Boulevard survived a late Zebras stampede, earning a precious away point that kept them in third place and within striking distance of new First Division leaders Dandy Town.

A fortuitous bounce allowed the visiting Blazers to take the lead after just three minutes of the contest, but they were forced to defend in great numbers late in the second half after PHC's Kenny Burt had notched the equaliser.

A marauding home team wasted several openings during the final stages that could have put them back in the top three for the first time since early in the season.

Instead they were left in fifth place, level on 11 points with North Village, while Boulevard moved to 12, two behind Dandy Town.

The start could not have been worse for PHC who found themselves trailing when normally reliable goalkeeper Ty Williams made a hash of a speculative George Smith drive from 30 yards.

A partial clearance by the PHC defence fell to Smith, situated in the middle of the park, and he immediately unloaded a shot seemingly straight at Williams. Casually, the 'keeper attempted to collect the ball after one bounce only to have it slip through his grasp and into the back of the net.

Matters got worse 12 minutes later as Boulevard were awarded a penalty following a blatant foul by Dano Outerbridge on a charging Vincent Tuzo, again due a weak clearance.

But Wayne Richardson crashed his spot kick against the crossbar and the danger was cleared.

Play continued to see-saw upto the interval with Boulevard enjoying most of the possession, while PHC relied on quick counter attacks.

The second half took a decidedly different complexion, with PHC in the dominant role and able to exert constant pressure on their opponents, bearing little resemblance to the well drilled and `mighty' Blazers of recent times.

Burt finally got the goal that had appeared imminent after 64 minutes, also as a result of poor goalkeeping.

Shawn Simons was brought down on the left side near the edge of the penalty area and the resulting free kick saw Burt squeeze a firm low shot through a maze of arms and legs past a bewildered Mitchell Steede in goal for Boulevard.

PHC had chances to increase the advantage, but the dividends never came.

PHC: T.Williams; D.Francis, A.Wade, D.Outerbridge, F.Ming, B.Bean, S.Ming, W.Trott (R.Lightbourne 60 mins), K.Mills (S.Swan 74 mins), M.Wade, K.Burt.

Boulevard: M.Steede; G.Smith, J.Boyles, G.Smith, D.Boyles, V.Eve, T.Trott, W.Richardson, D.Warren, M.Holdipp, V.Tuzo.

Referee: Stuart Crockwell.

Men of the match: Shawn Simons (PHC), Wayne Richardson (Boulevard).