A nasty injury to North Village substitute Marlon Dill almost saw the Red Devils snatch a draw from the jaws of victory at Bernard Park yesterday.

With Village leading 4-2 against Somerset with 10 minutes to play -- thanks to a hat-trick by Dwight Warren -- Dill rose for a header, went over the top of his opponent and landed on his head.

Referee Stuart Crockwell stopped play with Dill motionless on the pitch. He was tended by his team's physio before the ambulance arrived some 20 or so minutes later -- medics strapping him to a stretcher and taking him off to hospital.

Having already used their three substitutes, Village were forced to play out the game with 10 men and conceded a third to their opponents with just four minutes left.

Thankfully for the Red Devils the whistle came before the Trojans could snatch a draw.

With coach Scott Morton away on his honeymoon, stand-in coach Kenny Thompson took charge of the team and was not happy with the way they let Somerset back into the game.

"It's very disappointing because we were clearly dominant and at 3-0 you expect that the concentration level is such that we put the game away,'' said Thompson. "But we went to sleep for the last 20 minutes and in the end we had to struggle for the win.'' Continued on page 29 Dwight strikes triple Continued from page 27 Thompson accepted the injury to Dill, released from hospital after treatment, had upset the side's balance.

"At that point it put us down to 10 men but still I expect the concentration level to be such that we ride out the 10 minutes at the very least and we don't give goals away and panic,'' he said.

One pleasing aspect for Thompson was the performance of goal-hero Warren.

"Dwight has been working very hard to get his scoring touch,'' he said.

"It's good he scored three goals because one of our problems last week was scoring so it's good we get three from Dwight and now we are looking for some others to step up as well.'' On Dill's injury Thompson said the team's thoughts were with him.

"We are hoping for the best and praying for Marlon and right now it is more of a precautionary measure to get him to the hospital,'' he said.

Somerset assistant coach, Gary Mallory was pleased with his side's fighting spirit despite the defeat.

"We showed fight to the end,'' said Mallory. "The main thing was that we finished on a positive note.'' There was little sign of anything positive for the Trojans in the first-half when they were overrun by Village.

The visitors had 'keeper Timmy Figuerido to thank on 15 minutes when he made a superb double stop to deny first Kevin Jennings and then Sergio Goater.

But there was nothing he could do in the 33rd minute when Goater robbed a defender, hit the byline and played a perfect cross for Warren to sidefoot in.

But the natural order was restored on the stroke of half-time when a poor header back towards goal saw Warren nip in ahead of Figuerido and walk the ball into the now unguarded net.

Village went further ahead in the 53rd minute when David Thomas slotted home from the spot.

Kentoine Jennings won the penalty when he danced through the defence and was clipped by Figuerido in the box. Referee Crockwell at first allowed the advantage as Jennings' momentum carried him past the 'keeper but he blew up when the player collided with the post and was unable to force the ball home.

Somerset replaced David Rahman with Dwight Basden as they sought an unlikely comeback and the substitute played a part in a delightful move that brought the Trojans their first goal.

Basden and David Burchall exchanged passes before Brangman was set loose changing feet in mid-stride and firing past the helpless Hendrickson.

Village looked to have made the game safe when Warren secured his hat-trick, faking around the keeper before calmly knocking the ball over the line for 4-1.

But shortly after Somerset pulled a second goal back when Burchall netted.

Then Burchall struck the angle of bar and post with a vicious shot on the turn that Hendrickson had no chance with, and in the 86th minute they came within a goal of a draw.

Substitute Jermaine Dill found himself alone in the box and dinked the ball over the stranded 'keeper from about six yards out.

With the clock running down Somerset had one more chance but a superb last-ditch defensive challenge prevented Burchall from getting in a shot on goal.

North Village: Z.Hendrickson; J.Thomas; R.Spence; D.Thomas; K.Binns (M.Dill, 71); J.Boyles; S.Goater (J.Simmons, 77); Kentoine Jennings; Kevin Jennings (Q.Paynter, 63); D.Warren; T.Jennings. Subs N.Steede; M.Dill; J.Simmons; Q.Paynter; O.Ray.

Somerset: T.Figuerido; K.Robert (J.Dill, 70); R.Scott; T.Mallory; A.J Tucker; A.Rahman; D.Rahman (D.Basden, 53); S.Mendes; M.Brangman; D.Burchall; G.Butterfield (H.Hunt, 77). Subs D.Basden; J.Dill; H.Hunt; C.Fox.

Men of Match: D.Warren (North Village); D.Burchall (Somerset).

Referee: S.Crockwell.

Yellow cards: T.Jennings, J.Simmons (North Village); T.Figuerido (Somerset).