Wellington Oval yesterday when they were unable to make a significant impact against opponents who played 65 minutes with just 10 men.

The shaky performance by the home team steered them towards the relegation zone -- a treacherous area which coach Gregory Foggo Sr. obviously does not relish.

Vasco, on the other hand, got a boost from the result and can look ahead to their Friendship semifinal clash with the same team tommorrow night with justified optimism.

The Portuguese team was reduced to 10 men when referee Stuart Crockwell dismissed Albert Wolffe after the scorer of their first goal used abusive language to the official with the game 25 minutes old.

But fortunately for the visitors the home team did not capitalise on that setback. Time and time again St. George's, even when they took a decisive edge midway through the second half, allowed their attacks to break down when they reached the penalty area.

But problems for St. George's came early when the stalwart of their defence, centre-half Neil Paynter, got injured in a tackle after just 10 minutes and was a virtual passenger until he was replaced by Phillip Bailey after 21 minutes.

However while Paynter was ailing Vasco managed to take the initiative and go one-up, the goal coming after 13 minutes when Wolffe latched onto the ball just outside the box and fired it home off a defender.

The setback seemed to demoralise the home team who achieved little up front for the duration of the half. Vasco, despite being one-man down, penetrated into more goal-worthy areas and looked more likely to score.

Vasco's midfielder Voorhees Astwood sent two 18-yard shots just wide of the post after 28 minutes while St. George's, who often had four players up front, continued to make a mess of attacking methods.

Part of their breakdown, though, could be attributed to their defenders and midfielders whose distribution of the ball was pathetically inadequate. It was five minutes before the half when the spirits of St. George's took a real dive with Earl Richardson slamming home a penalty after being brought down by two defenders.

After a competitive start to the second half St. George's were at last able to play like a team having a player advantage, yet they still had difficulty getting shots off at goal.

Sinclair Gibbons sent two 16-yard efforts in the direction of goal, but they seemed to be more shots of frustration than anything else. As play progressed, Carlos Greaves was a constant worry with forcefull runs down the middle of the defence.

Vasco countered with a few raids by Ricky Mallory and Astwood, but the home team clearly had the better of the exchanges. However, their failure to finish with good shots hurt them badly.

Near the end both Greaves and Darrin Walker fired shots wide from 16 yards and the game finished with Greaves being robbed off the ball by right-back Colin Lloyd just as he was about to score from five yards.

St. George's: T.Hall; A.Todd, N.Paynter (P.Bailey, 21min), F.Greaves, D.Bailey; D.Walker, C.Greaves; M.Outerbridge, M.Simmons, S.Gibbons (D.Whitfield, 65 min), G.Foggo.

Vasco: K.Tucker; C.Lloyd, P.Towlson, D.Livingston, E.Richardson; L.Durham (C.Ainscough, 65 min), K.Roberts (A.Cabral, 82 min), V.Astwood; I.Burgess, A.Wolffe, R.Mallory.

Referee: Stuart Crockwell Men of the match: Andre Todd (St. George's), Colin Lloyd (Vasco) Southampton 1 Dandy Town 1 The unity that one would expect from a team chasing its 13th straight win was missing in the Dandy Town camp yesterday as second-from-bottom Southampton Rangers picked up a valuable home point.

Midfielder Kris Martin spent several minutes voicing his displeasure at coach Mark Trott at being substituted midway through the second half and minutes later Devarr Boyles and Troy Lewis argued with each other on the pitch.

It came during a time when Town were creating the better of the chances but were either prevented from taking the lead by poor finishing or solid defending by a Rangers team that has not win since January 9.

The hype around them being Town's bogey team seemed to give the home team extra motivation as from the outset they matched their opponents.

Town goalkeeper Cymande Davis was put under pressure inside the first minute when he failed to clear a back pass first time and Ascento Russell was quick to challenge.

Two well-taken goals in the space of five minutes early in the match set the tempo, with Rangers taking a deserved lead in the ninth minute only for Carlos Smith to pull Town level with his 14th goal of the season in the 14th minute.

Russell set the match alight with the opening goal. He took a pass from defender Thomas Jones, controlled the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and then drove in a low shot that the diving Davis touched with his left hand but could not prevent from finding the net.

Russell almost doubled the lead in the 12th minute but this time failed to connect properly with a far post header to a cross in front of goal by Michael Brangman.

Town produced their goal out of nothing and was similiar to Russell's. A cross came in from the left, Smith shifted to his right and drove a low shot, almost effortlessly, neatly inside Randy Darrell's near post.

After the teams battled for the upper hand as Smith then post a header past the far post after a good cross from Kris Martin. Minutes later Rangers defender Donnie Charles was booked for a foul on Smith on the edge of the Rangers area.

Towards the end of the half Paul Cann picked up a loose ball inside the box and drove a low shot across goal and just past the far post.

The second half saw an increase in chances for Town who controlled for long periods. Cann sidefooted over the crossbar in the 62nd minute after another cross from Martin who was busy on the right flank.

Randy Darrell was kept busy in the Rangers goal, snatched a Carlos Smith shot at the second attempt after he tried to score from an acute angle in the 71st minute.

The best chance for Town came in the 78th minute when good work on the right by Cann saw his perfect cross slice off the head of Lionel Furbert at the far post. It was a chance that should have determined the outcome of this match.

Minutes from the end Cann's back-header set up Smith but he completely mis-kicked when in a good position.

Rangers suffered a setback a minutes from the end when Thoma Jones dislocated his left knee after a tackle on Smith inside the Rangers penalty area. He was carried off and taken to hospital by ambulance.

Southampton: R.Darrell; R.Belboda, D.Charles, E.Brangman, T.Jones; P.Brangman, J.Raynor (A.Wolffe 55min), O.Jones; E.Pitt, A.Russell, M.Brangman (M.DeMoura 74min).

Dandy Town: C.Davis; W.Rudo, L.Christopher, W.Campbell, D.Lewis; D.Boyles, L.Furbert, K.Martin (D.Simmons), T.Lewis, P.Cann, C.Smith.

Referee: Roddy Burchall.

Men of match: Pernell Brangman (Southampton), Paul Cann (Town).

STOPPED -- Voorhees Astwood's push for goal is halted by Marlon Outerbridge of St. George's during yesterday's clash at Wellington Oval.