North Village 3 Dandy Town 1

Showing the mettle of true champions, North Village dug to the depths of their talent to pull off a come-from-behind triumph over Dandy Town and advance to the FA Cup semfinals last night.

However, their 3-1 rout in a bruising quarter-final replay at Devonshire Rec. was overshadowed by three second-half red cards which first saw Village down to ten men and then up a man as two Town players were also given their marching orders in quick succession.

A superb 20-minute cameo by Dwight (Payback) Warren - in his first match back after a knee injury - highlighted Village's explosive second half. Perhaps wanting to underline why he was recently chosen for the inaugural Minister's Award for football, Warren - along with Kevin Jennings - spearheaded the Village attack as Scott Morton's men clawed their way to victory.

Against the run of play, they went a goal down in the first half when the diminutive Reggie Tucker - with his usual fearlessness - got the better of defenders in a goalmouth scramble after a Carlos Smith free-kick into the six-yard box.

That 32nd-minute goal was the lone strike in the first session, though Village would have gone to the break cursing themselves for not burying at least six chances which any good schoolboy footballer would have scored.

Ralph Bean, the culprit in two of those missed opportunities, made amends 20 seconds into the latter half when he let fly with a crashing left-footer that thundered past Town's diving custodian Antoine Lightbourne from about ten yards.

That put the match on even terms 1-1 and on a knife edge as Village once again looked like the side that had dominated the early exchanges. Suddenly, Town could hardly clear the ball from around their goal furthermore from their half and poor Lightbourne - like a wanted man - found shots flying at him from all directions.

Had Village lost, Jemeiko Jennings would likely have been doomed to endless nightmares about the number of times he let Lightbourne off the hook; once after having cheekily stolen the ball from Town defender Lloyd Christopher about 12 yards from goal only to advance and shoot wide.

The game finally turned on a series of crucial incidents. First, Warren's introduction in the 69th minute and then a hat-trick of red cards by referee George O'Brien. Village's Jamaul Boyles was shown the exit for impeding Gregg Foggo in the 71st minute. Boyles had been booked shortly before. Ironically, Foggo followed for fouling Warren and using abusive language in the 78th minute. In between, Town's Randy Swan was also given an ‘early bath' in the 74th minute for his second booking of the night.

The Foggo foul on a goal-bound Warren resulted in a penalty that Michael Hansey banged in to make it 2-1. Warren then put his own name on the sheet, scoring from close range after a corner kick.

Town, angered and deflated at being reduced to nine men, tried to keep up the fight, especially with substitute Seyoum Tuzo making some probing runs and Carlos Smith firing some desperate shots. However, the task was too big for them.

Morton was pleased with the outcome though chided his team for the plethora of misses.

“It was excellent other than the number of chances we missed. It's incredible - the open nets. I mean one-on-one versus the goalkeeper - to me that's inexcusable. But it's one game gone and on to the next round so I am happy with the victory.”

The thought of these two clashing again in Sunday's Premier League finale, he acknowledged, is a mouth-watering prospect for fans on both sides.

“When you play a team three games in a row it's difficult to overcome them all three times, especially if you've been on the losing end, you come out with that extra fight. So, I expect it to be an entertaining match as it was tonight.”

Despite the physical nature of the match, Morton vowed his boys will be ready to get those crucial three points to retain their League championship.

“We'll do some recovery training, something light and then I'll just get them ready for Sunday.”

Dandy Town: A,Lightbourne, R.Swan, L.Christopher, M.Lowe, L.Furbert, S.Smith (K.Mundy, 50 mins), G.Foggo, J.Tucker (K.Butterfield, 81 mins), C.Smith, R.Tucker, K.Hurdle (S.Tuzo, 50 mins).

North Village: D.Adams, J.Boyles, S.Deshields (D.Warren, 69 mins), M.Hansey, K.Dill, D.Jennings, J.Jennings (D.Coddington, 84 mins), Keith Jennings, C.Smith, R.Bean, Kevin Jennings.

Booked: R.Tucker (Town).

Sent off: R.Swan, G.Foggo (Town); J.Boyles (Village).

Men of the Match: Kevin Jennings (Village); M.Lowe (Town).

Referee: G.O'Brien.