Heys Wolffe drilled home an angled shot from 19 yards after 40 minutes to give Cougars their first victory of the season in this Premier Division clash at Southampton Oval yesterday.

The three points saw Cougars, newly promoted from the First Division, move from eighth to fifth in the table while the surprise defeat leaves Southampton Rangers floundering in last place.

Wolffe stunned Rangers with what turned out to be the clincher, the ball coming from a right wing cross by midfielder Kori Goddard whose pass escaped a jaded defence allowing Wolffe to gratefully torpedo it home.

But most chances in this second-rate contest fell to the home side who just couldn't put them away and now coaches Tyrone Williams and Olin Jones must anxiously await the return of key players from the national cricket squad to boost their ranks.

Forwards Janeiro Tucker and Kwame Tucker and Sheridan Ming have been unavailable because of their involvement with the Red Stripe squad and their presence should give Rangers much needed thrust.

Though Rohaan Simons continued to show promise, their attack lacked support and it was another day of frustration for Southampton when good approach work often fizzled out.

They dominated play for much of the half with their best scoring chance coming after 31 minutes when Craig Darrell dribbled by three defenders only to watch as his angled shot sailed just wide of the post from 15 yards.

It was against the run of play five minutes before the half when Wolffe stunned the home side during a rare Cougars attack.

Southampton continued to hold a decisive edge when play restarted, but Cougars still showed that they had the ability to strike effectively with hard-working midfielder Sheldon Caisey always a force.

Frustration began to show on Southampton's bench as they watched as their forwards were thwarted time and again by a defence well marshalled by centre-back Shawn Smith.

In the 62nd and 64th minutes Oscar Riley sent in two crosses from the right but Rohaan Simons fired his first shot into the chest of goalkeeper Ricardo Brangman and then hit the next just inches wide of the post.

Cougars hit back after 67 minutes and William Pitt's scorching 20-yarder forced goalkeeper Jason Williams to sensationally throw himself into the air to pull down the shot.

Near the end substitute Sherritt Hewey came close to adding a second for Cougars but Williams dived full length to save his blast from 14 yards.

Southampton Rangers: J.Williams; D.Burchall (N.Grant, 25 mins), P.Brangman, S.Simmons, O.Hart; O.Riley, J.Raynor, S.Simons (S.Bailey, 64 mins); C.Darrell, H.Dillas (J.Flood, 66 mins), R.Simons.

Dev. Cougars: R.Brangman; W.Mills, S.Smith, J.Salaam (P.Mallory, 48 mins), J.DeShields; S.Caisey, K.Goddard (D.Brangman, 72 mins), W.Pitt; H.Wolffe, P.Clarke (S.Hewey, 58 mins), M.Smith.

Referee: Lyndon Raynor Men of the match: Pernell Brangman (Rangers); Sheldon Caisey (Cougars).