North Village 3 Devonshire Cougars 1

North Village are into the Friendship Trophy semi-finals after beating ten-man Devonshire Cougars in a physical quarter-final clash at Goose Gosling Field last night.

Troy Tucker earned Village the lead at the interval with a spectacular 45-yard strike that brought the crowd to their feet.

Cougars were reduced to ten men just past the hour mark when defender Makai Joell received a straight red card and Village capitalised moments later when striker Jaizel Smith-DeShields doubled their advantage.

Substitute Elisha Darrell pulled one back for Cougars to make things interesting before midfielder Jordan Outerbridge restored Village’s two-goal advantage to put the cup tie beyond their opponents’ reach.

Tucker, who rejoined Village from First Division Wolves in the last transfer window, was delighted to see his new club advance to the next round of the competition.

“I thought we played well and it feels good to go through to the next round,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“One game at a time, but our chances do look great after taking out a good Cougars side.”

Cougars went straight for the jugular from the opening kick-off and came close to breaking the deadlock when Village midfielder Casey Castle cleared Zari Simmons’s header from Domico Coddington’s corner off the line.

Village defender Jalen Harvey then timed his tackle in the area superbly to clear the ball away as Cougars striker Jazario Brimmer attempted to unleash a shot at goal.

Village eventually got a foothold in the match and took the lead slightly against the run of play courtesy of Tucker’s wonder strike, his first goal of the season in only his third appearance since rejoining Kenny Thompson’s team.

The 31-year-old dispossessed Cougars midfielder Demetre Daniels just inside his team’s own half and, after spotting goalkeeper Keitaro Darrell off his line, planted a shot into the top right-hand corner with the wind at his back.

“I pinched the ball off Demetre and then hit from 45 yards,” Tucker added. “I saw him off his line and thought I’d try it. It was a good goal, my first, to help the team to settle. It was one of my best goals, it’s definitely up there.”

The goal knocked Cougars off stride but after regaining their poise they went close to grabbing an equaliser when Coddington’s inviting cross just eluded the outstretched boot of Lejaun Simmons, who was standing right in front of goal.

That miss nearly came back to haunt Kwame Steede’s team as Harvey had a shot saved by a well-positioned Darrell from point-blank range right on the stroke of half-time.

Cougars suffered another setback not long after the restart when last man Joell received his marching orders for tripping Tucker just outside of the box as he attempted to run clear at goal and it did not take long for Village to cash in on their numerical advantage as Smith-DeShields nodded home Tre Ming’s corner to cushion his team’s lead.

By now Village were cruising but the game took an interesting twist when Cougars substitute Darrell controlled Coddington’s pass with his back to goal before turning his marker and firing a low shot past Village custodian Detre Bell from inside the box to set up an intriguing finish.

However, Outerbridge had other thoughts in mind as he latched on to Ming’s through pass and slotted into the far bottom corner from an angle to put paid to Cougars’s trophy hopes.

SCORERS

North Village: Tucker 34, Smith-DeShields 65, Outerbridge 75

Devonshire Cougars: E Darrell 73

TEAMS

North Village (3-5-2): D Bell 7 – J Harvey 7, T Wilson 7, K Knights 7 – J Outerbridge 7, C Castle 7 (sub: L Evans, 61min 6) T Tucker 7, A DeShields 7 (sub: K Harrison, 74 7), T Ming 7 – J Smith- DeDhields 7, L Steede- Jackson 7 (sub: D Wainwright, 74 7). Substitutes not used: P Smith, T Fray, T Bell. Booked: Harvey, Outerbridge.

Devonshire Cougars (3-5-2): K Darrell 6 – Z White 7, M Joell 7, T Tucker 6 – J Thomas 7, Z Simmons 7, D Daniels 6 (sub: J Fox, 66 6), L Simmons 6, S Burrows 7 (sub: Q Maynard, 79) – D Coddington 7, J Brimmer 6 (sub: E Darrell, 46 7). Substitutes not used: J Eve, C Brangman, S Jones, N Simmons. Sent off: Joell.

Referee: O Hamilton (Jamaica).