Dev. Cougars 1 Dev. Colts 0

Everyone at Devonshire Rec. - except perhaps Devonshire Colts' fans - probably breathed a sigh of relief last night when Raymond Beach headed home to give Cougars a 1-0 victory in this Friendship Trophy first round match.

Beach's flick over the arms of Colts `keeper Khabir Dill in the 77th minute was the lone celebration in a 90-minute knockout encounter that nobody wanted to last past the required time.

To say that players on both sides were guilty of missing the mark would be a vast understatement. As the match wore deep into the second half, spectators could be forgiven for concluding neither team wanted to get on the scoresheet as shot after shot went wide and wayward.

It was Cougars who somehow managed to get their act together enough in the latter stages of the unimpressive match-up to trouble Dill repeatedly. The latter's lunging save from a full-blooded blast thwarted Mark Smith from scoring from 20 yards. Hardly had Dill recovered before a Heys Wolfe shot cannoned into the underside of the crossbar and bounced back into play. There was also a brilliant cross from the left by Jeremy DeShields that was too good for any of his Cougars team-mates to finish.

At the other end, Colts were never really organised up front and the usually potent Aljame Zuill was a shadow of himself. Their best chance was a one-on-one between Julian Francis and Cougars' goalie Ricardo Brangman with the latter's feet thwarting the resulting effort.

Even the season debut of Mark Ray with a half-hour left did nothing to inspire the Martonmere Cup champions who trudged off the pitch looking as disappointed with their output as those who paid to watch it.

However, it was sweet revenge for Cougars who were eliminated from the Martonmere Cup by their orange-shirt rivals. Cougars coach Albert Smith was delighted with the result.

"I think we played well. Everyone played a role and I want to praise the team's commitment in this match, especially the captain Kwame Steede who had an excellent game.

"We had lots of chances and it (the goal) took a long time but we felt it was coming. It was just a matter of patience," he said.

Devonshire Colts: K.Dill, J.Belboda, M.Hollis, K.Simpson, Jermaine Belboda, S.Burgess, S.Mendes (M.Ray, 60 mins), A.Thomas, J.Francis (S.Waldron, 65 mins), A.Zuill, J.Smith.

Devonshire Cougars: R.Brangman, D.Brangman, W.Swan, J.Deshields, O.Butterfield, K.Steede, G.Butterfield (M.Smith, 14 mins), K.Goddard, L.Tota (K.Williams, 65 mins), H.Wolfe, R.Beach.

Booked: O.Butterfield (Cougars).

Men of the Match: K.Dill (Colts); K.Steede (Cougars).

Referee: R.Knight.

Southampton 4 Wolves 2

Four clinically executed first-half goals fired Southampton Rangers to this dazzling 4-2 Shield Competition win over Wolves at Devonshire Rec. last night.

After the same teams had battled to a scoreless draw on Sunday, it took Rangers only 11 minutes to break the ice this time around as Keman Tucker scored with a firm low drive from 12 yards. But Wolves immediately hit back when Nairobi Smith converted from close range four minutes later.

Rangers retook the lead mid-way through the half courtesy of Marlon Williams' low shot. And shortly after, Tucker added Southampton's third and his second when he controlled the ball on his chest some 20 yards out before sending in a rasping volley that caught Wolves' `keeper Sergio Augustus napping as it dipped under the crossbar.

It was then left to Neville Grant to head home Rangers' fourth goal and put the result beyond doubt.

Jarryd Peniston netted a late consolation goal from the penalty spot for Wolves.