North Village twice came from behind before grabbing a late winner in a thrilling encounter at Bernard Park yesterday.

It was a day when the substitutes shone for the Red Devils with Maceo Dill getting the two vital equalisers and fellow sub Quincy Paynter slotting home the winning goal.

After an uninspiring, goalless first half, the game sprang to life 12 minutes into the second period when Tito Smith ran through the Village defence and coolly slipped the ball under 'keeper Gladwin Edness to put BAA ahead.

But Village were back on terms just 13 minutes later when Dill found the back of the net in his first attack after coming on to replace Arthur Simons. His point-blank shot, following a flick-on by Sean Dill, gave BAA 'keeper Dwayne (Streaker) Adams no chance.

There was little Edness could do, either, about Andre Thompson's close-range effort that put BAA in front, for the second time, after 72 minutes.

But, again, the Green Knights' advantage was to be short-lived.

There looked to be little danger when Village had a throw-in just inside the BAA half. But Maceo Dill picked up the ball on the edge of the area and blasted it home to make it 2-2 with just 10 minutes left.

Paynter got in on the action six minutes later, after coming on to replace Sean Dill. He stabbed the ball home past a diving Adams, having been played through by Ellliot Jennings, who produced a number of surging runs down the left of the field throughout the afternoon.

A demoralised BAA never looked like getting back on terms in the dying minutes, with Village threatening to extend their lead as the time ticked away.

Village had the lion's share of the possession throughout the match but were unable to turn their domination into goals in a lacklustre first 45 minutes in which neither team looked like scoring.

But when the Red Devils finally found their scoring touch, after BAA had twice gone ahead against the run of play, the fans were treated to an absorbing finale.

BAA, who were thrashed 8-0 by Village back in October, will be kicking themselves for letting their opponents grab the points once again. But they have only themselves to blame for giving the ball away too much. They were frequently caught in possession after failing to lay the ball off when they had the chance.

The Green Knights made a substitution after just a quarter of an hour when Mark Thorne was shown the yellow card for an ill-timed challenge on Kimande Binns, having already been spoken to by the referee. BAA coach Johnny Adams decided to play it safe and avoid a possible sending-off by bringing on Shawn Dill. But neither of the BAA substitutions were to have such an impact on the game as those made by Village.

All the Village players sported black arm bands for yesterday's game, in memory of 15-year-old Winston Paynter who died in a motorcycle accident on New Year's Day. The teams observed a minute's silence before the game began.

North Village: G.Edness, A.Simons (M.Dill, 57 mins), C.Roberts, K.Grant, I.Romaine, R.Todd, D.Bell, C.Sabir, K.Binns, E.Jennings, S.Dill (Q.Paynter, 74 mins).

BAA: D.Adams, T.Harvey, C.Critchlow (D.Davies, 72 mins), M.Thorne (S.Dill, 16 mins), M.Martin, A.Melvin, M.DeMoura, W.DeSilva, D.Ashworth, A.Thompson, T.Smith.

Referee: Cal Simons/Orel Swan.

Men of the Match: Elliott Jennings (North Village); Tito Smith (BAA).

JUMP TO IT! -- Sean Dill of North Village rises to meet the ball above BAA's Michael Martin during yesterday's First Division clash at Bernard Park.

BATTLE FOR THE BALL -- Shawn Dill of BAA loses his footing as he attempts to get his team on the attack while Village's Chris Sabir is ready to pounce.

Village won yesterday's game 3-2.