Player/coach Kyle Lightbourne rose majestically to head home a Kevin Lambe cross nine minutes from full time to give Zebras a first Martonmere Cup win in three years at BAA Field last night.

Coming off the bench as a 59th minute replacement for the injured Dennis Russell, Lightbourne turned back the hands of time and reproduced the form that kept him on the payroll at some of the biggest clubs in the UK during the 1990s.

Timing his run to perfection, the former Coventry City striker soared high above the Reds defence to head Zebras to within striking distance of a place in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 2002-03.

?This is what I used to get paid to do in England,? said a modest Lightbourne, making his first top flight appearance locally since 1992.

?I always felt we could win this match if we capitalised on our chances. And it just so happened that I got half a chance and was able to execute.?

It was a killer blow that injected some spark into an otherwise drab affair between two of the Island?s most successful clubs, and inflicted Village?s second straight defeat at the same venue in 72 hours ? a loss that might have sounded alarm bells in the Reds camp.

Zebras? win, however, did not come without a cost, as midfielder Omar Shakir was sent off for a late tackle on Village playmaker Jemeiko Jennings just seconds before Lightbourne struck.

Village?s inability to settle into any sort of rhythm played right into the hands of a physical Zebras team who matched their opponents in every department.

The first half saw both teams give little away in terms of chances and fans starved of any real excitement until the brink of half-time when Village?s Keishen Bean and Zebras? Shakir exchanged efforts at opposite ends.

Bean was first to threaten when he outpaced the Zebras defence but had a clever lob saved by ?keeper Raymon Glasford.

PHC then responded at the other end with Village ?keeper Jason Williams positioning himself well to save Shakir?s superb effort.

Village threatened to break the ice first again after the break, Williams placing himself in the right spot at the right time to prevent Devaughn DeGraff from scoring from close range in heavy traffic.

DeGraff?s miss ultimately proved to be the closest Village would come to scoring as national coach Lightbourne jumped off the bench to stampe his authority on the match.: J.Williams, M.Hansey, K.Dill, Ken.Jennings, N.Smith, J.Boyles, T.Jennings (Kai.Dill, 68 mins), J.Jennings, K.Bean, S.Hollis, D.DeGraff (J.Thomas, 77 mins).: R.Glasford, K.Richards, S.Smith, C.Dowling, M.Waldron, O.Shakir B.Bean (capt), K.Lambe, R.Lightbourne (J.Smith, 70 mins), J.Sealey, D.Russell (K.Lightbourne, 59 mins).: K.Dill (Village); K.Lambe (PHC).: O.Shakir.: J.Jennings (Village); C.Dowling (PHC).: Anthony Francis.

A double strike from forward Dion Stovell either side of half-time propelled Somerset Trojans to a hard-fought victory over Devonshire Cougars last night in the first round of the Martonmere Cup.

On a disappointingly poor pitch ? which was resurfaced only a couple of months ago at great expense but with no noticeable improvement ? Dennis Brown?s men took the lead after only ten minutes when the impressively alert Stovell pounced on a loose ball in the box to poke past advancing Cougars ?keeper Ron Burchall.

Cougars responded minutes later, however, when a delightful Shaki Minors cross was met 10 yards out by the deadly Raymond Beach, whose glancing header into the corner proved too good for Adrian Burrows in the Trojans goal.

A slew of fantastic chances fell to both teams as the half progressed, with Cougars hitting the post and the bar in the space of one electrifying attack towards the end of the first 45 minutes.

It was Trojans, though, who made the most of the chances they created, with Jelani Butterfield bundling the ball in from close range to give the boys from the West End a narrow lead going into the break.

And Trojans looked to be pulling away in the second half after a cracking Stovell volley from 18 yards took a slight deflection on its way into the net ? until Beach again notched his second on 72 minutes from a tap-in to set up what could have been a dramatic finish.

But Beach?s effort aside, Cougars failed to carve out that many clear-cut chances in the latter stages of the game, and a header from Trojans substitute Rohan Simons in the last minute put the result beyond doubt. : R.Burchall, D.Cox, O.Butterfield, J.DeShields, I.Mallory (A.Gibbons 54 mins), K.Bean (M.Steede 70 mins), J.Butterfield, K.Steede, D.Coddington, R.Beach, S.Minors: A.Burrows, R.Scott, S.Riley, M.Wade, M.Butterfield (R.Simons 75 mins), S.Simmons, J.Butterfield, J.Scott, S.Astwood, D.Stovell (D.Swan 64 mins), A.LambertJ.DeShields, M.Steede (Cougars) S.Riley (Trojans) D.Stovell (Somerset); R.Beach (CougarsG.O?Brien