Devonshire Cougars clawed their way back from a one goal deficit to silence gutsy Boulevard Blazers in the Martonmere Cup at the National Sports Centre last night.

Blazers stormed out in front against the run of play when captain Shaki Crockwell deceived deputising ?keeper LoVintz Tota in the 56th minute with side-footed shot which went in at the far post.

But that goal only served to awaken a dormant Cougars attack who responded with goals from the ever reliable Raymond Beach and the relentless Shaki Minors.

Cougars now take on North Village in next week?s Remembrance Day final at the same venue in what will be a repeat of the 2001/02 final which saw Albert Smith?s charges seize a first ever domestic major title.

?This has been our focus since last season after having gone through all of that adversity,? commented an ecstatic Cougars assistant coach Quinton Joell afterwards.

?The guys have made up their minds that this season we are going to come out and commit themselves and play hard.

?Today our focus was to play direct and I thought the momentum stayed in our favour and we were able to keep them under pressure.

?We always knew that if we could score two goals then we would win the game.

?Boulevard are a great defensive team but I don?t think they can score two goals on any given day.?

Reaffirming his status as a true super sub was lanky forward Minors.

Introduced as a 17th minute replacement for the injured Galvin Butterfield, he set up Beach?s 61st minute equaliser before helping himself to the winner nine minutes later.

The forceful forward, omnipresent on the pitch, was himself substituted in the 89th minute. But by then the damage had long been done.

Both teams were unable to create any real clear chances during the opening play with only Blazers? wiry forward Melchisedec Gibbons arousing the sparse crowd on the half-hour with a fierce half-volley which crashed against the upright, though the referee had blown his whistle for offside.

Gibbons also had firm drive from 15 yards go just wide after Torry Davis sped down the left-flank and provided a perfect pass in the middle.

However, there would be no denying Blazers shortly after the restart when Crockwell let loose with his instep from an acute angle and watched as his lofted shot nestled in at the far post past a dazed Tota.

The goal proved to be a wake-up call for Cougars and within five minutes Beach drew the teams level after he slammed home a Minors? rebound from close-range.

From this point on it was all Cougars.

Striker Heys Wolfe had a curling free-kick palmed away by a busy Corby Durrant who then followed up by diving low to deny Kwame Steede?s long range drive.

Diminutive Cougars? left-back Jeremy DeShields then tested Durrant from long range with a blast the ?keeper had to go full length to push around the post.

But after being put under relentless pressure something had to give and it would be a now tired Blazers? defence which allowed Minors just enough room to work his magic and catapult his team through to their second Martonmere final in three seasons.

?I must commend our coaching staff who have worked hard together to come up with a plan,? said Joell.

?Now we will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with another plan for next week?s game.?

In the night?s opening women?s Konica Cup semi-final, PHC shut out Royals 3-0 and will now take on defending champions, Rude Girls, in next week?s final.

C.Durrant, R.Wilson, L.Stevens, S.Lewis, T.Trott, Jah.Samuels, C.Trott (C.Simmons, 74 mins), T.Davis (El Karfa Farid, 85 mins), M.Gibbons, R.Burgess (T.Walker, 77 mins), S.Crockwell.L.Tota, G.Butterfield (S.Minors, 17 mins (K.Goddard, 89 mins)), S.Smith, O.Butterfield, J.DeShields, J.Salaam, K.Steede, D.Eve, D.Coddington, H.Wolfe, R.Bean.: T.Davis, R.Burgess (Boulevard): C.Durrant (Boulevard); S.Minors (Devonshire).: Stuart Crockwell.