Dandy Town 1 PHC 1 Aet (PHC won 5-4 on pens)

It's a thin line between success and failure. Just ask Randy Swan.

Man of the match for Dandy Town during last night's Friendship Trophy semi-final, Swan ending up being the fall guy in a penalty shoot-out at Devonshire Rec.

Where some of Town's more experienced players feared to tread, Swan was prepared to stand up and be counted. Luck just was not on his side.

Each side had already taken five kicks, converting four and missing one apiece before the defender's turn in the spotlight came.

It took Swan a while before he could get the ball to stay on the spot, so strong was the wind that blew around the ground last night.

When it did remain still, Swan took a few steps back, inhaled, exhaled and then strode forward.

It all took just a few seconds but it must have seemed like a lifetime as he connected and then watched powerless as his effort missed the Jay Lee Smith's goal and ran behind harmlessly.How quickly the crowd forgot his efforts during the previous 120 minutes of play. In a few moments he had gone from hero to villain.

The matter was compounded when Duval Wilson stepped up and converted for PHC to send them into the final and a meeting with League champions North Village.

The match was a lottery throughout with the wind making monkeys out of accomplished players.

Goalless at the half, the proceedings only really came to life once Zebras' substitute Kenneth Mills had fired his side ahead in the third minute of extra-time.

On as a replacement for Dennis Russell, he ran onto a pass from an unusually quiet Stephen Astwood before unleashing a thunderbolt that Jason Smith had no chance of stopping.

But just as it looked like Mark Wade's men had the game all wrapped up, Town's evergreen forward, Janeiro Tucker stepped up.

The PHC bench had warned about leaving the dangerous frontman unmarked but the remarks went unheeded.

In a team of 11 men he is a threat, but faced with just ten after Town were left a man short when Lloyd Christopher went off injured and Andrew Bascome had used all his replacements, PHC should have shackled him.

They didn't and he made them pay. A cross came in from the right and the dread-locked assassin took the ball on his chest before firing a low shot beyond the despairing `keeper.

The goal brought Bascome off the bench in jubilation and had it not been for the same player straying needlessly offside on several subsequent occasions, Tucker may have been the toast of the Town.

Unfortunately, he could not repeat his feat and the match drifted to penalties.

Town's Lionel Furbert, Tucker, Paul Cann and Devarr Boyles were successful during the first five, Devon Binns the only one to miss. While for PHC Shea-Tai Smith, Mills, Otis Steede and `keeper Smith netted and Stanton Lewis missed.

That meant it was death or glory for Swan, but unfortunately he lacked the grace of his namesake and Wilson was more than happy to exact the punishment.

Town: J.Smith; L.Furbert, L.Christopher, M.Lowe, R.Swan, K.Mundy, S.Tuzo (P.Cann, 79 mins), D.Binns, K.Hurdle (D.Boyles, 70 mins) J.Tucker, R.Tucker (D.Simons, 60 mins).

PHC: J.Smith, S.Lewis, S.Smith, J.Sealy, D.Wilson, C.Dowling, C.Furbert, O.Steede, J.Raynor (J.Ball, 91 mins), S.Astwood, D.Russell (K.Mills,65 mins).

Booked: C.Furbert, D.Wilson (PHC).

Men of the match: R.Swan (Town); O.Steede (PHC).

Referee: G.O'Brien.