PHC 2 Somerset Eagles 3

Antwan Russell scored one of the goals of the season as Somerset Eagles dumped injury-ravaged PHC out of the FA Cup with a three-goal blitz in just six minutes.

The Eagles striker hit an instinctive first-time shot from all of 45 yards to cancel out Kyle Lightbourne's opener, and then bagged an equally impressive second less than a minute later as Kenny Thompson's men stormed into the semi-finals.

A Troy Tucker penalty put the underdogs further ahead and although Chris Furbert's goal six minutes from time gave Somerset a few nervy moments at the end, they held on for a well deserved win.

Thompson's side have now beaten all of the big four in their first season back in the top flight, and ran out worthy winners after dominating the second half of this quarter-final clash at Southampton Oval.

"It was tough today because we were playing the traditional cup giants of Bermuda," said Thompson, "so we knew we had to bring a very good spirit as well as a good technique, but we are very happy to be in the semi-finals.

"We have shown sporadically (this season) what we can do, we've beaten Cougars, Dandy Town, North Village, and now PHC, and it shows what the team is capable of. Now we are in the semi-finals, and have to look to the league because there is a lot of football to go, but I'm very pleased."

For punch-drunk PHC, who were without five first choice players – Lloyd Holder, Kevin Lambe, Stevie Astwood, Jeff Franklin, and Corey Dowling – and had to include 16-year-old Marco Warren among their substitutes, the third goal killed off any realistic hopes of a comeback.

With Lightbourne pressed into service upfront and Casey Castle on the right wing, the entire team needed to play to their full potential, but an aging squad was eventually exposed by their more youthful opponents. And their cause wasn't helped by some generous defending.

Omar Shakir missed a long ball which Russell plucked out of the air on the right wing before unleashing a vicious, curling shot that left goalkeeper Raymond Glasford clutching at thin air. And then it was Shakir's clumsy challenge on Jonathan Bean that led to the penalty.

In between, Fabian Frankson, who had a torrid afternoon, was caught out by Russell when he dashed onto Danvers Seymour's pass and calmly slotted the ball past Glasford to put his side ahead.

It would have been worse for PHC but for the timely intervention of referee Elihu Holmes, who prevented Russell from completing a certain hat-trick when he ruled the striker offside, even though his assistant, who was level with play, was telling him the player was onside.

Despite their triumph, the match still summed up everything the Eagles have been this season – sloppy and inconsistent one minute, brilliant the next.

"We had to adjust the spirit of the team at half-time," said Thompson. "The first half we weren't playing as a team, there was a lot of arguing and going at one another, and the main thing was we just had to adjust the spirit to bring everybody back into harmony.

"We had to remind them what we were playing for, in terms of the team, and the community, and they took it on board and performed very well in the second half."

For Somerset the game changed on Russell's first goal, which stunned everyone watching it, and was praised by Thompson as 'technique of the highest level'.

"Antwan is a very, very good player, and that certainly wasn't a fluke, it's technique at the highest level," said Thompson. "But I think the other thing we adjusted at half time was that we certainly needed to spend more time on the ball. The first half was more playing long ball, and that's definately not our game, and we asked the players to take an extra touch and it worked well for us."

PHC: R.Glasford, B.Bean, O.Shakir, S.Smith, F.Frankson, J.Sealey, C.Furbert, C.Robinson, C.Castle (Khamisi Lightbourne, 66), Q.Burgess (M.Warren, 84), Kyle Lightbourne (J.Smith, 76). Subs not used: K.Griffith, M.Lambe

Scorers: Kyle Lightbourne 26, Furbert 84

Somerset Eagles: M.Dill, A.Rocker, D.Seymour, J.Bather, A.Lambert, T.Davis, Troy Tucker (Tamauri Tucker, 86), R.Deshields, J.Bean, S.Smith (A.Grant, 81), A.Russell. Subs not used: T.Fubler, D.Andrade, J.Davis, K.Brown

Scorers: Russell 51, 52, Troy Tucker 57

Booked: Bean (PHC). Lambert, Troy Tucker, Russell (Somerset)

Man of the match: Russell

Referee: E Holmes