North Village are 90 minutes away from winning the Dudley Eve Trophy after this solid display at Bernard Park yesterday gave them a two-goal cushion at the half-way stage of the final.

The Red Devils spirit and organisation were just too much for Dandy Town, who go into tomorrow's second leg at St. David's with a mountain to climb.

Despite having had less than 48 hours to recover from their 3-0 semi-final victory over Wolves, Village showed no signs of fatigue.

And 34-year-old coach Kenny Thompson, the two-goal semi-final hero, only drafted in to bolster a depleted squad, stamped his class on this contest too.

Thompson created the second goal, made a string of other chances for his team-mates and had the stamina to be the liveliest player on the field in the closing minutes.

After a tentative opening 25 minutes, the game burst into life with an outrageous attempt on goal by Kevin Jennings. The Village midfielder spotted Town goalkeeper Jason Smith a few paces off his goal-line and tried his luck with a lob from 40 yards out, which had Smith back-pedalling frantically as the ball landed on the roof of the net.

Two minutes later Kevin Jennings was causing Town trouble again, when his pass sent Neil Robinson clear, but Jason Smith easily gathered his low shot.

Town were enjoying most of the possession without looking dangerous, but they almost took the lead on the half-hour when Lionel Furbert's fierce 20-yarder flew just over the bar.

Village broke the deadlock after 32 minutes when Elliott Jennings slid the ball behind the Town defence and Kevin Jennings shook off the challenge of Wylie Rudo, ran nearly half the length of the field and held his nerve to finish emphatically, smashing the ball low into the net.

As half-time approached, Town stepped up the pressure and twice Darron Simons was unlucky not to level the scores.

First, the striker tried a snap-shot from just outside the penalty area, a left-foot volley which flashed a whisker wide of the right-hand post with Village keeper Dwayne Adams beaten.

Four minutes before the interval, he missed a much better opportunity, prodding his shot over the bar from just six yards after substitute Troy Lewis had crossed low from the right.

In the second half, Village seemed content to sit back, soak up whatever Town could throw at them and attack on the break. And the tactic worked to perfection.

Town started the half brightly and in the 52nd minute Reggie Tucker engineered a good opportunity for Heys Wolfe who shot too high. A few minutes later Dano Outerbridge saw his shot blocked, but apart from a few high crosses, little else threatened Adams' goal.

Village almost doubled their lead when Thompson led a breakaway and his perfect ball from the right wing found Elliott Jennings, who mis-hit his shot.

In the last 20 minutes, the Red Devils dug deep into their energy reserves and created enough chances to have made the second leg a formality.

In the 72nd minute, full-back Michael Hansey crossed for Elliott Jennings to send a stooping header just over the bar, but that near miss was forgotten when Village grabbed their second goal 60 seconds later.

Like the first goal, it was made by a pass from Elliott Jennings into space behind the Town defence. This time, Thompson was the recipient and he raced down the right and calmly rolled the ball square to substitute Jamal Smith, who steered his shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

Thompson rushed to the Village bench to hug his coaching colleagues and then proceeded to prise open the Town defence again. Two of his crosses from the right nearly brought goals, the first one was scrambled away and the second cleared the head of Kaiwon Smith by inches.

In injury-time, Thompson had a go himself with a thumping 25-yarder which brought the big holiday crowd to their feet and produced a fine diving save from Jason Smith, to leave Town with just a glimmer of hope for the second leg.

Town: J.Smith, W.Rudo, D.Outerbridge, L.Furbert, H.Wolfe, C.Smith (K.Martin 57 mins), D.Binns (T.Lewis 37 mins), D.Simons, D.Ming, R.Tucker.

Village: D.Adams, M.Hansey, R.Spence, K.Binns, J.Thomas, N.Robinson, K.Jennings, J.Boyles (K.Simpson 88 mins), E.Jennings (K.Dill 82 mins), K.Thompson, D.Brangman (J.Smith 65 mins).

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.

Men of the match: Dano Outerbridge (Town); Kenny Thompson (Village).

A vacation in Florida kept Dandy Town head coach Mark Trott away from yesterday's first leg final.

And while he will be back for tomorrow's second leg match in St. David's, Trott has no plans to interfere with team selection, leaving matters in the hands of assistant coach Scott Morton and Director of Coaching Wayne Baxter.

Trott left the Island for a family holiday on December 19 and prior to yesterday's 2-0 defeat by Village, Town had beaten champions Vasco 1-0 and Wolves 3-2 to earn a place in the final.

"I'll be back for the second leg but I only intend to be something of a figure head on the bench,'' said Trott during a telephone call to The Royal Gazette .

"I think it's important for the current staff to look at it as their final. I will be only happy to give my input whenever it's needed. They will make the decisions for that particular game.

"It has been proven that the team are in good hands. I am particularly pleased for Scott because I feel that he has a bright future as a coach and I think he will eventually take over as the head coach and do a fine job.''