North Village 4 Devonshire Colts 1

Ralph Bean led a second-half fightback at Bernard Park yesterday as North Village came from behind to advance to the semi-finals of the Friendship Trophy.

The Village midfielder scored a brace after the home side fell behind to Eli Smith’s sucker punch right at the start of the second half.

Bean cancelled out Colts’ lead after being afforded too much time and space in the box and then put Village ahead after tapping in Pierre Smith’s pullback from close range.

Keishen Bean, the Village captain, put the game further beyond Colts’ reach before 17-year-old midfielder Enyche Zuill came off the bench to drive in his first senior goal and complete the rout in second-half stoppage time.

Village, the eight-times Friendship Trophy champions, went into the tie as the firm favourites to advance and lived up to expectations with a polished display that kept Devarr Boyles, the Village coach, contented on the sidelines.

The home side took control early on and should have had the match all sewn up by the interval.

Phillip Parsons, the Village midfielder, had a header from Smith’s corner kick saved by Gregory Rose, the Colts goalkeeper, while Keishen Bean curled just wide of the far post after a good build-up.

Jalen Harvey, the Village defender, beat the offside trap but had his shot blocked by Rose, who raced off his line to narrow the angle.

The rebound bounced freely to Jonathan Briers, the Village defender, whose header was blocked on the line by Colts’ Vernell Lambe.

Zenawi Bowen, the Village striker, also cut a frustrated figure after failing to get a touch to Keishen Bean’s flicked pass in front on an open net right on the stroke of half-time.

Colts’ best chance in the half fell to Smith, who hurried his shot wide after dispossessing Harvey on the edge of the box.

The match turned on its head when Smith broke the deadlock immediately at the start of the second half.

Village virtually stood frozen as Colts ran through them, Smith finishing the move off with a low drive that beat Tahj Bell, the Village goalkeeper, at the near post.

The goal was a wake-up call for Village, who took only two minutes to respond.

Keishen Bean dropped a long ball in the box, where substitute Shayne Hollis controlled and fed a pass to Ralph Bean, who stabbed the ball across the line from close range.

The versatile Smith then drove into the box before pulling the ball back for the unmarked Ralph Bean to slot into an empty net to put Village in front.

Keishen Bean’s hard work finally paid off when he got in on the scoring act, the striker using his strength to hold off Jehkeylo Burgess, the Colts right back, before firing past Rose.

At this stage the game resembled a training ground scrimmage as a rampant Village continued to turn the screw.

Such was Village’s dominance, left back Terryn Fray was allowed to roam deep into Colts’ territory, where he hit a post, then had a dangerous outswinging cross parried away by Rose.

Hollis also went close with a half-volley that scraped the woodwork. Ryan Purnell provided some spark up front for Colts after coming on as a late substitute, the forward pulling off a save from Bell while Smith wasted a golden opportunity to reduce the visiting side’s deficit when he squirted wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Zuill capped Village’s dominant display when his shot from outside of the box beat the unsuspecting Rose who appeared to be blinded by his defence.

SCORERS

North Village

R Bean 48, 51, K Bean 64, Zulli 90+3

Devonshire Colts

Smith 46

TEAMS

North Village (4-4-2): T Bell — T Fray, J Harvey, J Briers, J Davis — P Parsons, T Durham, P Smith (sub: T Williams, 56min), R Bean (sub: E Zuill, 65) — Z Bowen (sub: S Hollis, 46), K Bean. Substitutes not used: T Wilson, D Grant, R Sampson, P Castle.

Devonshire Colts (4-4-2): G Rose — S Burgess, Q Jones, V Lambe, J Burgess (sub: R Purnell, 76) — A Hart (sub; J Paynter, 46), K Wilkinson, J Bean-Lindo, L Symonds (sub: C Henry, 66) — K Jones, E Smith. Substitutes not used: D Wainwright, B O’Connor, J Maybury, D Lambe. Booked: S Burgess, Bean-Lindo.

Referee: R Cann.