A Sammy DeGraff penalty, and Vernon Tankard's second half thunderbolt sent North Village into the final of the Dudley Eve, as Devonshire Cougars crashed out of the competition with barely a whimper last night.

The Big Cats were tamed by Shaun Goater's Rams, with midfield duo DeGraff and Jonathan Briers shining in a team that played the likes of Kwame and Moses Steede out of the game.

Briers was outstanding in the centre of midfield, quietly going about his work, and breaking up numerous Cougars attacks before they had even had a chance to get going.

Not that the Devonshire club ever really got out of neutral, they rarely made it into the final third, and Rams goalkeeper Jason Williams was only forced to make one save of note during the entire game.

Village took the lead with little more than 15 minutes gone when Kijuan Franks tripped Bean as he charged into the penalty area trying to get onto the end of a return ball from Jemeiko Jennings,

There was no doubt about the penalty, just as there was no doubt about the outcome once DeGraff placed the ball on the spot.

By that time Cougars should already have been two goals to the good, but Kwame Steede and Shaki Minors both missed guilt edged chances to put their side ahead.

Of the two, Steede's was the worst miss, playing a neat one-two with Minors, he eased into the penalty area, but then dragged his shot horribly wide with only Rams goalkeeper Jason Williams to beat.

Once they had gone ahead Rams took almost total control of a first half in which the Cougars defence was in an almost constant state of disarray.

Ijahmon Mallory and Franks struggled to cope with the movement of Bean and partner Jason Lee, while right back Jesse Seymor was often caught out of position, allowing Jamaul Boyles ample space in which to attack from wide.

However Village's finishing was equally as bad as the Cougars defending, highlighted by Lee's shocking miss midway through the half when he managed to fire over from inside the six-yard box.

Going forward Cougars were little better than they were in defence, and in truth the only real danger to Rams came from their own goalkeeper Williams, who fluffed a succession of high balls into the box.

One missed punch very nearly put Cougars level, as a long ball from Franks out of defence flummoxed Williams, and had to be hacked off the line by Kofi Dill.

Dill paid for his efforts with a pulled hamstring and may be a doubt for next Wednesday's final the National Sports Centre.

Any hopes Cougars might of had of getting back into the game were ended soon after half time when Tankard smashed a shot from outside the area that left Cougars goalkeeper Ricardo Brangman rooted to the spot.

Cougars briefly showed signs of life as the hour mark approached, and Moses Steede's smart shot was well saved by Williams.

But that effort aside they struggled to break down a well-organised Village team, and the sight of Mallory sitting in the Village goal after failing to connect with a late free kick summed up the evening for Cougars.

North Village: J.Williams, J.Boyles, K.Dill (R.Wilson, 30mins), D.Tankard, M.Swan (R.Spence, 69), J.Briers, S.DeGraff, J.Jennings (C.Castle, 74), V.Tankard, R.Bean, J.Lee. Subs not used Z. Hendrickson, P.Smith.

Devonshire Cougars: R.Brangman, J.Butterfield, K.Franks, I.Mallory, J.Seymor, S. Brangman, M.Steede, L.Simmons (K-V Tucker, 59), D.Simmons (L.Brangman, 59), K.Steede, S.Minors (M.Smith, 64). Subs not used T.Smith, Zeko White, Zekiro White, M.Doucet.

Booked: Lee, D.Tankard (Village); Seymor, Smith (Cougars).

Referee: G O'Brien

Man of the match: J.Briers