It was a hard-fought match.”

Social Club coach Michael Smith was happy to see his team take the first point off of Village this seasom and snap their seven-game winning streak in the league.

“To come down here and get a point off North Village is great,” he said.

“I thought our performance was great and we grinded it out. Village have a lot of quality players and it was good to see us fight until the end.

“I felt we were a bit unlucky as I thought that was penalty, but that’s how the game goes.”

Village squandered the first real chance of the match when striker Jaizel Smith-DeShields’s shot from the right side of the box flashed just wide of the far post.

Social Club were slow getting out of the starting blocks but after gaining some momentum they threatened with striker David Jones Jr just failing to get his head to Parris’s inviting free kick.

Social Club goalkeeper Saki Tuzo then rushed of his line to clear the ball away as Village striker D’Andre Wainwright shaped up to shoot after being played through by Tre Ming’s defence-splitting pass.

Village goalkeeper Detre Bell then positioned himself well to save Social Club midfielder Josh Hardtman’s shot right in front of goal as the game opened up.

Tuzo came off his line again to punch away Ming’s dangerous free kick while at the other end Social Club striker Renaldo Clacken shot tamely into the arms of Bell after dribbling into space in the box.

Village went close again when Smith-DeShields headed Ming’s cross just wide before Social Club finally broke the deadlock right on the half-time whistle. Spotting Bell off his line on a quick counter-attack, Parris unleashed a shot from 40 yards that found its way into the back of the net.

Inspired, the visitors came out swinging at the start of the second half with Hardtman having a goal flagged offside.

An alert Tuzo rushed off his line again to courageously gather the ball off of the boot of Smith-DeShields who latched on to another Ming through ball.

Village eventually pulled level from a free kick inside Social Club’s box after Tuzo violated the six-second rule. Ming dished off a short pass to DeShield-Tankard whose low shot took a deflection on its way into the bottom corner of a heavily fortified goal.

Jones’s bending free kick from just outside of the box then brought a brilliant fingertip save by Bell as Social Club battled to regain the lead.

The striker then wasted a glorious opportunity after taking one touch too many on a breakaway, which allowed Bell to come off his line and deal with the threat.

Ming drilled a free kick just over while Bell pulled off the best save of the match when he went full length to deny Jinairo Johnson’s shot from Brighton Swan’s corner.

DeShields-Tankard had Social Club hearts fluttering when his intended cross struck the near post.

There was also anxiety for Village as the visitors appealed for a late penalty after Bell and Johnson collided in the box but referee Anthony Francis waved away the appeals after consulting with his assistant.

SCORERS

North Village: DeShields-Tankard 67

Social Club: Parris, 45+1

TEAMS

North Village (3-5-2) D Bell 8 – T Wilson, 7 R Sampson 7 (sub: T Fray, 87min), K Knights 7 (sub: L Evans, 87) — J Outerbridge 6 (sub: A DeShield-Tankard, 63 7), C Castle 6, T Tucker 7, D Swan-DeSilva 7, T Ming 8 – J Smith-DeShields 6, D Wainwright 6 (sub: L Steede-Jackson, 63 6). Substitutes not used: P Smith, I Simmons, T Bean. Booked: Sampson.

Young Men’s Social Club (4-4-2): S Tuzo 8 – B Swan 7, C Woolridge 7, K Butterfield 7, T Butterfield 7 – M Wilson 7, J Hardtman 7, R Parris 8, J Johnson 7 – R Clacken 7 (sub: J Richardson, 90), D Jones Jr. 7 Substitutes not used: G Butterfield, K Butterfield, K Rawlings, M Rudo, K Smith, C Hardtman. Booked: Johnson, Jones.

Referee: A Francis.