as they became the first team to qualify for the final of the Dudley Eve Trophy competition with this victory over defending champions Dandy Town.

Shaking off any lingering effects of holiday overindulgence, the young Trojans struck early and were then able to withstand late pressure from the charging Hornets in what turned out to be an entertaining, if goal shy, affair in front of a packed house at PHC Stadium.

In the end a fortuitous eighth minute strike from Lamaul (Smocky) Crofton proved enough to guarantee the West Enders a place in the two-leg final against the winner of tonight's PHC versus Town semi-final.

The speedy Crofton, a Bermuda Under-23 international, was alert to pounce on an horrendous back-pass by lanky Town central defender Diallo Sharrieff. His first attempt was blocked by a sliding Anthony (Porky) Manders, but he maintained his balance long enough to poke home the rebound which glanced in off the right upright.

The misery would increase for Sharrieff as he later had to be removed from the game and taken to hospital after a clash of heads with Somerset defender Eugene Dean left his face bruised and bloodied.

Stunned by the early turn of events, Town came back to pressure the Somerset defence for sustained periods, but it was out of nowhere that their first real opportunity to level the score came.

Somerset goalkeeper Andre Hendrickson failed to control a tame long range shot by Ascento Russell, allowing the ball to roll for a corner. The resultant kick, taken by Walter Musson, was swung toward goal and met by the head of Kris Martin only to have Hendrickson redeem himself by deflecting the ball over the cross-bar.

Town impressed in midfield where Walter Musson, Pernell Douglas and Lionel Furbert reigned, but they incurred difficulty in adequately supplying the front-runners, while Somerset chose to funnel most of their attacks through full-backs Dean and another Bermuda Under-23 squad member, Andrew Rahman, who regularly embarked on overlapping attacking manoeuvres.

In the 28th minute Town's Russell watched in agony as his header from a right wing cross by Douglas bounded off the right upright with Hendrickson a mere spectator.

Five minutes from the half Jerry Webb of Somerset squandered a perfect chance to put the Trojans two goals ahead when he broke free of the defence and thundered a left-foot effort into the midsection of an advancing Manders.

The second half witnessed an increase in tempo, but nothing in the form of tangible reward for either team.

With time running out, Somerset's defence, hitherto an iron wall marshalled by veteran Duane Deroza, began to collapse under an avalanche of pressure, with the 84th minute witnessing the Hornets have no less than three efforts blocked off the goal-line following another Musson corner.

Town screamed for hand ball as the final shot appeared to come off the arm of defender Jermaine Burrows, camped on the goal-line, but their calls went unheeded by referee Stuart Crockwell.

"The key was absorbing pressure late,'' said Somerset assistant coach Dennis Brown afterwards. "I knew we had the lead and that they would come at us.

"But I feel if we had taken our chances on the breaks we would have put the game out of reach early.'' Meanwhile, Town's caretaker coach Roger Leverock put his team's demise down to a poor mental approach by the players, one which will need to be rectified if Town are to successfully defend the title they won a year ago.

Somerset: A.Hendrickson; A.Rahman, S.Roberts, J.Burrows, D.Deroza, E.Dean; R.Simmons, S.Arorash, R.Tucker (K.Bailey 81 mins); L.Crofton, J.Webb.

Dandy Town: A.Manders; W.Rudo, D.Sharrieff (W.Campbell 50 mins), G.Wilson, K.Martin; L.Furbert, L.Christopher, W.Musson, P.Douglas; D.Simons, A.Russell (C.Smith 53 mins).

Referee: Stuart Crockwell.

Men of the match: Jermaine Burrows (Somerset), Giovanni Wilson (Dandy Town).

BACK OFF -- PHC's Winston Trott Jr, keeps his eye on the ball while holding off the challenge of full-back Albert Caisey of Boulevard during Dudley Eve Trophy action on Monday. PHC defeated Boulevard 2-1.