Devonshire Colts booked themselves a spot in the Martonmere Cup semifinals alongside opponents North Village, as they prevailed 3-2 in the curtain-raiser at PHC last night.

While the performance of the young Colts displeased coach Lorenzo Symonds -- coaches are never satisfied -- it was nevertheless enough to earn them a match-up against defending champions Somerset, winners in the night-cap against PHC.

Forward Craig Smith emerged as the hero with two well-taken goals in the first half, but Ellington Weldon sealed the result through his tally near the conclusion of the second, after Village had drawn to within a single strike.

The tone of the match had been set by Smith as he rocked Village early through a score just 40 seconds into the match.

A right-wing cross by Weldon was nodded on to the poaching Smith at the far post and he obliged, rattling the twine with a first-time shot that gave Village goalkeeper Anthony Swan no chance.

This blow staggered Village and they responded forcefully, attacking their youthful number in droves. Skipper Elliott Jennings caused problems up front, especially along the left flank where he found fullback Keenan Burchall an easy target for his pace on the ball.

A great chance for an equaliser arose in the 11th minute for Village when they were awarded an indirect free-kick at the edge of the six-yard box, but Rahji Edness fired his effort into a mountain of defenders camped on the goal-line.

Misses by midfielder Sheldon Franks and an overlapping Kevin Grant ensued and Village would soon pay dearly for the miscues.

They would also suffer through the loss of team leader Jennings, who was forced out of the contest with what was believed to be a groin injury after 15 minutes.

Smith notched his second a minute before the interval as Smith seized advantage during a goalmouth scramble that saw strike partner Ellington Weldon have his initial shot blocked, but managed to tap the rebound to an encroaching Smith for the latter to fire past a maze of players into the back of the net.

Each side found the initial period a tough act to follow. The next 20 minutes witnessed Village playing like a team already qualified for the semis -- they had due to an earlier win against Dandy Town -- and Colts resting on the laurels of a 2-0 lead.

Life was injected 76 minutes into the second stanza as winger Sherritt Hewey drew a penalty when he was hacked down in the area by Jay Bean during a solo raid on goal.

Sheldon Franks calmly stroked the spot kick in the low left corner, sending 'keeper Antoine Swan the wrong way.

However, the two-goal margin was restored minutes later when Weldon converted a rebound of an intricate move and shot by substitute Vic Ball from close range by stand in keeper Kentoine Jennings.

Hewey scored a consolation tally nearing full-time, but this altered little the result.

Devonshire Colts: A.Swan; K.Burchall, J.Samuels, D.Wright, L.Hypolite; H.Trott (K.Smith 76 mins.), J.Bean, M.Ray; C.Smith, J.Weeks (V.Ball 58 mins.), E.Weldon.

North Village: A.Swan (E.Simmons 70 mins.); W.Augustus, Ken.Jennings, D.Bell, K.Grant; R.Edness, A.Bascome, S.Franks; S.Hewey, E.Jennings (P.Clarke 15 mins.), S.Dill.

Referee: Roddy Burchall.

Men of the match: Leonard Hypolite (Devonshire Colts), Kentoine Jennings (North Village).