Dandy Town came from behind in a pulsating cup tie at Southampton Oval to make it through to the final of the Dudley Eve Trophy.

A large Boxing Day crowd were treated to a thrilling finale of no-holds-barred attacking soccer which included three goals in a five-minute spell.

Wolves looked to be on their way to the final when two-goal hero Khari Sharrieff gave them a 2-1 lead with a stunning individual goal in the 68th minute.

But Town showed the resilience to turn the game on its head, equalising through their own double scorer Darron Simons before Reggie Tucker forced in the winner 17 minutes from the end.

Either side could have won the incident-packed tie, which started as a cagey affair and ended with caution thrown to the wind.

Town's Wolde Place was the first man to find the net in the 11th minute, but his side-footed finish was ruled out for a marginal offside.

Place's effort sparked a spell of intense pressure from Town, which saw Simons thwarted by a brave dive at his feet by Wolves goalkeeper Hewvonnie Brown and then Taurianno Trott clear off the line from an in-swinging corner which had evaded everyone else in a crowded penalty area.

Wolves' first opportunity came after Ellington Weldon had bustled his way into the penalty area and squared the ball to the unmarked Nirobi Webb, who scuffed his shot from 15 yards out.

But it was Town who snatched the lead in the 25th minute, when good work by the tenacious Reggie Tucker caused confusion in the Wolves penalty area, making room for Simons to score with a deflected shot from 12 yards.

Seven minutes later, the huge figure of Wolves striker Sharrieff made the first of many telling contributions to cancel out Town's lead. Sharrieff sliced open the Town defence with a neat pass through to Nathan Webb, whose shot was blocked by goalkeeper Jason Smith, but the rebound fell to Sharrieff, who rolled the ball into the empty net.

Wolves grabbed the initiative in the run-up to half-time and thought they had taken the lead in a bizarre, 38th minute incident.

Nathan Webb appeared to miscue his left-wing cross, which looped over Smith's fingertips and ended up in the back of the net. As the Wolves players celebrated, Smith protested furiously and referee Calvin Simons consulted with one of his assistants before awarding a goal-kick to Town.

The ball had dipped just over the crossbar, but slipped through a hole in the roof of the net. The game was held up for three minutes while match officials patched up the hole.

In first-half injury-time Town missed a chance to regain the lead when Tucker's clever diagonal ball played in Kris Martin, but his half-volley flashed wide of the post.

Town replaced Martin with Damon Ming at the interval and the substitute's pace down the right wing had an instant impact on the game when his far-post cross found Place, who headed just over the bar.

Another aerial attack from Town came even closer when Tucker turned in a tight space to cross for Simons who headed straight at Brown from eight yards.

On the hour, Ming was cautioned for a sharp challenge on Wolves midfielder Anthony Thomas on the half-way line. Thomas was stretchered off but returned to the fray after five minutes of treatment.

Wolves took the lead half way through the second half with a moment of magic from the tireless Sharrieff. Nothing looked on when he controlled a throw-in near the right-hand touchline, but he turned and lobbed the ball deftly over defender Pernell Douglas, ran onto it himself and hammered a ferocious shot into the net off Smith's body.

Wolves fans were dreaming of their first Dudley Eve final appearance, but not for long, as Town stole back in front with two goals in the space of a minute.

First Simons made it 2-2 in the 72nd minute, rising unchallenged to power home a fine downward header from a pinpoint cross by Jahmiko Marshall. And then substitute Carlos Smith's low corner to the near post fell kindly for Tucker, who fired into the left-hand corner of the net from close range.

Wolves best chance to force the game to penalties came 12 minutes from time when Douglas and Smith got themselves into a tangle and the ball fell momentarily loose to Sharrieff, but Smith reacted quickest to snatch the ball off his toe.

But Town created good late chances too, notably McLee Smith's fierce drive which was just too high.

Both teams received a deserved, rousing ovation at the final whistle to cap a fiercely competitive clash, played in the right spirit throughout.

Town: J.Smith, L.Furbert, D.Outerbridge, P.Douglas, J.Marshall, H.Wolfe (M.Smith 74 mins), D.Binns, W.Place (C.Smith 63 mins), K.Martin (D.Ming 45 mins), R.Tucker, D.Simons.

Wolves: H.Brown, T.Trott, J.Rego, L.Hypolite, A.Thomas, P.Sampson, E.Weldon, T.Davis, Na.Webb (V.Minors 83 mins), K.Sharrieff, Ni.Webb (J.Peniston 57 mins).

Referee: Calvin Simons.

Men of the match: Reggie Tucker (Town); Khari Sharrieff (Wolves).

Photos by Ras Mykkal CLINCHER! -- Dandy Town's Reggie Tucker (17) slams home from close range to earn his side a 3-2 victory over Wolves in Saturday's Dudley Eve clash at Southampton Oval.