Dandy Town 1 North Village 1

Dandy Town and North Village will be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days.

A physical and sometimes scrappy 1-1 draw in their FA Cup quarter-final yesterday means the city teams will have three back-to-back clashes.

Already scheduled to meet next Sunday as curtains fall on the 2002-03 Premier League, they now also face a replay of their Cup fixture as neither could break the deadlock in extra-time at St.John's Field.

That additional half-hour of play was much like the first-half in which both sides kept a tight defence, not wanting to concede a goal first. Much of the action occurred in midfield without many serious threats for either ‘keeper.

Village easily had the better of the scarce opportunities with an energetic Domico Coddington rifling a shot just wide of Town's left post late in the half and Tafari Outerbridge bungling an easy close-range effort with a soft touch that gave Jason Smith no trouble in Town's goal.

Clay Smith too missed out when the ball came to him in front of Town's right post. However, with his back to the goal and defenders on him, he could not get into a shooting position.

Six minutes into the second half, Town got on the scoresheet compliments of Reggie Tucker who tapped the ball past Dwayne (Streaker) Adams as the former's team-mate and namesake, Janeiro Tucker, whipped in a short cross from the left side.

Stung by that breach, Village attacked with greater urgency, passing crisply and rushing to meet the ball instead of waiting for it to reach them. That sense of purpose paid off in the 65th minute when Coddington - unmarked in the box - was well placed to direct a cross from the right side of goal into the net's top-left corner. Keith Jennings and Ralph Bean rightly celebrated with him as they had strung together a series of passes leading to the equaliser.

Having Town on their heels, Village looked good for a winner but, despite dominating the latter part of regulation time, failed to find the net. Substitute Kevin Jennings had the best chance, with a right-footer from the right of goal flying past Smith and just eluding the left post.

Both sides had little left in their respective tanks as an extra half-hour on the pitch beckoned.

However, Village dug deep and found some reserve energy in the first session of extra-time. Propelling forward, they got into the area on a few occasions and eventually found the opportunity they sought.

Battling hard amid a cluster of defenders, Keith Jennings found himself at close range with just Smith to beat. His shot, though not as powerful as he would have wished, was only half-stopped by Smith and the ball trickled towards goal.

Just in the nick of time, Lloyd Christopher saved Town's Cup aspirations, clearing the ball off the line to redeem himself completely after an otherwise ordinary showing.

In the second 15 minutes of extra-time, the one real scare was on Village's end when a Reggie Tucker header dipped just over the crossbar.

Dandy Town: J.Smith, K.Mundy (R.Swan, 48 mins), L.Christopher, M.Lowe, L.Furbert, B.O'Riordan, G.Foggo (W.Place, 75 mins), S.Tuzo, R.Tucker, C.Smith, J.Tucker (K.Hurdle, 95 mins).

North Village: D.Adams, J.Boyles, S.Deshields, K.Dill, M.Hansey, T.Outerbridge (D.Jennings, 95 mins), Keith Jennings, R.Bean, C.Smith (Kevin Jennings, 62 mins), J.Jennings, D.Coddington.

Booked: B.O'Riordan, W.Place, R.Tucker (Town); T.Outerbridge (Village).

Men of the Match: S.Tuzo (Town); R.Bean (Village).

Referee: G.O'Brien.