North Village 2

PHC 1

Ralph Bean struck twice from the penalty spot to help North Village to a hard fought victory over ten men PHC in the semi final of the Martonmere Cup at Devonshire Rec.

Elliott Jennings' side came back from a goal down last night after PHC skipper Chris Furbert had put the defending champions ahead in the dying seconds of the first period.

In truth the Rams should have been trailing by a greater margin at the midway point with speedy winger Cecoy Robinson missing two glaring chances to extend Zebras' advantage.

Burly striker Quinton Burgess was also wasteful for Kyle Lightbourne's team, squandering a chance either side of half time.

Village found their way back into the scrappy encounter when Kevin Richards shoved Tarik Jennings in the back to give away a penalty which Bean duly dispatched.

The Village captain was on target again from the spot when defender Corey Dowling was sent off for stopping Bean in his tracks when clean through on goal.

Both Jared Peniston and substitute Tafari Outerbridge should have put the game beyond doubt but both failed to find the net and thus ensured a nervous finish to the match for Village.

The strong wind that swirled across Devonshire Rec. hindered both teams' passing and Village coach Elliott Jennings admitted his team had not played as well as he would have hoped.

"We didn't play well tonight but at least we've started to compete," said Jennings, whose side were beaten 7-1 by PHC in the Charity Cup at the start of the season.

"Guys like Kofi (Dill) Robert (Wilson) and Damon (Edwards) deserve a lot of credit for their performances."

The two teams will meet again on Sunday in the Premier Division at Bernard Park.

n Lady Rams beat Prospect 5-2 in the Women's FM semi final earlier in the night.