Rangers only ran out in the Martonmere semi-final last night on a technicality.

Their place at Devonshire Rec. was only given to them after Eagles played an unregistered sub in an earlier round, but a profligate Dandy Town took 97 minutes to prove to the soccer world that Rangers didn?t deserve to be there.

The underdogs surprisingly lasted into extra time before Town forced open the floodgates to secure a 4-1 victory on a night where Khano Smith should be ashamed he didn?t bag a hat-trick.

The national team striker did grab two, his second in extended time the vital one, in a match which the reigning league champions could easily have wrapped up in the opening 90.

Until his 97th minute strike, it had been more of a contest then Town would have wanted and the crowd could have expected.

The excitement of semi-final soccer seemed a little too much for either side last night with the opening exchanges remarkable only for their lack of penetration.

Pre-match favourites Town were on top from the first whistle, but only Khano Smith seemed capable of breaking down the Rangers defence despite the amount of time spent camped in the opposition half.

A couple of snapshots were an early warning that the rangy striker was going to give the Southampton side a long evening.

Both sides were clearly grateful for the massive improvement in weather from their weekend outings and, to their credit, tried to make the most of the flat playing surface in their efforts to win themselves a place on the carpet for the November final.

It looked like it was going to take something special to break the deadlock ? instead it was an error that would have embarrassed a schoolboy.

A long ball over the top by the Hornets should have easily been dealt with by the defence, instead neither keeper Dwayne Adams nor Donny Charles could decide whether they wanted to claim the ball.

While the two were debating, Khano Smith interrupted by claiming the ball for himself and practically walked it into the net to give Town a deserved 31st minute lead.

With their noses in front, there was no way Town were going to relent and Adams was called into action twice more before the break ? tipping over acrobatically from Otis Steede and then again after some sublime skill from Chris Anderson who was unlucky with a dipping volley.

But the start to the second half was as dramatic as the first was stale and while Town might have been wondering just how large their margin of victory might be, Rangers clearly had other ideas.

A stupendous patch of penalty box pinball ended with Town?s nemesis Janeiro Tucker bundling the ball home from point-blank range just a minute into the second stanza for an equaliser? the hapless Charles was booked in the aftermath for kicking the ball out of the Rec. in celebration.

Seven minutes later and both sets of goalposts took a hammering. First Herbert Dillas thundered against the bar from 20 yards before Khano Smith?s deflected angled drive hit the bottom of Adam?s right upright.

That flurry of activity was replaced with a nervous half-hour from both sides although sporadic patches of invention created enough chances to keep the crowd vocal.

Khano continued to be the main threat, hitting the same post on two more occasions with a swerving left-foot drive and then a towering header but in the shakedown of the closing minutes it was Rangers who came closest, with Tucker?s mis-hit, deflected lob looping over Antoine Lightbourne only for the linesman?s flag to spoil the party.

For a side who no-one fancied for victory, Rangers were putting up a spirited fight and the game drifted into extra-time before the Town machine finally found top gear.

A Dennis Zuill cross confused a fleeing defence to find Khano Smith unmarked with the big man having time for a cup of tea before rounding the keeper for his second walk-on of the night.

Seion Darrell then slid one past the keeper and fellow sub Lashun Dill fired home in the opening moments of the second period of extra time as the Hornets showed the voracity of their sting ? albeit much later then many had anticipated.: A. Lightbourne, R Swan, D. Lawler, M. Lowe, E. Signor (J. Peniston, 49), S. Tuzo, O. Steede (S. Darrell, 90), C. Anderson, C. Smith (L. Dill, 70), K. Smith, D. Zuill. D. Adams, P. Brangman (S. Perinchief, 37, T. Flood, 97), N. Grant, K. Tucker (J. Caisey, 110), J. Dill, T. Wilkinson, J. Tucker, H. Dillas, R. Lowe, K. Simmons, D. Charles. M. Lowe, R. Swan (Town) K. Tucker, D. Charles (Rangers): K. Smith (Town) D. Adams (Rangers) : Lyndon Raynor.