A first-half equaliser by Keenan Burchall denied lowly Cougars any hopes of sneaking away from White Hill Field with maximum points in this Premier Division match-up with heavily favoured Colts.

In a game filled with action in the first half which drifted into dullness afterwards, Cougars held their own and never looked like a team scrambling near the bottom of the table.

One wonders what would have been the impact had Cougars' skipper Shawn Smith not missed a penalty after 10 minutes which was awarded when Colts' skipper Shannon Burgess was ruled to have fouled Heys Wolffe. Smith put his shot wide of the left post.

At the time of Smith's blunder Cougars were trailing 1-0 to Burchall's fourth-minute goal.

But Cougars fought right back and Jahkee Smith eventually put them level after 14 minutes, the goal coming after he out-paced two defenders and slotted the ball home from an angle on the left. Cougars surprisingly went 2-1 up after 29 minutes thanks to Smith again, the goal coming after hard-working midfielder Kori Goddard raced down the right flank and crossed for Smith to tap home from close range.

However Colts retaliated two minutes later with Quincy Aberdeen, impressive on the right flank all day, combining with Burchall who finished to make it 2-2.

But Cougars were denied from taking a deserved 3-2 at the half when Mark Smith's header from a cross by Wolffe was snatched by goalkeepr Cymande Davis as it was about to sail into goal under the bar after 33 minutes.

Play in the second half was mostly uninspiring with Colts holding a slight edge and coming close with chances by Aberdeen and substitute Lloyd Holder.

Dev. Colts: C.Davis; J.Belboda, S.Burgess, N.Samuels, K.Simpson; K.Burchall, D.Zuill, J.Belboda (V.Ball, 80 min); J.Samuels, A.Zuill (L.Holder, 72 min), Q.Aberdeen.

Dev. Cougars: R.Brangman; W.Mills (J.Smith, 42 min), S.Smith, P.Clarke, J.DeShields; W.Salaam, K.Steede, K.Goddard; M.Smith (D.Brangman, 77 min), J.Smith (S.Hewey, 80 min), H.Wolffe.

Referee: S.Crockwell.

Men of the match: Jermaine Belboda (Colts); Kori Goddard (Cougars).

Yellow card: J.DeShields (Cougars).