Football purists got what they wanted yesterday when North Village, the favourites, and Dandy Town were kept apart in the FA Cup semi-final draw, announced at Bermuda Football Association headquarters.

Town will contest the first semi-final against St. George's Colts, the last-placed Premier Division team, on February 10 at Bernard Park, while North Village will take on Somerset Eagles, the sensation of the competition to date, on March 10.

That match, quite significantly, will be staged at Police Field, the first time that the name Police has been used at this juncture of the FA Cup since the 1977-78 season when Brian Adams scored goals for fun in leading the "Boys in Blue" to the last four, where they were beaten 2-0 by North Village in the Red Devils' Triple Crown season.

Craig Tyrrell, the acting Competitions Committee chairman, said that Police Recreation Club had satisfied the BFA that it was capable of staging a match of such magnitude, despite the fact that the venue had failed consistently to attract bumper crowds whenever Police hosted Central Counties Cup cricket matches.

"What we're trying to do is spread around big matches to different fields," Tyrrell said. "Police had expressed an interest in doing a game and they've told us that certain things will be in place in regards to seating and security."

No matter what, the fixture will witness two firsts, as Eagles, who saw off Somerset Trojans and Wolves, the Dudley Eve Trophy champions, in the previous two rounds, will contest their first match at this stage of the competition.

From vastly different footballing backgrounds, there is a common denominator in the match-up - Kenny Thompson, the North Village technical director, whose grounding in football began in the Somerset Bridge community.

"I watched them play against Colts the day when they destroyed them," Shane Proctor, the Eagles assistant coach, said after the draw. "I know Village because Kenny's been around Village, Kenny's been around us.

"Village is a team we played during the pre-season once or twice. I've had a look at them and their programme is up to the standard where they can play some pretty good football."

Proctor added that Eagles' experience gained in dealing with adversity - they trailed 3-0 against Trojans before winning 4-3 after extra time and twice trailed Wolves before winning 3-2 - should hold them in good stead in their third successive FA Cup match as underdogs.

"Determination is keeping us in the game," he said. "The guys are putting the effort in and it's just a matter of time before they get the reward. I think they can get the job done because they have the quality."

Village will likely have to do without the services of Clay Smith, who turned in his most impressive performance for them in Sunday's quarter-final defeat of Devonshire Colts, as he is expected to be in the Bermuda cricket team that will contest the Americas Cup in Argentina from March 9 to 16.

"He is definitely going to be a miss to us because of the way that we like to play," Scott Morton, the Village coach, said. "Clay is one of the better players in the Island as far as holding the ball up in our build-up, so his presence is a miss in all areas.

"He's such an intelligent player, he may not be the fittest player, but his intelligence makes up for everything else. We will just have to work on that adjustment in the week to accommodate the new person in the team."

That new person could very well be Ralph Bean, who returned from school overseas to ignite the Village resurgence that has seen them move to within a point of the Premier Division lead.

Representatives from Dandy Town could hardly contain their joy at being drawn against St. George's. "We're quite happy with the draw," Cecil Wilkinson, the club president, said in an obvious understatement.

Dwayne Talbot, the manager, added: "The guys are senior players and their pride comes into play. They will look to play to their full potential. St. George's have the pride of their hometown and will look to compete. They have players who have been on the national squad and have played at the top level. This will be no walk in the park. "

Town ended a desperate start to the season with a 2-0 win away to St. George's in their only previous meeting. But the two are scheduled to hook up again in the league on Friday week when the prognosticators may get a clearer view of how the sides match up.

Speaking with the inferiority complex commonly associated with St. George's sports teams, Neil Paynter, the player-coach, embraces the role as underdogs yet again.

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