Flanagan’s Onions 2 Somerset Trojans 3

Somerset Trojans picked up three points at Goose Gosling Field yesterday to pull further away from the relegation zone.

A late two-goal blitz enabled the Trojans to come from 2-1 down to edge Onions, whose momentum was disrupted after losing goalkeeper Chejon Berkeley and left back Nicoy Anglin to injury. Trojans winger Leo Burgess opened the scoring in the second minute, but Onions hit back through a brace from captain Treshun Smith either side of the interval.

The home side seemed destined for victory as Trojans struggled to find their groove in the second half. However, two late strikes from Makai Joell and Justin Corday turned the game on its head and lifted Trojans to their fourth win of the season.

The result leaves Trojans in seventh-place in the table, seven points clear of relegation, while Onions remain second from the bottom.

“This result is enormous for us,” Danvers Seymour Jr, the Trojans coach, said. “It felt like it was slipping away, but we played right to the end and got the job done. We had to dig deep and it seems like it takes us to get into a hard situation to put our foot on the pedal.”

Trojans issued a statement of intent moments early on with Corday lobbing a shot against the post.

Onions would not be as fortunate during the visiting side’s next attack as Burgess made the breakthrough after an attempted clearance rebounded off of the winger’s body and crossed the line.

Mick Ward, the Onions coach, responded by tweaking his attack with striker Keston Lewis and midfielder Smith swapping positions. It proved to be a masterstroke as Smith slotted in Jah-Von Morgan’s diagonal pass to level the score on his first attack in the No 9 position.

Onions dominated possession during the latter stages of the opening stanza and had it not been for Jade Morrissey, the Trojans goalkeeper, rushing off his line to gather the ball at Lewis’s feet, the home side might have been leading at the interval. Smith squandered a good chance after breaking free down the right as the home side made a promising start to the second half.

Onions suffered a setback on the hour mark when goalkeeper Berkeley injured his leg and was replaced by Lejaun Matthews. But Onions were celebrating again after taking the lead when Smith finished off a quick break down the left, which caught Trojans out of shape.

Onions were forced to make another substitution when Anglin injured his leg and was replaced by Callon Burns.

At this stage it appeared as though Onions had done enough for the win. But Trojans were not done just yet and their never-say-die attitude finally paid off when Joell levelled the score. The Trojans midfielder beat Matthews with a thumping 30-yard drive into the roof of the net.

Corday then completed Trojans’s fightback when his low effort found the net.

GOALS

Flanagan’s Onions

Smith 24, 60

Somerset Trojans

Burgess 2, Joell 83, Corday 88

TEAMS

Flanagan’s Onions (4-3-3): C Berkeley (sub: L Matthews, 54min) — M Dunkle, Markez Laws, M Field, N Anglin (sub: C Burns, 83) — Martel Laws, A Rocker, T Smith — O Wilson, J Morgan, K Lewis. Substitutes not used: M Aden. Booked: L Matthews, Rocker.

Somerset Trojans (4-3-3): J Morrissey — H Butterfield, C Durham, T Ming, R Quinn — A Trott, Jadan Ratteray-Smith, M Joell — L Burgess, Jaz Ratteray-Smith, J Corday. Substitutes not used: Y Williams, D Swan, J Seymour, R Simmons, M Jones, J Greaves.

Referee: L Raynor.