Devonshire Colts 0 North Village 2

North Village Rams are into the next round of the FA Cup after a comfortable 2-0 win over Premier Division rivals Devonshire Colts at Police Field yesterday.

A showcase of attacking brilliance and two clinical finishes from Village duo Jonté Smith and Jai Bean, who had interchanged the striker’s role throughout the game, were sufficient to see the Rams into the next round at the expense of the hosts.

The match started at a quick pace, with Village having two attempts in the opening eight minutes. Colts goalkeeper Jaden Mills-Furbert positioned himself well to cradle Tre Ming’s inswinging free kick that tried to sneak in at the near post, and then pulled in Bean’s weak shot from close range.

At the other end, Village goalkeeper and captain Detre Bell pulled in Sage Blair-Paynter’s glancing header that was dipping under the crossbar as the game swung from end to end.

Village started to dominate possession and forced Mills-Furbert to pull off a spectacular save when he stretched full length to pull in Smith’s dipping header to keep the scores level at the half.

Ming missed a sitter within the opening minute after the restart when he slammed a perfect cross over the top with the goal at his mercy.

A few minutes later, Village opened the scoring with a bit of brilliance from Bean. After snaking his way down the right flank, leaving three defenders in his wake, Bean’s low cross was flicked into the path of Smith, who finished with a firm shot that rattled the underside of the crossbar before settling in the net.

Blair-Paynter had Colts’ best chance of the half and should have equalised within minutes but headed over the top when well positioned.

Village doubled their lead late in the match, with goalscorer Smith the creator. After going on a solo run on the touchline, including nutmegging his defender, Smith cut back for Bean to score easily with a tap-in beyond the stranded Colts custodian to close out the scoring and send Village into the next round.

SCORERS

North Village: Smith 52, Bean 89

TEAMS

Devonshire Colts (4-2-3-1): J Mills-Furbert 6 — J Saunders 6, J Dublin 6, D Davis 5, J Paynter 6 — Moziah Selassie 6 (sub: Malahku Selassie, 72), A Van Duyne 5 (sub: K Burch, 72) — S Tatem 6 (sub: J Burgess, 57 5), T Eve 6, B O’Connor 6 — S Blair-Paynter 6 (sub: J Salaam, 57 5). Substitutes not used: C Berkeley, I Naylor, A Smith, E Weldon.

North Village (4-2-3-1): D Bell 6 — K Harrison 6, T Fray 6, J Basden 5, L Evans. 6 — T Ming 6 (sub: I Simmons, 83), S Spence — L Steede 5 (sub: K Knights, 83) J Chapman 5 (sub: J Harvey, 69 6), J Smith 8 (sub: Jabari Hayward, 89) — J Bean 8 (sub: Jabri Hayward 89). Substitutes not used: Z Jennings. Booked: Simmons.

Referee: A Francis.