North Village 3 PHC 2

North Village advanced in the FA Cup after withstanding a late rally by PHC Zebras in a five-goal thriller at Bernard Park yesterday.

The visitors appeared to be dead and buried after Keishen Bean, the Village midfielder, fired past Quincy Hunt, the Zebras goalkeeper, to put the host ahead 3-1 in the 87th minute.

But Zebras hit back a minute later through a goal from striker Malachi Jones to reduce the deficit to one and set the stage for a nervy finish.

With the prospect of an early exit from the competition looming, Zebras pressed forward in search of an equaliser which nearly arrived deep in stoppage time after Village conceded a free kick just outside their own penalty area.

Shakir Smith’s cross from the ensuing set piece was partially cleared, the loose ball finding Rakeem De-Sheilds inside of the six-yard box. Troy Hall, the Village goalkeeper, got a hand to DeShield’s effort from point-blank range.

The rebound fell to Cecoy Robinson, the Zebras winger, who could not believe his luck after Jason Davis, the Village defender, cleared his shot off the line with virtually the last kick of an enthralling match.

“We got the job done in the end thanks to some determined defending, particularly in the last 30 seconds,” said a relieved Ralph Bean Jr, the Village coach. “I am very proud of that little segment of the game.”

The hosts stamped their authority on the match early and nearly broke the deadlock when Bean unleashed a vicious drive from long range that crashed onto the crossbar. Jahron Dickinson, the Village striker, got behind the Zebras’ defence only to see his shot from close range turned back by the advancing Hunt.

Zebras created chances of their own with Smith volleying wide on a sweeping counter-attack and Jahnai Raynor, the PHC winger, failing to convert a breakaway.

These missed chances came back to haunt them as the goal Village’s dominance deserved finally arrived in the 25th minute on a silver platter after Daren Usher, the Zebras midfielder, sliced an attempted clearance into his own net. Hunt got a hand to the ball but could not prevent it from crossing the line.

The visitors suffered a further setback in the 35th minute when Denzil Nelson, the Zebras midfielder, limped off with a suspected groin injury and was replaced by Marquel Waldron. Pierre Smith, who had earlier made a complete mess of a free header in the box, doubled Village’s lead in the 38th minute when he slotted the ball past Hunt after the Zebras defence failed to cope with a ball played over the top. Bean spurned a golden opportunity to kill the game off early in the second half when he blasted over from about ten yards with only the goalkeeper to contend with after creating space for himself.

Zebras suffered another setback when Jonathan Ball, the full back, was injured in a tackle and was replaced by the pacy Robinson who returned to his team’s line-up from injury.

The visitors finally got a foothold in the match when Robinson beat Hall from close range in the 77th minute during a quick raid down the middle that caught Village napping at the back. The goal, that came during a period of Zebras’ dominance, lifted the visitors’ spirits.

Village eventually struck again ten minutes later, though, after Bean restored the hosts’ two-goal advantage with a brilliant solo effort that proved to be the game winner.

Zebras were not ready to thrown in the towel just yet, however; Jones cutting Village’s lead back to one after toe poking the ball past Hall from close range in the 88th minute.

But any thoughts Zebras might have had of grabbing an equaliser were dashed as Village held firm until referee Martin Wyer blew the final whistle.