Vasco 2 North Village 0 (abandoned 88th minute) A player was taken to hospital and a North Village official arrested as yesterday's FA Cup semi-final ended in mayhem at White Hill Field.

About a half hour after Dwight Basden was raced to hospital in a police vehicle after being knocked unconscious inside the clubhouse, his alleged attacker, North Village Sports Committee chairman Sherwin Dill, was taken into custody at the ground.

The incident, after the match had been abandoned by referee Stuart Crockwell two minutes from time, followed skirmishes between rival players and fans which saw Basden reportedly hit from behind by a female fan as he walked through a crowd of fans on his way to the dressing room.

Onlookers said that Basden swung around in retaliation and hit the woman before continuing to the dressing room where he was allegedly punched and knocked unconscious by Dill. The woman is reportedly close to the Dill family.

The incident was the most serious of a number of scuffles that marred the match in the closing minutes.

The one that sparked it off and forced the match to be abandoned happened when Keith Jennings of Vasco was fouled by his cousin Daniel Jennings during a Vasco raid on the North Village goal.

Cal Dill Jr, close to the scene, was head-butted by Keith Jennings who retaliated and fighting broke out as Kentoine Jennings, Keith's brother and team-mate, also got involved in the incident.

Dill, who had only come on the field in the 84th minute and was booked in the 87th for a foul, was the first to be shown the red card as referee Crockwell quickly tried to restore order.

Keith Jennings, booked earlier, was also ejected moments later before Crockwell abandoned the match as fighting continued with players and fans involved and members of the Police taskforce who tried to calm the situation.

"It was a sad way for it to finish, I presume the result will stand,'' said veteran Vasco defender Derek Stapley who distanced himself from the fighting.

"There is enough good footballing talent on the Island where you can put on a showcase very easily without having to resort to this.'' The fighting came just three minutes after Clay Smith had put the game beyond Village's reach with the second of two well-taken goals by the league champions in the second half.

The first incident, which proved a setback for Village, came midway in the first half when Paul Towlson put a bad tackle on Nakia Smith that left the midfielder sprawled in front of the Village bench.

Towlson got a yellow card for the foul and Smith a bruised ankle which, after continuing with a noticeable limp, eventually forced him to be substituted 10 minutes later.

After a first half of few clear cut chances, Vasco took the lead in the 52nd minute with a well executed goal by Sammy Swan.

Basden knocked down a pass for Clay Smith just inside the Village half on the right side and his first time long ball into the Village penalty area penetrated the defence for Swan to run through and place a first time shot into the roof of the net.

After that Village picked up their game but with Elliott and Kevin Jennings out through injuries they lacked recognised goal scorers.

Clay Smith was booked for a late challenge on Jennings as emotions started to show with the game hanging in the balance.

Just as Village threatened an equaliser, Vasco broke through to score their second goal five minutes from the end. The move involved Stapley and Keith Jennings who pushed the ball back for Smith to smash a curling low shot inside the near post from the edge of the box.

Village coach Kenny Thompson said afterwards: "Obviously things boiled over but there was no excuse for the behaviour we saw.

"I thought it was a decent game. We were down 1-0 and we thought we were playing decent football although we found it difficult to penetrate Vasco.

"It was pretty evenly balanced until Clay scored but it still doesn't give people reason to resort to violence. We wanted to win but in sport you realise that some days you win and some days you don't win.'' Vasco: T.Figureido; D.Stapley, Kent.Jennings, P.Towlson, S.Gibbons, Kei.Jennings, O.Steede, M.Wade, D.Basden, C.Smith, S.Swan (E.Richardson 84 mins).

North Village: G.Edness; K.Dill, D.Jennings, M.Hansey, R.Spence, J.Boyles, N.Smith (I.Romaine 33 mins), V.Tankard (C.Dill 84 mins), K.Dill (O.Ray 76 mins), J.Jennings, J.Smith.

Referee: Stuart Crockwell.

Men of the match: Clay Smith (Vasco), Michael Hansey (Village).

Dandy Town beat Devonshire Colts 2-0 -- with only eight men -- to reach the Crystal Palace final yesterday.

Starting the game with seven players, Town took the lead in the 25th minute through Genghis Thorpe. Heys Wolffe scored the second a minute into the second half to clinch Town's place in the final against North Village.

Photos by David Skinner CUT OUT -- Sinclair Gibbons (right) of Vasco tries to get in a cross despite close marking from Village defender Daniel Jennings during yesterday's abandoned FA Cup semi-final.

TANGLED UP -- North Village defender Michael Hansey (left) climbs high to win an aerial challenge with Clay Smith of Vasco at White Hill Field yesterday.