Locals declared it a ?national holiday? in Hamilton Parish yesterday as celebrations continued following the Hot Peppers? shock FA Cup semi-final win over cup giants Somerset Trojans.

And the party could go on for the rest of the week.

It was during last month?s FA Cup semi-final draw at Captain?s Lounge where Parish stalwart Leon Raynor boldly declared: ?We are preparing ourselves for two-important matches . . . not one. Note that I said two matches.?

Few would have taken Raynor seriously . . . until Sunday.

Armed with a band of Commercial Division players, Parish did just enough to upset the form book and become the second First Division club to appear in the cup final in the last three seasons.

Playing on the restricted confines of Southampton Oval, they were helped by missed chances and poor defending on the part of Trojans. But at the end of the day, they ran out deserved winners.

Heightening Somerset?s embarrassment was the fact that the Peppers remain rooted at the bottom of the First Division with only two league wins to their credit all season ? both of them handed on a silver platter after Wolves and Paget were forced default points for fielding ineligible players.

Add to that, the fact that Parish players don?t even train and the result is even more remarkable.

Parish depended heavily on Commercial players Corey Hill, Sean Dill and Irving Burgess ? otherwise referred to as the ?fabulous three.?

All of that trio know a thing or two about winning the cup, having done so previously at North Village and Vasco da Gama.

Now the warning has been posted: ?Village beware!?

?Don?t underestimate us,? said former Reds striker and Sunday?s goal hero Dill.

Dill previously won an FA Cup winner?s medal with Village in 1989 while both Hill and Burgess savoured cup glory at Vasco.

?This win was for the entire community,? Dill continued. ?It was exhilarating for everybody. This victory has brought everyone in the community together. It brought out old and young fans and everyone is celebrating and now looking forward to the final.

?Everyone has been brought closer together and feeling the same sort of vibe.?

Not once, said Dill, were the Peppers intimidated by their more illustrious opponents.

?They didn?t pose much of a problem for us,? he added. ?Basically I think experience covered our shortcomings or lack of match fitness.

?We were hyped up and ready for the match even though we hadn?t been training. We just hung in there and stuck to our game plan which was to keep moving the ball around and find our playmakers. But I also think playing on the smaller pitch definitely helped us.?

Poised for a first-ever appearance in an FA Cup final, one might figure Parish would adopt a new approach to training. Best think again.

?We get our training playing Commercial football on Saturdays,? Dill pointed out. ?Why stop now what has been working for us all along.?

But as unorthodox as their approach might be, Parish, said Dill, intend to give Village a good run for their money.

?We don?t intend on just showing up for the final,? he declared. ?We?re coming to win.?

However, they?ll have to do so without the services of Hill who will be off Island with the national cricket team in Trinidad.