A goal after eight minutes by centre-back Mitchell Trott gave Boulevard the maximum points they desperately needed in their battle against Premier Division relegation at St.David's yesterday.

The lanky defender went upfield after Colts conceded a corner and Vernon Eve's curling kick was headed home by Trott with Colts' defence in disarray.

The victory left Boulevard still third from bottom on 18 points, four behind the teams directly above them, Colts and Somerset. And with three teams to go down, they still face an uphill battle.

Somehow Boulevard managed to hold onto the lead in a game which saw both teams struggle up front.

Despite taking the early lead, Boulevard were never able to take the initiative, but their opponents were proved inept up front when it came to applying the finishing touches to some decent build-up work.

With attacks breaking down on a consistent basis, and with neither goalkeeper Troy Hall of Colts nor Boulevard's Antoine Tuzo called on to make any saves from shots directed at goal, the game was largely dull and uninspiring.

Colts made two early substitutes in the second half in a bid to get their scoring machine in order but their attacks continued to fizzle out with Boulevard's centrebacks Leroy Stevens and Trott defending well.

Boulevard had similar trouble up front at the other end and never looked capable of piercing a defence marshalled by centre-backs Shannon Burgess and Nathan Samuels.

It wasn't until near the end when Colts gained control and could have come away with the points they deserved.

After 87 minutes Aljame Zuill's hard low shot from 22 yards bounced off goalkeeper Tuzo's chest for a corner that led to nothing.

Immediately afterwards a fiercely hit free kick from Marvin Belboda was pushed wide by Tuzo diving to his right and then at the end Zuill should have scored but he chipped a shot over from 15 yards after receiving a cross from John Payne.

Boulevard: A.Tuzo; D.Boyles, M.Trott, L.Stevens, V.Eve; J.Samuels, R.Wilson, J.Payne; S.Wade, S.Crockwell (K.Darrell, 60 mins), V.Phillips (L.Crofton, 75 mins) Devonshire Colts: T.Hall; J.Belboda, S.Burgess, N.Samuels, J.Simmons; J.Samuels, T.Smith, J.Aberdeen (C.Hill, 58 mins); W.Henry (M.Belboda, 58 mins), A.Zuill, R.Saltus (G.Trott, 76 min) Referee: Richard Knight Men of the match: Mitchell Trott (Boulevard); Jah Samuels (Colts).