Dandy Town 0 Boulevard 0

On a night when both teams really needed a win to move closer to North Village and challenge them for the Premier Division leadership, home side Dandy Town and visitors Boulevard could do no better than grab a point apiece at St. John's Field last night.

Boulevard reclaimed second place with their point, five behind Village, while Town kept a grip on fourth with theirs.

The fans may have expected a competitive match but the game did not come alive until the final 16 minutes.

Before that point neither team looked capable of scoring and goalkeepers, Antoine Lightbourne of Town and Boulevard's Shejuan Swan, were never really tested - leaving the faithful frustrated about the lack of attacking menace.

The first real clear-cut chance came Boulevard's way after 84 minutes when skipper Shaki Crockwell, who had a surprisingly quiet game until then, brilliantly wrong-footed two defenders with a dazzling move, only to watch in agony as his 15-yard drive thundered against the post.

Finally, there was an air of electricity around the arena as the fans were awakened from their slumber and both teams began to play with increased intensity.

Two minutes later Town, with their hard-working skipper and forward Carlos Smith spearheading another raid, retaliated when he crossed from the left and found substitute Kevin Hurdle alone in the middle.

But unfortunately the lanky forward made a mess of things.

The striker had difficulty in controlling the ball and as he hesitated the alert Swan advanced off his line and smothered the ball to leave Hurdle a frustrated figure.

The big man came close to making amends a minute later, but this time he was unlucky with a free kick from 19 yards, Swan diving full length to his left to slap the ball away as it seemingly headed towards the far corner of the goal.

Town put their foot on the accelerator afterwards and with play entering injury time they came close to snatching all of the goods, but midfielder Wolde Place could only watch with dismay as his rocket from 15 yards was sensationally pushed over the bar by the agile Swan.

While the result could have gone either way with the late chances, a share of the points was fair on a night when both teams looked rather unsettled and clearly lacked the ability to penetrate once in the box.

If North Village coach Scott Morton was in attendance he would have left encouraged by the fact that, on this performance, his side should have little problem brushing aside any challenge Town and Boulevard might have to offer as the title run in reaches its climax.

Dandy Town: A.Lightbourne; K.Mundy, L.Christopher, M.Lowe, C.Azhar (B.O'Riordan, 57 min); S.Tuzo (L.Furbert, 57 min), W.Place, K.Butterfield (K.Hurdle, 65 min); C.Smith, R.Tucker, J.Tucker. Subs not used: J.Smith, J.Robinson.

Boulevard: S.Swan; T.Trott, L.Stevens, R.Wilson, A.Caisey; Jahmah Samuels (R.Saltus, 75 min), L.Hypolite, C.Caisey (M.Parsons, 81 min); S.Crockwell, M.Gibbons, T.Walker (Jahmal Samuels, 75 min). Subs not used: R.Burgess, C.Trott.

Booked: B.O'Riordan (Town); L.Stevens, L.Hypolite (Boulevard).

Men of the match: Carlos Smith (Town); Melchisedec Gibbons (Boulevard).

Referee: George O'Brien.