A second-half header from Tyrone Fubler was enough to secure Somerset Eagles a place in the First Division Shield final after defeating BAA Wanderers at Wellington Oval.

Fubler powered home a close range header from a well-taken free kick on 64 minutes to earn Eagles a deserved semi-final win yesterday.

Neither side created much in the way of clear-cut chances during a cagey first half largely dominated by Eagles, whose victory gave them a fourth straight win.

After the break, Eagles continued to enjoy the superior swathes of possession, with BAA seeming content to try to hit the opposition on the counter-attack.

The introduction of veteran Heys Wolfe on 60 minutes gave Eagles greater attacking guile and it was no surprise when an unmarked Fubler struck to give his side the lead.

Moments later, BAA had a wonderful chance to level when Quintonio Lema found Dante Taylor with low, drilled cross from the right, but the striker lifted his effort well over the crossbar from just a few yards out. At the other end, Wolfe’s extra knowhow was causing BAA’s defence plenty of problems, with the former Dandy Town striker forcing a routine save by goalkeeper Jordon Cassarano with a strike from distance. Wolfe was then presented with a half-chance from a Kanhai Fray pull-back on the byline but could not get his shot away quickly enough, allowing the impressive Oliver Jalen-Harvey to snuff out the danger.

Roger Lee, the Eagles coach, said that he was encouraged by how well his players stuck to their task and nullified BAA’s attacking outlets.

“I’m very pleased with the result and felt we were deserving of our victory today,” he said. “We came out and played very well and I’m pleased with the response from the players.

“It was a good victory against a good side who have some talented young players, but we managed to slow them down and keep them at bay. It was a competitive game and now we have a final to look forward to on New Year’s Day.”

Lee believes that his side’s cup run could serve to boost their First Division promotion chances. Eagles are fourth in the table, just three points behind leaders Robin Hood.

“We had a slow start in the league season but the players have stepped things up in recent weeks,” he said. “We have given ourselves a good platform to build from for the second half of the season.”

Eagles will play the winners of Boulevard and Devonshire Colts who meet at Goose Gosling Field in today’s other semi-final.