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Big Cats give Zebras a mauling

Devonshire Cougars defender Kijuan Franks (left) beats PHC striker Quinton Burgess to the ball at Lords in yesterday's FA Cup semi-final.

Tumani Steede scored twice, Ricardo Brangman saved a penalty, and Devonshire Cougars strolled into their second –successive FA Cup final with a comfortable victory over PHC at Lords yesterday.The defending champions dominated their semi-final clash against a PHC side who had been so badly hit by injuries and suspensions that they were forced to play Cecoy Robinson at right back.Without Corey Dowling and Robert Richardson available, and a forward line that required more from Quinton Burgess than manager Kyle Lightbourne might otherwise have liked, PHC were a shadow of their former selves.In that context it was important for players such as Chris Furbert and Antwan Russell to stamp their authority on the game, but Furbert’s usual composure on the ball deserted him and more often than not Russell found himself isolated in a team that lacked creativity.Only briefly, after the late introduction of Lloyd Holder, did Lightbourne’s side look like making a game of it.However, Blenn Bean missed from the penalty spot when they were only 1-0 down and the closest they came after that was when Holder struck the post with a header.Cougars on the other hand attacked with their usual zeal and probably should have won by a far greater margin. That they didn’t was entirely down to PHC goalkeeper Raymond Glasford who came to the rescue of his shaky defence on more than one –occasion.Tumani Steede opened the scoring with little more than five minutes gone when he was given the freedom of the penalty area and crashed a shot past Glasford.It should have been two moments later when Kwame Steede waltzed through a non-existent PHC defence. However with only Glasford to beat he hit his attempted chip too long and gave PHC a let-off.Domico Coddington was the next Cougars player to be denied, this time by a flying save from Glasford after he had cut inside Robinson, and from the resulting corner Kijuan Franks powered a header just over.Russell, meanwhile, cut an increasingly frustrated figure up front for PHC. The striker spent most of the first half with his back to goal while Burgess’ first touch let him down more often than not.Having had nothing to do for nearly an hour, the first save Ricardo Brangman had to make was from a penalty. Shortly after the re-start, Franks upended Aquino Grant on the edge of the area handing PHC a way back into a game that was passing them by.Bean’s penalty, however, couldn’t have been any worse if he’d tried to back heel it, and the soft shot was at a nice height for Brangman who guessed left, and clawed the ball away.The miss at least fired PHC into action, and they had the better of the exchanges for the next 20 minutes. Holder came on and tested Brangman with a snap shot and then crashed a header from a corner against the foot of the post before Russell got in on the act with a couple of free kicks that Brangman did well to save.A goal then might have changed things but, in reality, Cougars were always going to score again and an equaliser would merely have delayed the inevitable.Still, there was an element of fortune about Kwame Steede’s goal which he got when he miscued a shot into the ground and saw it bounce over Glasford and in. The second goal killed the game and the third less than five minutes from time when Tumani Steede got the faintest of touches to a beautiful Coddington pass, only served to underline Cougars’ superiority.Devonshire Cougars: R Brangman, J Butterfield, K-V Tucker, K Franks, D Cox, Moses Steede, K Steede, Z White (M Smith, 78), C Caisey, T Steede (L Simons, 88), D Coddington. Subs not used: J Smith, D Daniels, Mark Steede, K Trott. Booked Franks, K Steede.PHC: R Glasford, B Bean, O Shakir, M Lambe, Cecoy Robinson, Khamisi Lightbourne (Q Hunt, 80), C Furbert, Cofield Robinson (K Griffith, 72), A Grant, A Russell, Q Burgess (L Holder, 68). Subs not used: D Baxter, G Russell, S Philpott, D Johnson. Booked Cecoy Robinson, Bean, A Russell.Referee: R CannMan of the match: C Caisey