S.Rangers 1 Boulevard 2 Good things came in threes at the Southampton Oval on a miserably cold and wet afternoon in this middle-of-the-table clash: three of the best goals scored in the league all season were accompanied by three similarly inspired efforts rattling the woodwork.

But bad things also came in threes. Rangers had three men sent off and three other players were booked.

In the first half-hour, Boulevard's Dwight Warren carved out three outstanding chances. None went in. He kept trying all afternoon, to his credit, but it just was not his day.

The first half was more or less all Boulevard once Rangers' Shawn Simmons had been sent off in the 17th minute. In turning, Simmons tripped Warren just over the half-way line when the Blazer had clear sight of the goal. Simmons needn't have bothered; with the kind of day Warren was having, he probably would have missed it anyway.

Southampton scored first, against the run of play, when Herbie Dillas ran onto a good through ball, met it at the edge of the Blazers' box, and tipped it past oncoming Rangers goalie Randolph Darrell.

One-nil to Rangers at the half.

Boulevard picked up where they'd left off as the second half got underway, and the extra man advantage looked bound to tell, sooner or later.

Exactly mid-way through the half, as rain threatened, the ball came loose in the Southampton penalty area. Neil Robinson's shot was parried by the 'keeper, the ball came back to Robinson and as five Southampton defenders inexplicably backed away, Robinson placed his shot in the top right-hand corner. The score was tied.

Nine minutes later, super-sub Jahmel Samuels scored the goal of the game when he raced in to meet a Rodney Bascome cross from the left. Samuels soared to meet the ball, headed it cleanly past the keeper, and the contest was over.

Or at the least the goals were. As the rain hurtled down, the last seven minutes saw Ranger Jason Raynor sent off for dangerous foul play, joined moments later by his colleague Janeiro Tucker for uttering an especially foul-mouthed epithet.

Boulevard took advantage of their three-man edge to put the ball in the back of the net a third time, following a goalmouth scramble just before the final whistle, but it was disallowed for a variety of offences including two handballs.

Despite the sendings off, and the yellow cards shown to Southampton's Kwame Tucker, and Boulevard's Roy Stevens and Donnie Charles, this was a first-class game played in good spirits and at a fair pace throughout.

Southampton Rangers : R. Darrell, N. Grant (E. Brangman, 80 mins), J. Raynor, R. Belboda, S. Simmons, J. Tucker, O. Jones, K. Tucker (A. Wolffe, 80 mins), R. Simons (J. Webb, 1 min), H. Dillas, A. Russell.

Boulevard Blazers : M. Steede, D. Charles, R. Stevens, H. Caisey, D. Boyles (A. Brown, 38 mins), L. Hypolite (J. Samuels, 60 mins), N. Robinson, H.

Bascome, K. Hill, D. Warren, R. Bascome.

Referee : Stuart Crockwell.

Men of the match : Herbie Dillas (Southampton); Dwight Warren (Boulevard).

St.David's 5 St. George's 1 This was a deserved victory for relegation-threatened St. David's, but they made little progresss in closing the gap between them and eighth place after Boulevard and Devonshire Cougars also won on the weekend to leave a six-point gap.

St. David's controlled the match throughout, turning a 1-0 lead at the half into a commanding victory as St. George's were undone in the second half by some well-executed goals as substitute Ottis Minors scored twice.

Chae Simmons, who left St. George's a couple of years ago because of limited opportunities, shot St. David's into a deserved lead in the 19th minute.

The goal was created by a move on the right which was started by full back Jawan Thomas. Striker Shane Weeks sent in a low hard cross that went across goal and Simmons at the far post sidefooted past goalkeeper Gregory Smith.

Keith Jennings had a chance to extend the lead in the 37th minute when, after a St. George's move broke down, a quick break by St. David's put Jennings clear on the far side. But from a good position he shot straight at 'keeper Smith who parried the shot and then collected the ball at the second attempt while sitting on the ground.

St. George's had their best period late in the half with their best chance coming in the 43rd minute as Del Tyrrell, under pressure from Sinclair Smith, saw his pass inside the box intercepted by Wright who sidefooted first time over the bar from 15 yards.

That would be the last opportunity for St. George's to stay in the match as St. David's struck twice in the first five minutes of the second half and never looked back. A good build-up saw Jennings head the ball down for Weeks who drove a left footed shot into the near bottom corner.

Three minutes later St. David's were up 3-1 with the best goal of the game, as Jennings picked up possession 35 yards from goal and hammered the ball inches under the bar with Smith helpless.

It was virtually one-way traffic at that stage as St. David's controlled the game with some neat passing. The introduction of Ottis Minors injected more thrust into their attack in the 61st minute and nine minutes later he got in on the scoring act when he sent a shot into the roof of the net from the right corner of the penalty area.

After Jennings put another effort over the bar, St. George's pulled one back through Sinclair Smith in the 79th minute after Tyrrell miskicked his intended clearance and Smith scored from close range.

Minors restored the four-goal lead a minute from the end when he collected a pass from Jennings and scored from 25 yards.

St. David's: K.Evans; J.Thomas, D.Hollis, D.Tyrrell, G.Foggo, J.Warren, E.Wolffe, C.Simmons (D.Crockwell 75 mins), K.Jennings, T.Weeks, K.Gibson (O.Minors 61 mins).

St. George's: G.Smith; D.Bailey, N.Paynter, Q.Francis, K.Moreno, D.Richardson, D.Walker (J.Laws 65 mins), G.Tucker (M.Outerbridge 57 mins), C.Simmons (D.Whitfield 61 mins), S.Smith, D.Wright.

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.

Men of match: Shane Weeks (St. David's); Quinton Francis (St. George's).