Devonshire Cougars 2

North Village 0

Devonshire Cougars advanced in the Friendship Trophy after recording a second victory over North Village in four days at Devonshire Recreation Club last night.

Machi Battersbee broke the deadlock early in the second half of the preliminary round match before a late strike from substitute Sharmari Burns made the game safe for the home team that defended for most of the second half as Village desperately sought to get a foothold in the match.

Village had no one else to blame but themselves for their early cup exit as they enjoyed swathes of possession and created openings but failed to capitalise often when scoring seemed easier.

Among the chief offenders was Keishen Bean who is struggling for form at the moment.

The Village striker blew a few clear-cut chances, was denied by some superb saves from Kioshi Trott, the Cougars goalkeeper, as well as the upright.

Both teams made changes to their line-ups from the ones that locked horns in the Premier Division last weekend.

Cougars prevailed 3-0 on that occasion and appeared to have picked up where they left off, taking the match to Village from the kick off and enjoying the early exchanges.

Kenneth DeSilva, the Cougars forward, brought off a fine save by Troy Hall, the Village goalkeeper, at the near post.

After settling down, Village gradually took the match by the scruff of the neck and created chances to take a comfortable lead into the half.

Trott denied Bean from point blank range after the striker took far too much time to choose his spot, allowing the goalkeeper ample time to narrow the angle and push Bean’s effort around the post.

From the resulting corner, Trott produced the save of the night, tipping Bean’s powerful header over the bar.

Bean was denied again when his goal-bound effort was handled on the line, an infringement that went unchecked by match officials, much to the bewilderment of the visiting side and their fans.

Bean found a way through again just before the half but his header crashed against the far post and was cleared away.

Cougars blew a golden opportunity early in the second when Drewonde Bascome fired tamely into Hall’s arms while Bean’s shooting woes continued at the opposite end as he chipped over from close range.

Battersbee scored the game winner when he drove in a low shot from an angle that Hall got a partial hand on.

Despite falling behind, Village were never out of contention and they nearly equalised when Kwame Steede, the Cougars central defender, cleared a goal bound header off the line.

With the clock winding down, Village brought on fresh legs and pressed higher up the pitch in search of an equaliser which they nearly came close to doing on several occasions.

Substitute Jahron Dickinson had a goal bound volley blocked, defender Jalen Harvey dragged a shot just wide of the far post while forward Pierre Smith shot over on a clever set piece.

And these missed chances came back to haunt as for the second straight match Burns leaped from the bench and scored with a brilliant solo effort to kill the game off.