North Village captain Sammy DeGraff has heaped praise on 'unsung hero' Jonathan Briers by hailing him as the standout teenager in the Premier Division this season.

English-born Briers has quietly gone about his business during his debut campaign for the Rams and DeGraff believes the unheralded holding midfielder deserves more recognition for his no frills performances.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's rearranged FA Cup semi-final match against Devonshire Cougars, DeGraff said the Bermuda youth international had shown a maturity that belied his tender years and tipped him to win Bermuda Football Association's Young Player of the Year Award.

"There are a lot of young guys coming through in Bermuda who people are not really aware of," said DeGraff.

"Jason Lee and Jonathan Briers have been the two brightest for us, Jonathan even more so because the role he plays doesn't always get a lot of recognition.

"Jason's been scoring a lot of goals and is constantly in the newspaper, constantly out there and Jonathan often goes under the radar.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen with awards this year but for me Jonathan has been the best youngster in our team. He's been invaluable."

Both DeGraff and Kaiwon Dill had been earmarked for the holding midfield role by coach Shaun Goater at the start of the season before Briers' disciplined displays made the position his own.

DeGraff has particularly been the chief beneficiary of Briers' form as a screening midfielder as it has given the ex-Bermuda Hogges player a licence to attack.

Consequently, midfielder DeGraff has enjoyed one of his best ever seasons in front of goal.

"Jonathan plays very simple, very clean and very smooth," said DeGraff. "I started the season playing a holding role but because Jonathan has been playing so well it's allowed me to play further up.

"I've been trying to help him as much as possible with a few little words of advice here and there. We have a lot of wisdom at Village with Shaun (Goater), Woolly Baxter and Ralph (Bean) and that's helped our young players develop."

Tomorrow's semi-final at Somerset Cricket Clubs marks the start of a 'make or break' week for Village who take on league leaders Dandy Town at St.John's Field on Sunday.

DeGraff said they could not afford to look beyond the Cougars clash and warned his team-mates their opponents were sure to come out "all guns blazing".

"Cougars will come out to play, it's the last competition they are involved in," he said. "We've had the best of them this season and they will come out all guns blazing.

"We can't think about Dandy Town too much and are just concentrating on winning this game."

The semi-final between Village and Cougars, which was postponed on Sunday because of a waterlogged pitch at Wellington Oval, will be held at Somerset Cricket Club at 8 p.m.