SIMON TOSTEVIN came off the bench to grab a late winner and send North into the Rawlinson Cup semi-finals last night at the Track.

It was hard on Sylvans, who did not deserve to lose, but everyone in the ground was breathing a sigh of relief that extra time had been averted with less than three minutes to spare.

The introduction of island striker Tostevin and livewire Jonny Veron with a quarter of the game remaining gave North a cutting edge they had previous lacked against the westerners, who gave as good as they got, although, in typical early season fashion, neither side produced much quality.

It was Clive Bateman’s team, with their vastly experienced spine of Martin Gauvain, Lee Renouf and Tom Duff to complement the youngsters, who created the first opportunities of note with Jamie Le Cheminant clipping the crossbar direct from a corner and Wayne Bishop having a good appeal for a penalty turned down.

But it was North who should have gone into the interval ahead with Jon Loaring missing two golden chances within the space of two minutes at the end of the period.

In the second half, Bishop’s persistence almost paid off when he charged down William Woodford’s attempted clearance, but when the striker headed the ball towards goal, the spin on it held it up long enough for the keeper to retreat and claw it away.

Eventually, with 88 minutes on the clock, the deadlock was broken – just about.

After Matt Loaring had worked the opening, Tostevin’s shot crept under Ash Williams and trickled over the line to ensure another fixture for North.Rawlinson Cup first round: Island striker comes off the bench to score North’s late winner