North Village 2

Devonshire Cougars 3

All is forgiven. The years of "elevator football", when Devonshire Cougars were too good for the old Second Division but out of their depth amid the elite; the six previous cup final losses; and the epic FA Cup semi-final against Vasco in 1982 that went to three replays before ultimate defeat.

None of this seemed to matter yesterday evening at St. David's Oval when Mark Smith led Cougars to their historic first significant title. Two headed goals in a surreal opening 10 minutes endeared Smith to the legions of Cougars fans who travelled east and Heys Wolffe, with a clinical finish five minutes into the second half, left Village with too much to do.

Goals by Dwight Warren and Michael Hansey brought about a frenetic finish but Cougars, with Shawn Smith a model of composure at the heart of the defence, held on for a deserved victory.

"We knew that Village were going to come at us some time through the match," said Smith, Cougars' assistant coach. "We knew that we had to absorb and we did it."

What Village could not have expected, however, was how quickly Cougars, the supposed underdogs, came at them.

Even before Smith stunned the crowd with the first of his headers, the warning signs were there for Village. Wolffe found space in behind Jawan Thomas on the left but stumbled as he prepared to take on Zane Hendrickson, the Village goalkeeper.

Smith headed into side netting as he made a near-post run to meet a Wali Salaam corner, Wolffe let Hendrickson off the hook after the young 'keeper's poor clearance and Kori Goddard had a hard, low drive smothered by Hendrickson.

On eight minutes, Village paid for their inability to switch up a gear as Smith, in a carbon copy of his run from a few minutes earlier, finished with a textbook downward header on the end of an Earl Richardson cross from the left, that gave Hendrickson no chance.

Before they had time to feel sorry for themselves, Village were two down, with Smith surpassing his previous strike in terms of quality. Goddard, who started brightly on the right side of the Cougars midfield, delivered a fine cross that Smith met perfectly to leave Hendrickson wrong-footed and helpless.

The marking was dreadful and Village were in a heap of trouble with the likes of Wolffe and Raymond Beach still to announce themselves.

But Cougars sat back and allowed Village to dictate from midfield, although they lacked the cutting edge in the attacking third to cause Cougars serious concern.

Village's first shot on goal came in the 25th minute, Ricardo Brangman dealing comfortably with a Jamaul Boyles drive. But there would be nothing else in a first half where Village looked poorly organised and bereft of ideas.

A downpour ushered in the end of the half and with it Village smartened up their approach. Kevin Jennings, still lacking match fitness, replaced Thomas in a desperate move as Village went to three at the back.

But the first significant action came after 50 minutes in that vacated slot as Wolffe, picked out by Beach after Village gave the ball away in a dangerous position, beat Hendrickson from 15 yards with a thunderous drive. Surely, it was game over, considering Village had not scored in more than 230 minutes.

However, Cougars continued to play a dangerous game. The deeper they defended the more Cal Dill, in particular, had time to settle the Village attack. And the link-up play with Dwight Warren and Domico Coddington became more effective.

Brangman made a fine double save to deny Warren in the 62nd minute but Cougars struck back immediately with Wolffe shooting straight at Hendrickson on the end of a lightning counter-attack.

Two minutes later Smith had a chance to put Cougars four up, but shot wide from a tight angle after an excellent run and cross by Goddard.

Village were given hope in 68th minute when Warren scored after a good ball through the middle by Coddington. And 10 minutes later they were only one behind after a Hansey shot from an angle slipped through Brangman's legs.

It was a time for Cougars to hold their nerve as Village poured forward and Devon Brangman, the right back, saved the day when he hacked a Jennings corner off the line.

Three minutes of stoppage time added on by Ray Olivier, the guest official from England, who is in Bermuda to conduct referees' lectures, brought no further worries for Cougars.

"The third goal was very critical for us and turned out to be the match-winner," Smith added. "We had more chances to put the game away but we didn't and let them back into the game, which made it hard.

"This is a sign of good things to come. We have a lot of things to correct before the next game but there's a time for everything. We haven't had a reason to celebrate in so long, now's the time."

Village, on the other hand, will reflect on a season that has suddenly turned pear-shaped with three consecutive losses. "We were in control as far as possession was concerned but when attacking options came, we lacked in those areas," said Scott Morton, the Village coach.

"I give all credit to Cougars, they played well today. They were the better team and showed they had the fight to get into the position they're in."

North Village: Z.Hendrickson; A.Simons, M.Hansey, K.Binns, J.Thomas (Kev.Jennings, 45 mins); V.Tankard (S.Goater, 57 mins), C.Dill, J.Boyles; T.Outerbridge, D.Warren, D.Coddington (K.Dill, 73 mins). Substitutes not used: D.Thomas, R.Spence. Booked. Simons.

Devonshire Cougars: R.Brangman; E.Richardson, G.Butterfield, S.Smith, D.Brangman; D.Eve (C.Smith, 79 mins), W.Salaam (J.Salaam, 87 mins), K.Goddard (C.Darrell, 68 mins); H.Wolffe, M.Smith, R.Beach. Substitutes not used: R.Clacken, J.DeShields. Booked: Eve, Goddard.

Men of the match: Cal Dill (Village); Mark Smith (Cougars).

Referee: R.Olivier (Birmingham, England).