North Village 1

St. George’s Colts 3

Just like the ending in the story of David and Goliath, upstarts St. George’s Colts conquered their so-call powerhouse opponents and recorded the biggest upset of the season by blasting holders North Village Rams out of the FA Cup with this astonishing quarter-final performance at Bernard Park yesterday.

Whomever Colts meet in the next round they had better be warned that the Eastenders — based on this performance — are anything but minnows and should not be taken lightly and the First Division side proved in this match-up against their Premier Division opponents.

After taking the lead through hard-working striker Jerreau Hayward, Colts saw their lead cancelled out before the break, when Jarizhino Simmons netted.

The visitors then pummelled their opponents with their persistence after the interval with goals by former Devonshire Colts defender Keenan Burchall and another adventurous forward Allan Douglas Jr.

To compound the Cup holders’ misery, Rams’ skipper Ralph Bean Jr. struck a penalty over the bar a minute from time.

Naturally there was anxiety among Colts’ fans all around the field, right up until referee Anthony Reid blew the final whistle.

Among the fans thrilled with their team’s sensational result were former Colts’ stalwart defenders Gregory (Brutus) Foggo and Lewis (Red) DeSilva and a host of mostly vociferous female supporters.

The victory will give Colts a rare chance to reach the final of the competition, having only advanced as far as the semis on two previous occasions in the club’s history.

Player-coach Neil Paynter, playing a masterful game at centre-back where his timely sliding tackles saved them all afternoon, couldn’t withhold his joy and heaped loads of praise on his younger players who rose to the occasions and demonstrated a true sign of a mature side playing to their potential at last.

“I think we had a good game plan, we believed that if we went two-goals up on then we could hold on. We work hard on our defence game and our counter attacks and it worked out well for us out there today,” said Paynter.

“When they pinned us down we weren’t scared but we had to make sure that we held firm and didn’t give anything away. We came here to win and I expected a result like this. We won because we played good, not that they played good.”

A subdued Rams’ coach Dwayne (Streaker) Adams admitted that his team were sadly unable to play to their potential even though there were periods when they looked capable of scoring and clawing their way back into contention only to have bad luck go against them.

But though Rams have failed to retain any of the four trophies they won last season he reckoned that the season wasn’t such a disappointment as they managed to remain competitive in the majority of the competitions.

“We had some defensive errors and some opportunities that we failed to capitalise on and that happens. We played this way on a day when we came up against a team that wanted it a little bit more and you get an outcome like this today,” said Adams.

Midfielder Oronde Bascome laced a 24-yard scorcher that sailed just wide of the post after just two minutes to suggest that Colts where out for serious business. And six minutes later further hints of their intentions came when young striker Hayward watched in agony as his drive from 15 yards forced Zane Hendrickson in the Rams’ goal to dive to push around the post for a corner.

Rams replied with Shane Hollis and Robert Wilson coming close with efforts after 16 and 21 minutes but with Paynter holding the solidly defence together Colts refused to yield.

After 28 minutes a slow Rams’ defence handed Colts the opener, Hayward seizing an opportunity from close in to tap the ball home.

Eight minutes later, Rams responded positively with Jarizhino Simmons also scoring a soft goal, after the ball was crossed from the right by his skipper Bean.

Douglas only just fell short of putting Colts ahead 2-1 after 50 minutes when Hendrickson fell to save his shot from 15 yards. But with the arrival of Keith Jennings off the substitutes’ bench Rams’ jaded attack began to show more life. Within a minute Jennings jumped to head a cross from Bean just wide of the post, causing alarm to the defence.

But like fighting tigers Colts hit back and Burchall combined with Douglas to stroke the second goal home for his team from close in after 59 minutes.

Colts’ ‘keeper Fred Hall was to prove his worth on a few occasions as Rams pushed powerfully forward, his best save coming when he brilliantly leaped to put over a 24-yard thunderbolt from Keith Jennings after 61 minutes.

Timely tackling by centre-back Paynter prevented Rams’ forward from slipping through with scoring efforts afterwards while Douglas and Hayward continued to be a menace to Rams’ defence with their spirited runs at through balls.

After 88 minutes a slow-moving Rams’ defence, keen to play the off-side trap, watched it backfire as Douglas was on-side and nipped through the make it 3-1, as the helpless goalkeeper advanced off his line and failed to block the forward.

With a minute left and about three more minutes of extra time Rams still had hope left when skipper Bean was fouled in the box by Gregg Foggo but muffed his spot kick.

When it ended, few would deny that the unfancied team well deserved to advance to the semis.

North Village:Z.Hendrickson; M.Hansey, R.Spence, R.Wilson, K.Dill; T.Outerbridge, R.Bean, J.Jennings; J.Simmons (Keith Jennings, 56 min), S.Hollis, V.Tankard (D.DeGraffe, 69 min). Subs not used: D.Adams, C.Trott, K.Bean

St. George’s: F.Hall; K.Hodson (J.Foggo, 55 min), D.Bailey, N.Paynter, K.Burchall; G.Foggo, K.Smith, O.Bascome (P.Bailey, 66 min); M.Paynter, J.Hayward, A.Douglas. Subs not used: D.Hodsoll, D.Minx, F.Richardson

Men of the match: Z.Hendrickson (NV); J.Hayward, N.Paynter, A.Douglas, F. Hall (St. George's)

Yellow Cards: R.Wilson (NV); A.Douglas (St. George’s).

Referee: Anthony Reid.