Southampton Rangers 2North Village 3Luckily for North Village, the ‘goal that wasn’t’ didn’t rob them of victory at Southampton Oval as the home team came from 3-0 down late in the second half.The mood in the Village camp would have been a lot different had Jahkai Dyer connected with a cross inside the six-yard box deep into injury time that would have tied score up at 3-3.Village’s winger Jason Lee looked to have scored a spectacular goal in the 54th minute when his curling left-footed shot from deep on the right side appeared to strike the stanchion before coming back out. Even without goal-line technology Lee was certain the ball crossed the line and began his ‘goal’ celebration alongwith his team-mates as play continued, with neither referee Anthony Francis nor the well-placed linesman Ronue Cann convinced the ball had crossed the line.Village’s players and officials, including coach Ralph Bean had cleared the bench to celebrate and stood in shock as the goal was not given.“It hit the bar at the back, went in and came out,” insisted Lee who said it would have been one of the best goals of his career. “Definitely, and with the left foot. I’m highly disappointed, my team-mates saw it and the ‘keeper admitted it on the field. It was a great finish.”Village were coasting to a comfortable victory with the 3-0 scoreline with 15 minutes remaining when Rangers launched a defiant comeback that almost earned them a point. They scored in the 76th and 85th minutes to make the scoreline close as Janeiro Tucker drove an effort wide of an open goal for Rangers.“We shut down a little bit towards the end and they got the consolation goals, but that’s how it goes,” said Lee.Two good goals by striker Keishen Bean separated the teams as Village, wearing pink in support of the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Bean picked up a pass, surged towards the edge of the box and smashed a shot inside Jason Smith’s left-hand post. Defender Tyrell Burgess put Village firmly in control in the 36th minute when his team’s second when he rose high inside the box to connect with captain Jemeiko Jennings’ free kick on the left and send a firm header past Smith.Both teams made susbstitutions at the half, Village replacing Kaiwon Dill who failed to recover from a foot injury in the 44th minute after getting the worst from a tackle with Vernon Perinchief. Thomas Watson replaced him while Rangers made two changes in a bid to freshen things up, bringing on Keedai Astwood and Williw Clemons for Reggie Lowe and Kamen Tucker.Village continued to look the brighter of the two teams as Bean sidefooted an effort just wide as he tried to place his effort into the bottom corner. Lee’s ruled-out effort served to raise the tempo of the match as Village continued to look the more likely to score. They made it 3-0 with the best goal of the game when Bean spotted Smith just off his line and from 25 yards applied the perfect weight on a chip shot that dropped just under the bar with Smith looking over his shoulder.The points seeminly in the bag, Village eased off and nearly paid the price as Rangers pulled two goals back in nine minutes to set up a close finish. Captain McQuinn scrambled the ball over the line in the 76th minute from a corner on the left. Minutes later Janeiro Tucker missed when in front of an open goal after Dyer’s persistence enabled him to regain possession inside the box and set up Tucker with ‘keeper Troy Hall Jr out of position before Tucker drove his effort wide of the post.Tucker did make amends in the 85th minute when he got on the end of a high ball to the back post and lobbed the ball over Hall as the Village defence anticipated an offside call.Southampton Rangers: J.Smith; M.Tankard (M.Terceira 89min), M.Burch, J.Charles, K.Simmons, V.Perinchief, E.Stoneham, R.Lowe (K.Astwood 46min), K.Tucker (W.Clemons 46min), J.Tucker, J.Dyer.Goals: M.Burch (76min), J.Tucker (85min).Yellow card: J.TuckerNorth Village: T.Hall; S.Fubler, T.Burgess, S.Lee, P.Castle (D.Hunt 67min), J.Davis, K.Dill (T.Watson 46min), J.Jennings (P.Smith 75min), J.Lee, J.Smith-DeShields, K.Smith.Goals: Keishen Bean (22, 62min), T.Burgess (36min).Yellow card: Shannon LeeMan of the match: Keishen Bean (North Village).Referee: Anthony Francis.