Southampton 0 North Village 2

Second-half tallies from Ian Simmons and Jaizel Smith-DeShields powered North Village to an impressive shutout win over Premier Division rivals Southampton Rangers at Southampton Oval yesterday.

Simmons opened the scoring for the league champions around the hour mark before Smith-DeShields pounced late with his third goal in as many outings to put the game beyond Rangers’ reach.

Village were unfortunate to not have come away with a wider margin of victory, as they were twice denied by the woodwork and had a goal waved off by an assistant referee’s flag.

Tahj Bell, the Village goalkeeper and captain, had a quiet outing between the posts and was not required to make a single save.

“It’s always difficult to come here, Rangers are a quality team,” Kenny Thompson, the Village coach, said.

“We tried as best as possible not to give Rangers momentum and any period they had momentum we had to be prepared to suck it up, deal with it and ease our way back forward a little. Today we found the right balance in defending well as a team and taking our chances in attack.”

Village had the first real chance of the match against the run of play, with Simmons heading Quintonio Lema’s cross wide after a fluent build-up down the right side also involving Smith-DeShields.

Rangers responded at the other end with McQuinn Burch, the captain, heading Dion Stovell’s free kick against a post and then Jarizhino Bassett heading Tre Manders’s cross wide.

Stovell also had inviting cross go untouched across the goalmouth, while Quadir Maynard failed to capitalise after the former’s precision cross picked him out inside the box with a clear view of goal.

These squandered opportunities ultimately came back to haunt Rangers, as a well-organised and disciplined Village seized control and took their chances to secure the points.

The visiting side gained the upper hand after Rangers faded towards the end of the opening stanza and caused problems with their width and superior movement.

Demetre Daniels, the Village forward, had an angled shot from outside of the area tipped over by Shaquille Bean, the Rangers goalkeeper, and another from 25 yards roll just wide.

The in-form Smith-DeShields also went close after shrugging off his marker in the box only to see his low, curling effort strike a post to leave the teams deadlocked at the break.

Village continued to create chances in the second period and eventually made the breakthrough on a counter-attack.

Daniels played the ball into open space down the left side for Simmons to run on to and slot under the advancing Bean. Smith-DeShields could have easily got the final touch before the ball crossed the line, but unselfishly left it alone.

Rai Simons came off the bench for Village and made an immediate impact to provide a cross for Smith-DeShields to sweep home. However, Village’s joy was short-lived as the goal was flagged offside.

At this stage of the game, it was virtually one-way traffic, with Village threatening to blow their hosts off the pitch. Village went close again when Tahmi Williams smashed a shot from inside the area against a post.

Rangers would not be as fortunate moments later, though, as Smith-DeShields planted a shot into the far top corner after being afforded plenty of time and space in the box to pick his spot.

Village, finishing strong, threatened again in the closing stages, with Jonathan Briers heading Daniels’s corner wide before the latter had a close-range effort saved by Bean.

“My hat goes off to Village,” Jomar Wilkinson, the Rangers coach, said. “They played a very disciplined game, especially on the defensive end.

“One or two lapses defensively cost us today. It wasn’t our best day, but we have to push on and learn lessons from this and grow as a team.”

SCORERS

North Village: Simmons 58, Smith-DeShields 74

TEAMS

Southampton (3-5-2): S Bean — M Nisbett-Tankard, M Burch, R Sampson — T Manders, D Brangman, J Bassett (sub: V Perinchief, 79min), T Ming (sub: K Wilson, 73), D Ming (sub: C Henry, 67) — Q Maynard, D Stovell. Substitutes not used: K Harrison, J Hill, R Wright, S Perinchief. Booked: T Ming, D Ming, V Perinchief.

North Village (4-2-3-1): T Bell — N Araujo (sub: R Simons, 56), T Fray, Z Robinson, K Knights — J Briers, Q Lema — T Williams (sub: J Lee, 76), I Simmons, D Daniels (sub: R Rochester, 90) — J Smith-DeShields. Substitutes not used: A Darrell, S Jennings, R Murphy.

Referee: G Swainson.