Devonshire Cougars 4

North Village 3Defending Dudley Eve champions Devonshire Cougars methodically dissected North Village at the Den last night — and then watched all their hard work nearly go down the drain in the closing moments.

Cruising along with a comfortable four-goal cushion with less than 15 minutes remaining in what proved to be a lopsided contest, Cougars nearly collapsed as Village threatened to turn the match on its head.

The tireless Tarik Jennings ignited Village’s late fightback in the 76th minute when his rasping effort thundered in off the underside of the bar.

Reds veteran striker Nakia Smith then reduced Cougars’ lead to two goals when he hooked a right-footed shot into goal from a slight angle 11 minutes later.

And just when Cougars must have thought things couldn’t get any worse, they did. During another last-gasp counter attack a misguided shot rolled into the path of Smith who instinctively redirected the ball past a stranded Clyde Darrell in goal.

Suddenly the carnival atmosphere around the Den among Cougars’ fans was replaced by an eerie silence as Village threw numbers forward in search of an equaliser.

But in the end Cougars would celebrate the win their performance warranted, though their defenders might have received a good old fashioned tongue lashing from their coaching staff for nearly making a hash of things at the death.

Village entered this contest on a two-game losing skid and their confidence at an all-time low.

And from the very outset they looked very much the part as Cougars’ early pressure paid off.

It took the Big Cats only 13 minutes to slice open the Reds’ defence, skipper Kwame Steede rising above everybody else to powerfully head home Darius Cox’s diagonal cross in the box.

Inspired, Cougars continued to carry the match to their opponents and pin them in their own territory in search of more goals.

But they would have to wait until four minutes before the break when Domico Coddington put on a burst of speed to leave national team mate Logan Alexander in his wake and then beat ‘keeper Jason Williams with a low shot to his right.

With Village playing second fiddle in almost every department, Cougars continued to have things all their way when play resumed, wiry winger Kor-Von Tucker finishing off an excellent three-man build-up involving Steede and Coddington from yards out with a simple tap-in.

Things then got really ugly for Village in the 70th minute when Tucker returned the favour to Steede who converted his second and Cougars’ fourth of the match with a shot from inside the six-yard box.

At 4-0 up it seemed as though Village would die a slow, painful death as Cougars, with the irrepressible Coddington lurking, always looked capable of heaping on more misery.

However, complacency and the substitutions of midfielder Ajani Gibbons, Coddington and Tucker conspired to ruin the Big Cats’ night in front of the home crowd.

But as it’s often said, luck runs with the champions. And on this particular night at the Den, Cougars must have used every ounce of theirs before finally coming away victorious.

Cougars will now await the eventual winner of Friday night’s contest between Boulevard and Somerset Trojans on Boxing Day with hopes of taking route one to a second straight Dudley Eve final.

In the opening First Division Dudley Eve contest, Devonshire Colts hammered Southampton Rangers 4-0 with Aljame Zuill and Jordan Commissiong each netting a brace.

Devonshire: C.Darrell, D.Cox, I.Mallory, J.DeShield, J.Butterfield, R.Robinson, K.Tucker (L.Brangman, 82 mins), A.Gibbons (K.Goddard, 74 mins), K.Steede (capt), C.Caisey, D.Coddion (M.Steede, 85 mins).

Village: J.Williams, J.Boyles, L.Alexander, K.Jennings, D.Simmons (R.Wilson, 77 mins), T.Manders, R.Bean Jr (capt), T.BurgesN.Smith, K.Bean, T.Jennings.

Yellow cards<$>: A.Gibbons (Cougars); D.mons, T.Burgess (Village)

Men of the match<$>: K.Steede (Cougars); T.Jennings (Village)

Referee: Lyndon Raynor