chance of retaining their First Division league title, captain Shannon Burgess fears.

Colts averaged a league-best 2.3 goals a game last season on their way to securing their first championship in 24 years, but hitting the target has proved more problematic this campaign with just 16 efforts finding the back of the net in ten games.

The latest example of their impotence in front of goal came on Tuesday night in the entertaining 1-1 draw with Southampton Rangers, whose own six-game unbeaten run is testimony to just how difficult they have become to defeat.

Keishon Smith and 6-foot-5 US college student Sullivan Phillips, making his first full appearance of the season, linked up well, particularly in the second half, and with a bit more luck and a little less resolute defending from the likes of Neville Grant, might have had several.

As it was Colts had to be content with Burgess's 69th minute spot-kick -- awarded when Phillips burst into the area and was brought down -- and subsequently missed the opportunity to join Vasco and Boulevard, who meet on Sunday, at the top on 20 points.

Said Burgess: "I think we should have won -- we created enough chances and we could have gone top, although we were a bit lucky when Janeiro Tucker missed their penalty.

"But we played a lot better and that was our main goal going into the Dudley Eve. We wanted to use that tournament to help improve our league form, although everybody wanted to win that and we were disappointed not to.'' Colts failed to score in 210 minutes of football in that two-leg Dudley Eve final against Vasco, despite having enough chances to win the first game comfortably.

Centre-back Burgess put that down to the service to the strikers, with the final pass going astray or being slightly overhit. "It's not something we've been able to rectify in training because we've been playing most of the time over Christmas and the New Year,'' he added.

Next up for Colts is Sunday's visit to PHC Stadium to play struggling PHC. But they may be unable to call upon the partnership of Smith and Phillips which promised so much against Rangers.

"It's amazing he has not been playing organised football for long as he has a lot of skill and a good turn of pace for a tall guy,'' Burgess said of Phillips.

"He got his first chance on Tuesday after coming off the bench before because we had Quincy Aberdeen and he'd been playing well. Against Rangers we were forced to change the line-up, but we didn't lose anything by it. But he is on a basketball scholarship in the States, so unfortunately we won't have his services for long.''