Prospect 2 Dev. Cougars 5

Devonshire Cougars are on their way back to the carpet!

Demonstrating to Prospect just why they are regarded as one of the Island's most explosive teams, Cougars emphatically brushed aside their First Division rivals 5-2 at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday to book a passage to a second FA Cup final in eight years.

Two goal hero Raymond Beach, Heys Wolffe, Mark Smith and assistant player/coach Shawn Smith reduced Prospect's spirited challenge to nothing more than a brief excursion to Fantasy Island.

Leroy Mathurin and Leonard Davis replied for Prospect who, despite falling short of their objective, still managed to stage a gallant effort which kept the considerably large crowd entertained with some free flowing, non-stop, end to end action.

"I am very pleased with the team," said Cougars' coach Albert Smith afterwards. "We played team soccer today and the result speaks for itself. We knew that Prospect were going to come with heart but we matched that on the field and it was a pleasant performance.

"As long as we continued to play attacking and entertaining attractive soccer it was always just a matter of time before we finally broke them down."

In fact, when Wolffe waltzed behind the Prospect defence to put his team 2-0 up moments before the half, following Mark Smith's 16th minute opener, it appeared that that would be the proverbial straw that would break the Prospect camel's back.

However, like a bad cold that just would not go away, Prospect soldiered on and were rewarded for their determination barely two minutes later when Mathurin jumped all over a Davis rebound after Devonshire's makeshift 'keeper Lavintz Tota made a mess with his intended save. The part-time goalie spilled the ball in front of the opportunistic striker who graciously slotted home from close range.

But while the goal may have inspired Prospect, it only proved to be a minor irritant for Cougars as Beach, the league's top poacher this season with 20 goals, put things back into perspective by slotting a Wolffe low cross past Prospect custodian Kevin Bean to restore his team's two goal cushion at the break.

The goal came as Prospect played on with ten men after Philip Bailey was carried off with a suspected hamstring pull. He was subsequently replaced by Carlos Lopes but by then it was too late.

Prospect would not give in though and they pounced again shortly after the restart when Davis was first to a long ball played through the middle. The hustling forward brilliantly held off his marker before smashing a shot from eight yards into the roof of the net past a hapless Tota.

Given another lease of life, Prospect began to run at their more fancied opponents. Substitute Vic Ball brought a bit more life into his team's attack, while utility player Quinton Francis dropped back to reinforce things at the back.

Veteran midfielder Paul Towlson also proved to be a bothering sight whenever a high ball was played deep into Cougars' area while had John Richmond brought his scoring boots to the match the final scoreline may have been a bit more respectable for his team.

However, all their good work was undone by an embarrassing 69th minute blunder by Bean.

Standing inside the centre circle, Shawn Smith dispatched what appeared to be a soaring clearance forward. As three Cougars' attackers began to jockey for position, Bean, sensing the danger, rushed off his line but completely failed to grasp the ball which dipped over his head and into the back of the vacant net as an amused Smith and colleagues celebrated.

Beach then wrapped things up in dramatic fashion, finishing off some neat work by Kwame Steede by planting his shot firmly into the roof of the net.

"We still played hard and it was unfortunate when they scored that fourth goal," lamented a dejected Prospect skipper Clifford Roberts. "I think that goal hurt us badly. If they hadn't scored that goal who knows what would have happened. They don't have one of the strongest defences and we failed to exploit that."

The second semifinal, between North Village and Somerset Trojans, takes place on Thursday night at a venue to be decided.

Prospect: K.Bean, A.Daniels, P.Bailey (C.Lopes, 44 mins), N.Woods, C.Roberts, P.Towlson, T.Brown (V.Ball, 55 mins), Q.Francis, L.Mathurin (S.Gair, 78 mins), L.Davis, J.Richmond.

Devonshire Cougars: L.Tota, S.Smith, O.Butterfield, J.DeShields, D.Brangman, W.Salaam (G.Butterfield, 87 mins), K.Steede, H.Wolffe, K.Goddard (D.Eve, 68 mins), M.Smith, R.Beach.

Booked: D.Brangman, W.Salaam (Cougars)

Men of the match: Q.Francis (Prospect); R.Beach (Devonshire).

Referee: Anthony Mouchette.

Prospect and Hemisphere Royals battled to a scoreless draw after extra time during yesterday's Women's FA Cup semifinal at Somerset Cricket Club and face a replay.