A man will often succeed when others don't believe in him; but he will seldom succeed when he doesn't believe in himself!

Devonshire Cougars had that belief when they won the Martonmere Cup for the first time last November, as did Wolves when they took home the Dudley Eve six weeks later. So, too, did Cardiff City when they recently beat English Premier League team Leeds in the FA Cup and St. George's when they stunned North Village 1-0 to record their only win in the league this season.

The determination was evident that day as they became the last team to beat North Village before they changed their nickname from the Red Devils to the Rams a few days later.

"We beat them so bad that day they changed their name," a St. George's fan stated the other day when Village visited Wellington Oval. He knew it wasn't true but was having fun with the thought anyway.

It is that same belief the east enders will need to have on Sunday (2.30) when they travel back to Village's home ground at Bernard Park aiming to make it to the FA Cup final for the first time. Dandy Town stand in their way as they seek a sixth appearance in the FA final.

It was two decades ago that Town were playing in the Third Division, against other clubs' second teams. However, their stay there was brief as they won two straight promotions to reach the First Division for the first time ahead of the 1983-84 season. In the 1986-87 they won the FA Cup at the first attempt, beating PHC in a replay and then in the following year won the league for the first time.

The Hornets have been winning trophies regularly since then - four Martonmere Cups, Three Friendships, two Dudley Eves and three league titles - but the FA Cup has eluded them since that lone win 15 years ago, having lost in their last five final appearances.

All St. George's have to show for all their years in the top division is a Friendship Trophy win in 1995-96 which made up for the disappointing of losing 4-3 to PHC in the final of the same competition in 1986-87, a final that will be remembered as one of the most exciting ever.

Certainly the 1-1 draw against Town last weekend might just be the belief they need to get over the hurdle and reach the April final at the National Sports Centre. Town will be the clear favourites, but Somerset Eagles, the other semi-finalists, have already shown that the expected doesn't always happen in the FA Cup.

"We're going to be the underdogs but I feel our chances are good," said veteran St. George's goalkeeper Troy Hall who won the FA Cup with Devonshire Colts in 1999 before returning home to St. George's.

"In the draw the other night I felt we should have come away with a win. We were over them in the second half, but we just needed more shots on goal."

Performances by the 34-year-old Hall and his defence have kept the bottom team in contention for most of the season, with their 3-0 loss to Devonshire Colts in January being their biggest loss. It is scoring goals that has been the team's biggest downfall this season.

"If we can go 1-0 or 2-0 up we can defend it because the most we have given up in one game is three goals," said Hall.

"I ask my players when they come off the field 'how many shots did you get on goal'? Mind you, other teams are testing me and I get tested every game but when are we going to test the other goalkeeper?

"A lot of times we make our own mistakes and teams capitalise on them, but sometimes the other team makes a mistake and we don't capitalise. Defensive-wise we have been under pressure and I keep telling the team if they go ahead and score goals they will take the pressure off us. Once we go behind 2-0 our heads go down."

Hall says one would have thought the team won they way they celebrated the draw against Town. They were officially relegated that night but the mood in their changing room told a different story. They knew the result gave them a tremendous psychological lift ahead of the semi-final, the second time they have reached this stage of the competition in seven years.

"We're ready to go for this semi-final, especially after that draw the other night," Hall assured. "Anybody would have thought it was a victory, afterwards in the changing room the spirits were real high. We're not going to be pushovers."

The 12.30 opening match will see Hemisphere Royals playing Robin Hood in the women's FA Cup semi-final.

More than 30 players who hadn't played during the first half of the season have taken advantage of the BFA's late transfer period between January 1-31 to join new clubs. The veteran Dion Wainwright made a surprise return to Wolves from Boulevard and has already made appearances, while Corey Hill made a late switch back to Dandy Town from Hamilton Parish. He came on as a sub against St. George's last weekend and is likely to be involved again in the FA Cup semi-final.

Two other players have obtained releases from Dandy Town, with Don Lewis joining Prospect and goalkeeper Stefan Dupres moving on to PHC. Former Bermuda international Wayne Campbell has joined promotion chasing St. David's from Prospect while Lionel Cann has moved from St. David's to Commercial team, St. George's All-Stars.