Hamilton Parish 3 St George’s Colts 5 (aet; 3-3 at 90min)

Jubilant St George’s Colts players, coaches and supporters burst into wild scenes of celebration after prevailing in an epic eight-goal thriller against Hamilton Parish to advance to the club’s first FA Cup Final.

Deadlocked at 3-3 with three minutes of extra time remaining, a gripping contest worth every penny of the admission fee seemed destined for a penalty shoot-out.

However, St George’s had other thoughts in mind and struck twice in two minutes through substitute Jonté Smith’s penalty and fellow forward Blaiz Hall’s calm finish to finally put the game beyond Parish.

“These guys deserved it and there are a lot of emotions out there,” said an elated St George’s coach Jarreau Hayward as he struggled to hold back tears of joy.

“These guys ran through a brick wall today to get us across the line so I am really, really proud of the team.

“We never gave up and it’s been a trying season given our injuries. We’ve had a few battles internally but we have overcome it and we have a few more steps to go before the end of the season so we are going to keep our focus.

“We are going to celebrate tonight but the recovery starts tomorrow morning.”

Parish coach Sergio Goater felt his team were unfortunate given their hard work ethic and enormous character to equalise on three occasions before ultimately coming up short.

“It’s harsh and the football gods are against us because in the balance of the game we definitely played good football,” he said.

“But a few mistakes hurt us early so we were always fighting from behind. It’s just not for us.”

After weathering some early pressure, St George’s centre back Tyrell Burgess curled a 25-yard free kick past Parish goalkeeper, his cousin Nigel Burgess, to give his team the lead.

Parish battled on and were back on even terms when Justin Bell belted in Samario Valasse-Paul’s cross with a thunderous scissor-kick at the back post. However, Parish’s joy was shortlived as Jibri Salaam slotted home Paul Simons’s short pass in the box to restore St George’s lead going onto the interval.

Parish nearly conceded an own goal early in the second half but after settling down they drew level again when Walker got just enough boot on to Bell’s cross to beat St George’s goalkeeper Jahquil Hill at the near post.

Kashe Hall put St George’s back ahead when he pounced on a loose ball in the box and fired past Burgess to make it 3-2, but Parish again came storming back with Mauriq Hill heading in Bell’s free kick three minutes from the end to send the game to extra time.

Smith restored St George’s lead from 12 yards after being brought down in the area before Blaiz Hall pounced to see his team through to the final, where they face holders and 10-times champions North Village.

SCORERS

Hamilton Parish: Bell 38, Walker 63, Hill 87

St George’s Colts: Burgess 6, Salaam 39, K Hall 79, Smith 117 pen, B Hall 119

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-3-3): N Burgess 7 — J Bean 7, Q Outerbridge 7, M Turner 7, K Knights 7 — S Valasse-Paul 7 (sub: A Foy, 80min 6), M Hill 8, A Nelson 8 — J Bell 8, L Lewis 8, M Walker 8. Substitutes not used: R McKittrick, K Wade, S McKittrick, P Burgess, C Smith, J Stowe. Booked: Walker, Outerbridge, Foy.

St George's Colts (4-1-4-1): J Hill 7 — A Cannonier 7 (sub: D Bascome, 80 7), T Burgess 7, P Anderson 7, A Simons 7 — K Minors 7 (sub: J Smith, 78 7) — M Paynter 7 (sub: E Signor, 100 7), J Salaam 7, B Hall 8, K Hall 8 — P Simons 7. Substitutes not used: D Lodge, G Wade, R King, Booked: A Simons.

Referee: F Stasolla (Canada).