Valley 3 Paget 2

A Troy Simmons blast five minutes from time gave Commercial B Division side Valley a 3-2 upset FA Cup first round win over high-flying First Division opponents Paget at Police Field yesterday.

After the Paget defence failed to clear a corner kick, Simmons produced a wicked drive from an acute angle on the edge of the 18 yard box which eluded the extended fingertips of ‘keeper Wayne Smith and sent Valley through to the next round.

“We came out here today to win this match,” said a delighted Valley coach Colin Zuill following the match.

“We didn't take Paget as slouches and man for man we always felt we could match them. And we managed to achieve that and get the job done.”

But Paget had only themselves to blame, showing up minus six of their regular starters.

Five minutes into match, Valley struck a telling blow when they went ahead through Chevone Armstrong who drilled the ball home from ten yards after receiving a short pass from Andre Philpott on the left.

Before Paget had time to rebound they found themselves trailing by two, Kevin McNeil's deceptive shot curling in at the back post past a stunned Smith seven minutes later.

However, Lions regrouped and drew level with two goals in a nine-minute span.

First, an unmarked David Hunt hammered the ball into the roof of the net after he was allowed to roam freely in the area. Valley defender Shaun Smith then watched in anguish as his intended clearance found the back of his own net.

Both teams had further chances to score, particularly Paget's David Hunt who blew a number of opportunities from close range.

Hunt was substituted in the 77th minute shortly after he had received a yellow card for dissent. Upset at that decision, the player took off his jersey and threw it to the ground, letting team officials know exactly how he felt about being taken off.

But things got worse for Paget as Simmons capitalised in the dying stages of the match to secure a surprise victory.

Tuff Dogs 3 MR Onions 1

Jeff Franklin scored either side of the interval to give Tuff Dogs a hard-fought win over fellow Commercial A Division rivals MR Onions at Police Field.

Franklin struck in the 28th and 64th minutes and just missed grabbing a hat-trick in the 78th minute when his lob over deputising Onions' ‘keeper Chris Helison trickled inches wide of the post.

Quinton Burgess netted Tuff Dogs' other goal in the 67th minute after getting two bites - or rather two headers - of the cherry.

Onions' captain Chris Fleming scored his team's consolation goal late in the first half.

Tuff Dogs seized the early initiative by taking control of the middle of the park and it wasn't long before gaping holes began to appear in a porous Onions' defence.

Given their early dominance, it wasn't surprising to see Tuff Dogs forge ahead when Franklin made Helison pay dearly for standing off his line with a delicate chip from an acute angle just inside the right side of the 18 yard box.

But for all their hard work, Tuff Dogs had nothing to show for their efforts at half-time as Fleming drew the teams level with a powerful header at the back post from a Rob Horne corner.

Inspired, Onions then created several more chances to take the lead in the initial stages of the second half, only to be denied by some poor finishing.

Franklin restored his team's lead when he redirected Nathan Browne's cross from the right past Helison.

With all of the momentum now swinging heavily in Dogs' favour, Burgess pounced midway through the second-half to put the match well beyond Onions' reach.

Referee Joe Pimental had a busy afternoon in the middle, reaching into his pocket on three occasions to dish out yellow cards to Onions' Fleming and Horne and Tuff Dogs' Danny Faria.

Key West 3 Ireland Rangers 3

A clinical hat-trick by Key West's Sergio Griffin still wasn't sufficient to prevent a stalemate with Clyde Best's Ireland Rangers at St.John's Field yesterday - a well taken penalty in the dying minutes of the game securing a draw for the West End side.

On a poor surface, Rangers started the better of the two teams before committing a number of costly errors.

Perhaps guilty of being over elaborate in their build-up play, with their attempts at a slick passing game simply not conducive to the uneven pitch, Rangers frequently gave the ball away deep in their own half and had the inadequacies of their ponderous back four ruthlessly exposed by the pacy Griffin.

Running onto a clever through ball between the static Rangers centre halves in the 32nd minute, the diminutive Key West striker calmly placed a left foot shot beyond the despairing dive of Ricky Tucker to put his side into the lead.

He added a second only two minutes later as the Rangers defence was again caught napping, allowing Griffin to loft a high bouncing ball unopposed over the advancing goalkeeper.

After some stern words from Best at half-time, during which he urged a more direct attacking style, Rangers became a more potent threat, particularly with the introduction of the impressive youngster Trevor Corday.

The route one approach worked almost immediately for Rangers with Jonathan Bean racing on to a long ball into the box and finishing well with the outside of his right foot.

The Rangers striker went on The Rangers striker was on hand to level the scores on 65 minutes with a simple sidefoot from six yards, but only after his team-mate Lloyd Telford had missed a penalty a few minutes earlier after Corday had been brought down just inside the box.

With Rangers pushing for a winner, however, their back four was once again caught square and allowed Griffin to advance one on one with the goalkeeper. The hat-trick never looked in doubt.

Controversy reared its ugly head in the game's latter stages when two legitimate penalty claims by Key West were turned down by referee Leroy Wilson, only for the official to point to the spot at the other end in the 86th minute. Rangers made no mistake this time, with Clifton Anderson firing the ball into the top corner to level the match at the death.

Although extra-time promised further excitement, little meaningful impression was made on either goal as the players tired.

Bermuda Football Association said last night that in the absence of any functioning floodlights, a decision on when the replay would take place would be made later in the week.