North Village (1) 2

Smith 45, Fray 73

Devonshire Cougars (0) 2

Tucker 56, T Steede 90

Devonshire Cougars won 4-1 on penalties aet

Devonshire Cougars' dream of a first FA Cup triumph remains intact after they overcame North Village in an enthralling FA Cup semi-final at Somerset Cricket Club last night.

In a game that swung one way, and then the other, Cougars twice came from behind before finally seeing off Village 4-1 on penalties thanks to two saves from goalkeeper Ricardo Brangman.

The Cougars goalkeeper was helped immeasurably however by two woeful spot kicks from Sammy DeGraff and Robert Wilson, both of whom barely put enough power behind the ball to get it as far as the goal.

Victory however came at a price for Cougars who had striker Aljame Zuill knocked unconscious in the frantic closing minutes of normal time.

Zuill was knocked out cold after falling heavily in the penalty area, and spent several minutes being tended to before he was stretchered off and taken to hospital.

At that stage his side were trailing 2-1 and seemed destined to go another year without claiming a trophy that has so far eluded them.

However as the game ticked over into injury time, a ball into the box found its way to the feet of Tamaini Steede who smashed it past Village keeper Zane Hendrickson.

It was little more than Cougars deserved after dominating much of the second half, but they should never have been in the position to get back into the game.

Village had taken the lead on the stroke of half time following a scrappy first half in which neither team created much in the way of attacking football.

A hopeful long ball wasn't dealt with by the Cougars defence, and Village's Pierre Smith reacted quickest to guide a shot past Brangman.

The lead lasted exactly 11 minutes, which was the time it took Kwame Steede to unlock the Village defence with a fine pass that sent substitute Kor-Von Tucker clear soon after the break.

From then on Cougars dominated, but they failed to make their possession count and were hit on the break with Terryn Fray guiding the ball past Brangman following some good work from Jason Lee. And Village should have killed the game off moments later.

A Cougars free kick, that came back off the Village defence, found Village trio DeVrae Tankard, Lee, and Jemeiko Jennings with just Randy Robinson standing between them and the Cougars goal.

The trio sped upfield, playing the ball around Robinson, and as Brangman advanced to the edge of his –18-yard box, all Jennings had to do was chip it over the goalkeeper.

Unfortunately for Village, he chipped it too far, and sent it sailing over the crossbar.

The reprieve breathed new life into Cougars and they pressed forward with renewed hope, and in the end were well worth their win.

North Village: Zane Hendrickson, D Tankard, Kofi Dill, S Fubler, T Watson (R Wilson, 81), J Briers, S DeGraff, T Fray, P Smith (V Tankard, 71), J Lee, R Bean (J Jennings, 44). Subs not used: J Sousa, Kaiwan Dill, Zaniko Hendrickson. Booked Fubler, Watson

Devonshire Cougars: R Brangman, J Butterfield, K Franks, I Mallory, D Cox, R Robinson, Moses Steede, K Steede, A Zuill (Mark Steede, 90), T Steede (L Simmons, 90), L Brangman (K-V Tucker, 49). Subs not used: J Seymour, Z White, L Tota. Booked Cox, L Brangman.

Referee: E Holmes

Man of the match: K-V Tucker