MR Onions 2 Southampton Rangers 1

Southampton Rangers disappointing season sank to even greater ‘blues' after the Premier Division strugglers suffered the indignity of being ousted from the FA Cup by Commercial A outfit MR Onions at a blustery BAA Field last night.

After being outplayed for most of the opening half, Onions came out a completely different side in the second where two opportunistic strikes by striker Colin Keane catapulted the Commercial team into the quarter-finals of the prestigious competition while Rangers, FA Cup champions in 1984, were left to rue a plethora of squandered opportunities to blow the opposition clean off the pitch.

“We are delighted to have beaten a Premier Division club tonight,” commented jubilant Onions president Chris Fleming afterwards.

“They were all over us in the first half however our ‘keeper (Chris Hewson) made some great saves and second half we managed to get back into the game and hold our own.”

Last night's blustery winds, said Fleming, also played a major factor in the match.

“The wind played a factor for the entire match,” he added. “But we managed to get stuck into it and came away with the result. Now hopefully we can get a First Division side in the next round.”

While Onions - and their small band of vocal supporters - probably celebrated their win well into the night, in all honesty the Blues should have had this cup tie all sewn up in the opening 45 minutes as they kept their opponents on the run.

However, in Onions ‘keeper Hewson - who executed a series of clutch saves - Rangers found stubborn resistance along with a goal-mouth which seemed to be patrolled by angels.

Onions also had the crossbar to thank as Janeiro Tucker skimmed the upright from close range and had a point-blank ballistic deflected over by Hewson before Donnie Charles could only watch in disbelief as his header came back off the woodwork.

Rangers only moment of joy came in the 50th minute when McLee Smith - in only his second appearance of the season, forced home a Travis Wilkinson corner-kick after the ‘keeper made a rare blunder by spilling the ball into the striker's path.

After chasing their Premier Division rivals around the pitch for the opening 45 minutes, a rejuvenated Onions went ahead with a goal resulting from a horrible mix up at the back between full back Kamen Tucker and ‘keeper Gerald Simons. As Simons raced off his line to collect the ball, Tucker's intended back pass evaded his team mate, leaving Keane with the simple task of slotting home into the empty net.

Onions' joy, however, would be short lived as Rangers were back on even terms within a minute when Smith squeezed Wilkinson's cross across the line in heavy traffic inside the near post.

But Keane would give his team, now in full command of midfield and lounging forward in both numbers and confidence, the lead for good when he headed home a Mike Neville outswinging free kick 16 minutes from time to put the finishing touches to the season's first major FA Cup upset.

MR Onions: C.Hewson, S.Smith, K.Donald, C.Fleming, L.Dwyer, R.Coen, M.Neville, G.Mulvin, G.Fyfe, C.Keane, E.O'Dwyer

Southampton: G.Simons, K.Tucker, P.Brangman (D.Bailey, 87), T.Wilkinson, J.Charles, J.Tucker, K.Simmons, N.Grant, D.Charles (T.Caisey, 83), R.Lowe (C.Darrell, 67), M.Smith.

Yellow cards: L.Dwyer (Onions); R.Lowe (Southampton)

Men of the match: C.Keane (Onions); M.Smith (Southampton).

Referee: Ronue Cann.

Hamilton Parish 1 Key West Rangers 0

Parish scraped through to the FA Cup quarter-finals courtesy of a late strike by Sean Dill.

Dill's 79th minute strike was enough to put an end to Commercial Side Rangers' brave performance in a game that many thought was destined for extra time.

Rangers put in a strong performance but consistently wasted possession in the final third allowing the Division One Side to prevail.

Parish secured the victory when Dill popped up at the back post from a pin-point Irving Burgess cross to seal victory, although only moments before, Rangers wasted a gilt-edged chance when Kwame Tucker failed to make the most of a clean breakaway, shooting wide to his team mates' despair.