Boulevard 0 Dandy Town 0

The race for the Premier Division championship intensified yesterday with a lacklustre, goalless stalemate between the leading teams at BAA Field.

So poor was the performance by league leaders Dandy Town and hard-chasing Boulevard that Town coach Devarr Boyles was moved to call the encounter “probably the worst game the two teams have played this season”.

If his squad expect to be celebrating at the end of the title hunt, he stressed they would “definitely” have to lift their game and be prepared to face challengers who will be throwing their full arsenal at Town.

“I would call this a character-building moment. A draw was fair because there was little between the two teams but now we have to go on from here and improve,” noted Boyles, whose side still head the top-flight standings.

Boulevard skipper, Melchisedec Gibbons, was pleased his team did not surrender three points to the opposition and even argued Boulevard should have won via a Raymond Burgess strike just before the half. However, the latter was ruled offside and that “no goal” was the only time the ball rattled the net in 90 minutes.

“We have to keep pushing. We know they (Town) are going to lose at some time and we can catch them. Yes, we can still win the championship,” declared a confident Gibbons, who like so many of the top names in this game performed well below par.

There was little worth remembering about the match which flattered to deceive when Boulevard forward Gregory Johnson grazed the crossbar within the first three minutes.

Both sides lacked the control and cohesion which brought them success in the first half of the season, indulging in a lot of unnecessary aerial balls and some shockingly wayward passes. Such deficiencies impacted on both team's ability to attack effectively and thus scoring chances were few and far apart in the opening half; none - other than Burgess' offside effort - worrying the ‘keepers.

Admonished by Boyles from the sidelines for “playing too slow” in the first half, Town boosted the game's pace early in the second session. Seyoum Tuzo had a good opportunity thwarted by Boulevard custodian Shejuan Swan who rushed forward to smother a shot from the edge of the area while Khano Smith hit over the crossbar.

Close marking prevented the latter from enjoying his usual freedom up front. Still, the striker managed to create his team's best chance of hitting the target with about 15 minutes remaining.

Bolting up the left flank, he sent in a sizzling cross which was barely missed by substitutes Wolde Place and Kelvon Butterfield respectively, both sliding in to try and score.

At the other end, Burgess - playing his boots off - saw his shots from distance whiz past the left post and then the right. Boulevard's other accustomed high fliers - Gibbons, Conneko Trott, Torry Davis and substitute Tekeyhi Walker - hardly impressed as the match concluded uneventfully.

Boulevard: S.Swan, T.Trott, J.Samuels, S.Lewis, R.Wilson, M.Gibbons, C.Trott, L.Hypolite, T.Davis (D.Cox, 89 mins), R.Burgess (M.Parsons, 89 mins), G.Johnson (T.Walker, 68 mins).

Dandy Town: J.Smith, K.Mundy, D.Lawler, R.Swan, C.Anderson, Kuma Smith, J.Peniston (K.Butterfield, 71 mins), C.Smith, S.Tuzo (W.Place, 71 mins), K.Smith, K.Hurdle.

Booked: M.Gibbons, J.Samuels, C.Trott (Boulevard); C.Smith (Town).

Men of the Match: J.Samuels (Boulevard); D.Lawler (Town).

Referee: L.Raynor.