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Dill goal shatters Hood's cup final dream

Robin Hood 0 North Village 1Kaiwon Dill finally found the net to help North Village see off a stubborn Robin Hood in Saturday night's FA Cup semi-final at BAA Field.Dill made amends for missing a hat-trick of first-half chances when he fired past Hood goalkeeper Timmy Figureido in the 51st minute after being picked out by Ralph Bean.Village, who days earlier had returned to the Island from their disappointing CFU Club Championship campaign in Cayman Islands, will meet Dandy Town on April 16 in their first FA Cup final since 2006.The first half, which started on a sombre note with a minute's silence held in the memory of former Village midfielder Randy Robinson, who was killed exactly a year ago, saw Village thoroughly dominate their opponents.That the teams went into half-time on level terms had much to do with Village's profligacy in front of goal, with Dill the chief culprit, and the fine goalkeeping of Hood veteran Figureido.A poor clearance by Hood skipper Teddy Terceira afforded Dill his first opportunity, but he was unable to steer the ball into the net with his prodded effort striking the bar before bouncing to safety.Dill was again denied by the woodwork moments later when he curled an effort from the edge of the box onto the outside of Figureido's left-hand post. Then, just before half-time, Dill had another chance to open the scoring but his looping header was superbly saved the ex-Bermuda keeper.Hood's best chance of the first period fell to former India international Fredy Mascarenhas with the big striker bustling his way past Devrae Tankard and firing into the side-netting from a difficult angle.Village continued to enjoy the superior swathes of possession but created little in the way of clear-cut chances after the break. On the few occasions they did manage to breach the Hood backline, the Rams seemed strangely reticent to shoot, rarely calling Figureido into action.At the other end Village shot stopper Jason Williams was also a virtual spectator, with Hood failing to supply the lively Mascarenhas with any real service.Village skipper Sammy DeGraff admitted Village lacked cutting edge but pointed out that the result, and not the performance, was the most important thing.“We did dominate possession but I still felt we were a little sloppy at times,” he said. “However, our mission was to win this game and reach to FA Cup final and we have managed to do that.“We've two weeks until the final to prepare for that game and hopefully win another trophy this season.”North Village: J Williams, D Grant, Kofi Dill, D Tankard, S DeGraff, T Burgess, Kaiwon Dill, J Jennings (J Davies, 46), V Tankard, P Smith (L Dill, 45), R BeanSubstitutes not used: L Alexander, J DeShields, J BoylesGoal: Kaiwon Dill, 51Robin Hood: T Figureido, T Terceira, A Wolffe, V Blyden, J Crockwell, M Watson, D Bascome, D Outerbridge, L Tota, F Mascarenhas, C Watson (M Thomas, 51)Substitutes not used: M Hunt, D Albouy, B RobinsonReferee: A MouchetteMan of the match: T Burgess (Village)n In the PDL Cup final, also held at BAA Field on Saturday night, St George's defeated PHC 3-2.Clay Darrell (2) and Jahron Dickinson scored for the East Enders, while Antwan Russell and Ryan Hassall were on target for Zebras.St George's coach Richard Todd said his team's victory was another sign that the club's youth programme was on the right track.“We have many first team players under the age of 23 and hopefully they can use this win as a springboard,” said Todd.“A lot of youngsters these days want instant gratification but, if we can keep this group together, I certainly believe we can be successful in the future.”