Devonshire Cougars 1 PHC 5

PHC Zebras, on the strength of a hat-trick by Raynel Lightbourne, completed an improbable turnaround at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday to reach a record ninth Dudley Eve Trophy final.

Only Somerset Trojans, who have contested eight finals, come close to rivalling PHC on this front, but quite unlike their landlords, the Zebras have a knack for clearing the final hurdle.

After surviving a scare from Raymond Beach in the opening minute, PHC hit Cougars early and often to build a 3-0 lead at the half from which they were rarely threatened. Two of Lightbourne's three came in that first period with Otis Steede providing the other against a Cougars side who were clearly not in the right frame for a match of this magnitude.

Lightbourne completed his hat-trick midway through the second-half and Cougars were held in check until substitute Wali Salaam scored with five minutes remaining. What little hope that goal brought Cougars fans was extinguished when Kevin Richards completed the scoring two minutes later.

"We approached this game with the right attitude and it showed on the pitch," PHC coach Mark Wade said amid joyous celebrations.

Cougars, on the other hand, paid a stiff price for poor preparation, according to player-coach Shawn Smith.

"Preparation was at an all-time low today with players showing up late," he said. "Sometimes it shows and it is not easy to raise above it. We had a couple of early goals scored against us and we never raised our game to compete."

Steede opened the scoring after five minutes when a deflected shot found its way to him. The midfielder, who was outstanding throughout, took one stride before firing past Ricardo Brangman from 15 yards.

The goal served to ignite PHC, with Cougars still struggling to find their feet. Chris Furbert hit the bar with a header on 10 minutes and Jahnai Raynor saw a twisting drive go just over.

Furbert went close again in the 19th minute before PHC made their good start pay when Lightbourne scored in the 21st minute after a goalkeeping error. It started from a free-kick by Steede from 35 yards out on the right. Brangman misjudged the flight of ball to the far post where Lightbourne advanced, having lost his marker, to score from two yards.

As a riposte, Cougars attempted to meet the challenge with Beach working feverishly and Heys Wolffe digging into his bag of tricks. But they lacked the cutting edge when in dangerous positions and PHC hit them on the counter-attack to score a third after 34 minutes, Lightbourne beating an ill-conceived offside trap and calmly lobbing Brangman.

Lightbourne was through again five minutes later, but this time Brangman had an answer to his low, right-foot shot. Then, a minute into first-half stoppage time, Cougars' form was summed up when Mark Smith, their best player over the first half of the season, missed an absolute sitter after a Beach cross exposed the PHC defence for the first time.

Wolffe worked his socks off in the second-half, starting with a 30-yard free-kick in the 54th minute that hit the inside of Quincy Hunt's right upright before bouncing to safety.

Cougars replaced the ineffective Smith with Salaam soon after but before he had settled, the Devonshire side should have been four down. In similar position to where Smith swung and missed, Stephen Astwood repeated the feat on the end of a Richards cross.

Lightbourne's first touch let him down after a fortuitous Jahnai Raynor pass split the Cougars defence but the forward, in constant pain after a clash with Galvin Butterfield cost him a tooth early in the second-half, was coolness personified in the 66th minute.

With the right side of the Cougars defence exposed yet again - midfielder Goddard was there in the absence of the suspended Cory Smith and injured Devon Brangman - Lightbourne was played through and had time to assess his many options before beating Brangman to the near post with thunderous left-foot shot.

"After two goals I really wanted the hat-trick," Lightbourne said. "When I had that bad miss I figured I had to make up for it. The third goal was good. I look for them but they rarely come. When they come I try my best to take them."

The prospects of a rout were there and Cougars knew it as three players were cautioned within minutes with frustration in no short supply. Beach, one of those who was losing his cool, was instrumental in their lone goal after seizing on a Wolffe cross and waiting for the Salaam run from midfield.

Richards put a glossy finish to the final scoreline when he controlled a Mallory cross and turned the ball past the advancing Brangman.

The first leg of the final will be played at Southampton Oval on Sunday with Wade mindful that PHC learn the lessons from a 4-1 defeat to Wolves in the first round.

"We'll sit down and make sure we go over what those lessons are and we'll deal with it on the day," he said.

Cougars, meanwhile, are off to lick their wounds with Smith hopeful his players can recover to make a run at the league championship.

"We're young and energetic, so I don't see this being a setback for us," he said. "The players have to look past the result, look at themselves and what they contributed to the game and what they're bringing to the team. The sooner they do that, the better they can bring back the cohesiveness and enjoyment that we've had thus far."

Devonshire Cougars: R.Brangman; M.Dill, S.Smith, G.Butterfield, K.Goddard; K.Steede, M.Smith (W.Salaam, 55 mins), C.Darrell (J.DeShields, 64 mins); H.Wolffe, R.Beach, J.Smith (A.Wolffe, 72 mins).

Substitutes not used: K.Smith, E.Richardson. Booked: A.Wolffe, G.Butterfield, R.Beach.

PHC: Q.Hunt; C.Dowling, S.Lewis, M.Williams (D.Wilson, 73 mins), J.Sealy; J.Raynor, C.Furbert, O.Steede, S.Astwood (J.Mallory, 78 mins); R.Lightbourne (D.Russell, 70 mins), K.Richards.

Substitutes not used: D.Joell, D.Outerbridge.

Men of the match: H.Wolffe (Cougars); R.Lightbourne (PHC).

Referee: A.Mouchette.