Dev. Cougars 4 Social Club 2

If Cougars coach Albert Smith is wondering what to buy his players for Christmas a football law book would not go amiss.

For if Lovintz Tota and Heys Wolffe understood the offside rule then it would surely not have taken their side until the 70th minute to wrap up last night's FA Cup tie at Devonshire Rec.

Having gone 2-0 up through Kori Goddard and Mark Smith inside 18 minutes a rout looked on the cards.

Certainly, Social Club's almost non-existent midfield and defence which parted like Red Sea every time Cougars went forward suggested as much.

But time after time after time Tota and Wolffe were halted in their tracks by the linesman's flag.

Once or twice could be deemed as one of those things, half a dozen would have to be classed as careless but more than that is just plain stupid.

So, instead of adding to their tally when Social Club were there for the taking, the men in yellow and green welcomed them back into the tie with open arms.

In the 36th minute Dennis Zuill's free-kick from just outside the box was pushed into the path of Renaldo Clacken by `keeper Ricardo Brangman and he made no mistake from close range.

Then on the stroke of half-time the teams were level when Ian DeSilva drove in a low shot that evaded the diving Brangman.

With 45 minutes still to play it seemed like anyone's game but a strange decision by the Social Club bench ultimately led to their downfall.

With their team on the attack and about to take a corner Club's coaching duo opted to make a double substitution replacing the effective Clacken and corner taker Jahmahl Lewis with David Gibbs and Darren Williams.

That decision appeared to further unsettle a team that wasn't that balanced to begin with and served to illustrate the point that sometimes those at helm try to do and say too much instead of really studying the way a game is panning out.

With 20 minutes to go Wolffe punished their tactical naivety, waltzing his way round several defenders before slipping the ball past `keeper Duke Lawrence. Smith then made sure there was no way back for Social Club when he latched onto the end of a cross from Dennis Eve and sidefooted home in the 84th minute.

Earlier, Paget exterminated Pest Control 5-0 with goals from Cameron Phillip, Kenneth Outerbridge, Ki-Roy Butterfield and two from Kenneth Caines.

Pest Control ended the game with ten men when substitute Kenneth Francis was sent off for two bookable offences, the second one of the most ridiculous you will ever see - the player running up and kicking the ball into a hedge when Paget had been awarded a throw.