PHC 1 North Village 2

Jonté Smith’s first-half brace of headers guided North Village to a third straight FA Cup final with a hard-fought victory over PHC at Devonshire Rec last night.

Five days after his solitary strike against Paget put Village four points ahead of PHC in Premier Division title race, the forward found the target in the twelfth and sixteenth minutes for Village to remain in the hunt for a domestic double. PHC captain Daren Usher scored his team’s only goal in the 31st minute.

Smith, who also scored a hat-trick for St George’s to beat Village 4-0 in the final last year, was elated to get a chance to lift the trophy for the second year running.

“It was everything I was hoping for tonight,’’ the league’s top scorer told The Royal Gazette.

“After the last game where I felt I could have been more clinical, I tried to be more focused and dangerous in the penalty box. I was glad that it came off for me tonight.

“I came to North Village to win more trophies. Now we have the opportunity to win, but we have to keep taking it one game at a time.

“We can’t get complacent, we can’t get ahead of ourselves and we need to use nights like this as momentum going into the next match. Every single one of us tonight gave everything and we were rewarded for that.”

Village interim head coach Calvin Dill Jr, also an FA Cup winner with St George’s last year, was delighted to guide the Rams to the final.

“It feels great to take my family team back to the final,’’ the coach said.

“It was a hard-fought match, but my team stayed in the battle and we ended up winning the war. I’ve told my players to stay humble because we haven't won anything yet. We have to continue putting in the hard work and we will reap the rewards.”

In an encounter pitting the most successful teams in the competition, with PHC having won the competition a record 11 times and Village on ten occasions, it was always going to be a close affair.

With PHC’s top striker Enrique Russell watching the match from the sidelines because of suspension after accumulating three yellow cards, Village seized the initiative.

London Steede-Jackson swung in the ball for Smith to rise high and get a clean contact with the ball. Two minutes later, the forward had a great chance to double Village’s advantage when a pass from Seke Spence put him through on goal, but an off-balance Smith was unable to trouble Quinaceo Hunt in the PHC goal.

Smith completed his brace with a flashing header from a pinpoint Kyler Knights cross to put Village in the driving seat.

Just when Dill’s side were looking to head into the break with a two-goal cushion, Detre Bell gifted PHC with a goal.

Diondre Dowling whipped in the ball from a long-range free kick, and Bell, in an attempt not to take the ball over the line, dropped it into the path of Usher, who made no mistake from close range.

Eight minutes before the break, Bell redeemed himself by pulling off a brilliant save to stop Keishon Bean’s effort.

Substitute DeAndre Smith-Lightbourne came to PHC’s rescue in the 61st minute when he cleared Spence’s header off the line to keep his side within touching distance.

In the 64th minute, Jayden Ebbin had a perfect opportunity to draw PHC level, but he directed his shot wide. Another chance fell for PHC in the 79th minute, with Haile Eve sending his header off the mark.

“PHC worked hard and challenged us, but we had grit and determination tonight along with the confidence to play our game,” Smith added. “I’d like to see us carry all of those characteristics with us for the rest of the season.”

SCORERS

PHC: Usher 31

North Village: Smith 12, 16

TEAMS

PHC (4-2-3-1): Q Hunt 6 – Y Burgess 5 (sub: D Smith-Lightbourne, 56 6), D Usher 6, D Dowling 6, K Abraham 6 – T Showers 6, N Griffith 6 – K Bean 6 (sub: X Smith, 84), H Eve 6, A Wade 6 (sub: J Ebbin, 56 5) – D Wainwright 6. Substitutes not used: J Belboda-Raveneau, R Simmons, J Symons, M Wilson. Booked: Burgess, Usher, Q Hunt (coach).

North Village (4-2-3-1): D Bell 6 – K Knights 6, R Sampson 6 (sub: T Harris, 84), T Fray 6, K Harrison 6 (sub: L Evans, 66 5) – T Ming 7, S Spence 6 – J Chapman 6 (sub: T Manders, 80), L Steede-Jackson 6 (sub: J Harvey, 66 5), J Bean 6 – J Smith 8. Substitutes not used: Z Jennings, I Simmons, J Hayward. Booked: Knights.

Referee: A Majors.