Robin Hood 0

Dandy Town 1

Treadwell Gibbons Jr, the Dandy Town goalkeeper, scored a penalty in the second half to hand his side victory over Robin Hood in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Hood were reduced to nine men when Alex Martin and Shane Dietz were sent off after they had a penalty claim turned down in the final moments of the game.

Martin received a red card for foul and abusive language towards Lyndon Raynor, the referee, while Shane Dietz was shown a second yellow amid the chaos that ensued.

Town had the better of the opening exchanges and should have been ahead, but their wasteful finishing kept the scoreline level until the break.

Jason Simons, the Hood goalkeeper, pulled off a series of fine saves, including diving at the feet of Tomiko Goater, the Town striker, and then pushing a Temiko Wilson long range drive around a post.

The telling point came early in the second half when Cornell Bean, the Hood defender, needlessly hauled down Damon Ming, the Town winger, in the area, leaving Raynor with no choice but to point to the spot.

Gibbons calmly stepped up and sent Simons the wrong way, scoring what proved to be the match-winning goal.

Hood pushed men forward in search of finding an equaliser but were lucky not to concede again.

Kyle Lightbourne, the Hood player-coach, brought himself on as a substitute in an attempt to send the match to extra time.

The former Stoke City striker could not save his side, however, although Hood had a strong penalty claim turned down deep into stoppage time after Shaun Brown, the Hood midfielder, was bundled over in the box by defender Rieko Trott.

From the ensuing throw-in, both Hood’s Martin and Dietze made their feelings known to Raynor, who gave the former his marching orders before sending Dietz off for a second bookable offence.

Brandon Minors, the Town captain, said: “I think we stuck to the game plan fairly well and, although we didn’t put the chances we created away, it was pleasing to see the resolve the team showed today.

“We put unnecessary pressure on ourselves, but we knew it would be difficult and the fight we showed today was great. The preparation put in by the players during the week showed today in our performance, so it goes to show that hard work does pay off.

“To be in the running for the remaining two pieces of silverware is great and we will try and make the most out of the opportunities we have.”