S. Rangers 3 Paget 1

It was pandemonium at Southampton Oval yesterday as Rangers players, officials and supporters celebrated promotion to the Premier Division after a three-year absence.

Two first-half goals from Herbie Dillas (penalty) and Neville Grant, coupled with a superb second-half strike by Reggie Lowe saw Rangers put paid to Paget's spirited challenge. The visitors replied through a David Hunt first half "howitzer".

Yesterday's result saw Southampton swap places with Hamilton Parish atop the First Division standings after the Hot Peppers were held to a 2-2 draw by Ireland Rangers.

"This was the goal at the beginning of the season and now I hope that the Southampton community are ready to get behind this team and get this club back to where it should be," declared Rangers coach Nick Jones, who despite the win wasn't happy by what he termed as a "disappointing" performance by his team.

After Dillas smashed home his spot kick barely two minutes into the match, Paget could have easily found themselves in a much deeper hole if assistant coach Meshach Wade's ferocious curling free kick hadn't just missed the target and a hesitant Grant hadn't made a hash of things from close range when a simple lob would have sufficed.

Those missed opportunities allowed Paget to pull their socks up and grow in confidence. And it wasn't surprising to see them equalise in the 27th minute.

Latching onto long ball down the left flank, Hunt dribbled some ten yards and smashed the ball with his left boot between Rangers `keeper Gerald Simons and the near post.

However, shortly afterwards, Grant restored Rangers lead after putting the decisive touch onto a Dillas short pass inside the six-yard box.

The second half saw much of the same as Rangers continued to enjoy territorial advantage but repeatedly fail to convert their dominance into goals. They also had Simons to thank as it was his agility between the `sticks' that kept the Paget forwards at bay whenever they threatened to rain on Rangers' parade.

Rangers' budding talent Lowe was then introduced midway through the second half and with his first touch of the ball, the diminutive player lobbed an onrushing Tiko Hassell from eight yards to ignite joyous scenes around the ground.

Ireland Rangers 2

Hamilton Parish 2

Hamilton Parish's quest for the First Division league championship suffered a setback at Malabar yesterday as Ireland Rangers managed to grab a point off the promotion-bound side. After being perched on the top of the table for the entire season, Parish slipped down to second to make things interesting heading down the final stretch.

Parish got off to a promising start when Desmond Crockwell fired the them into a 33rd minute lead after capitalising on a breakaway.

However, before the dust had settled, Rangers' two-goal hero Jonathan Bean erased the deficit when he intercepted a bad pass by Parish `keeper Nigel Burgess and calmly slotted the ball home.

Bean then struck again in stunning fashion shortly after the break when he darted down the left flank, evaded a challenge and rifled home a ferocious left-footed shot.

But Parish were determined not to go down without a fight and equalised shortly after when second-half substitute Sean Dill followed up on a loose rebound and rattled the back of the net with a firm close range blast.

Social Club 2 Prospect 2

A late goalkeeping blunder allowed FA Cup finalists Prospect to come away from Bernard Park with a 2-2 draw.

Renaldo Clacken opened the scoring for Social Club in the 20th minute and when Kirk Butterfield added to their lead moments after, the home team looked destined for a win.

However, Prospect's Leroy Mathurin managed to pull one back just prior to the half. The Prospect poacher then left the home side completely stunned late into added time when he capitalised on some poor goalkeeping to easily slot home and earn his team a share of the spoils.

St.David's 2 Wolves 2

Vince Minors converted an 85th minute penalty to earn Wolves a draw against St.David's at Lord's yesterday.

Wolves led 1-0 after only ten minutes thanks to a goal from Michael Paul.

However, Otis Minors equalised for St.David's shortly after the break and then Worrell Bean forged the home team ahead in the 70th minute.

But Wolves refused to give in and were rewarded for their never-say-die approach when Minors calmly slotted home his spot kick.