Devonshire Colts 0

Boulevard 1

Football may well be referred to as "the beautiful game" but yesterday's encounter at White Hill Field certainly never threatened to conform to type.

In cold and blustery conditions and in front of an unsurprisingly sparse crowd, Boulevard walked away with all three points at the end of a scrappy, uninspiring game thanks to a second half strike from Raymond Burgess.

The Boulevard number 19 capitalised on a moment of chronic indecision from Colts goalkeeper Khabir Dill to put his side in front after 52 minutes - a lead which they were never likely to relinquish.

Cramped in shape and lacking fluency, Colts were completely impotent in attack for the majority of the 90 minutes and unlike Boulevard, conspicuously failed to adapt their game to the swirling wind.

On countless occasions, having made progress down the flanks, Colts lacked the patience, technique and the confidence to keep the ball on the floor, instead ballooning crosses into the box which either held up in the wind and were swallowed by goalkeeper Shejaun Swan, or sailed harmlessly over the danger area and into touch.

The Blazers on the other hand handled the inhospitable conditions well and defended solidly as a unit. Led by Connecko Trott, who had an outstanding game at the heart of Boulevard's defence, they disrupted their opponents rhythm by allowing them very little room in midfield and were dangerous on the break.

At the centre of many of their enterprising attacks was Melchisidec Gibbons. Despite starting the game in a somewhat irritable, immature fashion by constantly whining at the referee (for which he was deservedly booked in the first half) and squaring up to Colts players after being tackled, he seemed nevertheless to mellow as the match wore on and began to let his undoubted talent do the talking with an array of intelligent passes of high class.

It was he who had the best chance of the first half, shooting just wide with his left foot from ten yards out after losing his marker, although a harsh observer would argue he should have scored.

Colts continued to huff and puff but produced little which actually stretched a highly organised Boulevard back-line. Melvin Belboda battled hard up front for Colts, but was too often caught offside and in reality lacked the pace to inflict any serious damage.

The second half continued in the same vein with Blazers dominating possession and entrenching themselves in and around Colts' penalty area. It was not long before their persistence paid off.

A through ball from midfield caught the Colts defence horribly square and allowed a motoring Burgess through on goal. Although the threat should have been comfortably dealt with by an advancing Dill, a lack of communication between the goalkeeper and his defence meant neither moved to clear the danger and Burgess was allowed to collect the ball and calmly slot into the bottom corner.

The win for Boulevard takes them to an encouraging third in the table, only two points back from Devonshire Cougars with one game to go before the Christmas break. They would admit, however, that they should have been more ruthless in front of goal against what was a highly pedestrian Colts outfit, who now find themselves bottom on goal difference.

Devonshire Colts: K.Dill, D.Zuill, H.Mckonnen, S.Burgess, J.Butterfield, B.Mcquinn, (D. Francis 69 mins) S.Mendes, (D.Williams 81 mins) Q.Aberdeen, R.Spence, J.Belbosa, M.Belboda (D.Williams 45 mins).

Boulevard: S.Swan, R.Wilson, L.Stanton, El Karfa Farid, (R.Saltus 70 mins) T.Trott, C.Trott, J.Samuels, M.Parson, (D.Samuels) M.Gibbons, S.Crockwell, R.Burgess

Booked: M.Gibbons (Boulevard)

Men of the Match: S.Burgess (Devonshire Colts) C.Trott (Boulevard)

Referee: Richard Knight.