Captain Neil (Diamond) Robinson scored the first two goals and created the third as North Village came from behind to register their second straight league win yesterday at Bernard Park.

After being eliminated from the Martonmere Cup, the Red Devils are the only team in the First Division with maximum points from two outings.

Cougars made Village pay for a couple of glaring misses early in the game when Ryan Swan put them in front midway through the first half. But Cougars were not able to maintain their early charge and faded in the second half as Village cushioned their lead.

Cougars' frustrating afternoon was completed with Swan being ejected five minutes from the end for deliberately kicking Kevin Jennings after being beaten on the half-way line.

It was fouls which enabled Village to score their first two goals in the 29th and 41st minutes as Robinson, back at Village this season after a long stint with Boulevard, scored from a free kick and then a penalty.

Swan stunned the home team with the opening goal, a lead which would have been taken by Village but for two embarrassing misses by Kaiwan Dill and Kevin Jennings.

Robinson laid on Dill's chance in the 13th minute with a move down the left side which left Dill with the goal at his mercy. The youngster's left-footed shot missed the target from a good position inside the box.

Jennings' miss two minutes later was just as shocking. Dill supplied the cross from the right and when Robinson failed to connect in front of goal, the ball reached Jennings at the far post. His only explanation could be that he raced the shot instead of letting the ball drop more as the effort was put over the bar.

Swan almost made Village pay a minute later when his curling shot just missed the far post. Village, to their credit, did look more fluent with some neat passes, but it was Cougars who had the lead in the 25th minute. Delmair Trott swung the ball in from a corner on the right and Swan kept his composure to score at the far post after the ball landed at his feet.

Village took only four minutes to produce the equaliser, courtesy of a foul by Wali Salaam on Kaiwon Dill on the right corner of the penalty area which earned him a booking. The ball was touched short to Robinson who hammered in a left-foot shot that hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing and hitting the netting behind the bar.

Robinson scored again in the 41st minute from the penalty spot after Shawn Smith floored former Cougars player Sergio Goater with a waist-high challenge.

Cougars picked up their game for the first 20 minutes of the second half but the third Village goal eliminated their hopes of a share of the points.

Robinson started the move in the 68th minute which resulted in Dill passing to Kevin Jennings on the far flank and the winger scoring past Ricardo Brangman at the near post.

Frustration crept into Cougars' game after that as Wendell Swan and substitute Galvin Butterfield were booked to go with earlier cautions of Salaam and Trevor Smith. Peter Mahoney of Village was booked in the first half for fouling Philip Clarke.

North Village: S.Jennings; K.Simpson, J.Thomas, A.Simons, P.Mahoney, N.Robinson, S.Goater (D.Brangman 65 mins), J.Boyles, K.Dill (A.Davis 80 mins), E.Jennings (J.Jennings 67 mins), K.Jennings.

Cougars: R.Brangman; T.Smith, S.Smith, W.Swa n, D.Trott, G.Dyer, R.Swan, M.Dill, W.Salaam (J.Smith 69 mins), D.Bean (K.Saltus 62 mins), P.Clarke (G.Butterfield 56 mins).

Men of the match: Neil Robinson (Village); Delmair Trott (Cougars).

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.

LED BY EXAMPLE -- Neil (Diamond) Robinson, handed the captaincy in his first season back at North Village, led the way in their 3-1 win over neighbours Devonshire Cougars yesterday, scoring twice and setting up the third at Bernard Park.