Devonshire Cougars and Somerset Eagles produced one of the most memorable and entertaining matches seen in recent years at the Den last night.

Like two boxers vying for a heavyweight championship, the two Premier Division rivals threw caution to the wind and let it all hang out ? particularly in the second-half which produced six well-taken goals.

Marking his return from national team duty, Cougars striker Aljame Zuill leapt off the bench and netted an opportunistic brace, teenager Chris Caisey Jr. notched his maiden goal in a Cougars uniform in spectacular fashion while the ever reliable Raymond Beach also netted a brace to keep his goal-a-game scoring streak alive.

Beach has now netted an astonishing ten goals in his last three outings and scored 13 goals in only six appearances since returning from suspension.

Eagles replied through a brace from captain Lamaul Crofton who again led from the front while Rodre (Piper) Wilson was rewarded for persistence in attack late in the second half.

But while Cougars managed to move to within two points of league leaders Dandy Town after outscoring their West End opponents, any thoughts of an easy night at the office were quickly dashed as Eagles made it known from the outset they did not intend to go down without a fight.

In fact, had midfielder Marco Butterfield capitalised on two good looks at goal in the first half, the result could have gone in their favour.

Instead, the dreadlocked player hurried shots wide of either upright ? chances that ultimately came back to haunt his team.

Displaying a delightful one-touch game that often left Cougars looking in admiration, Eagles wasted no time taking the match to their hosts with the hard running of Adolphus Lambert, Crofton, Wilson and Darin Dowling keeping their hosts guessing as they directed their attacks down either flank.

Cougars full-back Jamal Simmons was given a torrid time at left-back and it was only through some good covering by Omar Butterfield that Eagles were held at bay.

But all Eagles? hard work came undone against the run of play after 17 minutes when Beach went from scorer to provider and supplied Caisey with a short pass the teenager rammed into the roof of the net from 14 yards.

This strike temporarily shattered Eagles? confidence ? but not their will to persevere.

With Cougars captain Kwame Steede now playing up front, his absence in midfield allowed Eagles to take over in the middle of the park and gradually the pendulum began to swing in their favour.

And after mounting a series of threatening raids on goal, something had to finally give ? and it would be the Cougars defence three minutes before the break with Crofton converting from six yards after Desmond Burgess? initial shot trickled through a phalanx of legs into his path.

Butterfield then missed a golden opportunity to give his team the lead at the half when he sliced his shot wide of an open goal.

By now, Cougars had seemingly had enough of playing cat and mouse and let their intentions be known that they meant business with full-back Simmons being replaced by striker Zuill.

Almost immediately Zuill made an impact and his 56th minute rebound left Beach with the easy task of slotting home into an empty net to restore his team?s lead.

Ten minutes later, Cougars went 3-1 up through Zuill who latched on to a Ryan Swan pass from midfield and beat Eagles? ?keeper Ian Raynor from a slight angle.

And before the visitors realised what had hit them, Beach struck again to make it 4-1 in similar fashion as Eagles defence seemed to finally buckle under the weight.

By now it appeared as though Cougars were safely home. But they were in for a rude awakening as first Crofton scored from close range after the defence hesitated to clear in the 82nd minute and then an eerie silence fell on the grounds when Wilson capitalised from six yards two minutes later to blow this affair wide open.

But it was only after surviving a late shout for a penalty and watching Beach and Steede miss easy chances, Zuill combined with Bermuda team -mate Domico Coddington to notch his second goal at the death to finally silence a never-say-die Eagles outfit.

D.Lawrence, S.Smith, D.Cox, O.Butterfield, R.Swan, K.Goddard, J.Simmons (A.Zuill, 45 mins), D.Coddington, C.Caisey (R.Robinson, 76 mins), K.Steede (capt), R.Beach

: I.Raynor, K.Simons, D.Burgess, S.Simmons, J.Tucker, A.Lambert, T.Smith, M.Butterfield, L.Crofton (capt), D.Dowling, R.Wilson.

: K.Goddard (Cougars)

O.Butterfield (Cougars); T.Smith (Eagles).

Stuart Crockwell.

In the night's preceding First Division contest, Paget Lions squandered a golden opportunity to take over the top spot after they were held to a 1-1 draw against lowly X Roads Warriors.

Hicham Boukhloufi put Warriors out front after only four minutes only for Kyle Jones to equalise five-minutes later..