North Village 0 Boulevard Blazers 0

North Village’s Premier Division title aspirations have all but evaporated following a 0-0 draw with cross-town rivals Boulevard on Sunday.

Sterling performances by both goalkeepers in particularly Blazers' Azir Harvey, whose performance between the posts was immaculate throughout, with the pinnacle moment coming at the death when he dived full-length to his left to palm away a Tre Ming penalty.

American referee Luiz Arrujo awarded the home team the chance to secure maximum points a minute into added time after Blazers’ captain Jahzarde Samuels had hacked down a hard-charging Justin Bell in the penalty area.

But with Bell, Village’s preferred penalty-taker, left writhing on the ground in a heap, Ming, a second-half substitute for Khimo Harrison, was called into service.

Accepting full responsibility for the failure to convert, Ming noted how the attempt typified the team’s sub-par performance on a day when victory was a must if they were to keep their title hopes alive.

“It was just not good enough on my behalf,” said Ming, after emerging from a sombre dressing room at Bernard Park following the match. “I should have went with my first mind.

“I was going to go to the opposite side, but I chose to go to my stronger side and that was the wrong decision. And you never second guess on a penalty.”

Nevertheless, on a day when Village were gifted the opportunity to contest a team anchored near the bottom of the league and struggling to field a full team, Rams made a hash of their chance.

Perhaps taking for granted their opponents’ season-long struggle, Village were taken aback by Blazers desire to fight for survival as well as the unrelenting fearlessness of Harvey, who cast his body around with abandon the entire match.

“Today was one of his better days,” said Boulevard coach Troy Smith of his goalkeeper. “He did really good today and truly saved us at the end. He played with a lot of character, which every one of my team did today.”

Indeed, no part of Harvey’s body went untouched as time and time again he came to his defence’s rescue, particularly as Village surged forward after half-time.

A dipping overhead kick by Vernon Perinchief was palmed over by Harvey in the 50th minute to end a goalmouth scramble that threatenedd to break the deadlock and three minutes later he tipped the ball over the top following a Nacori Smith drive.

After Detre Bell was made to show off his own prowess via a full-length stretch that kept out an Omar Wilson thunderbolt, Harvey made consecutive saves with his legs to keep out point-blank efforts from Jaizel Smith-DeShields and Ming in the 70th minute.

On a day when goalkeepers reigned supreme, Bell did well to collect an Antoine Famous blast in the 85th minute before Harvey’s late heroics ensured the game ended goalless.

“We just didn’t want it enough and as a result we’re now out of the league,” said Ming, whose club has an opportunity to salvage the season as they play Paget Lions in the semi-final of the FA Cup later this week.

“We were terrible from the front all the way to the back, but credit to Detre for keeping us in the game. It was just not good enough.”

Conversely Smith was satisfied with the resolve shown by his players to give themselves hope of pulling off a modern-day Houdini act if they are to stay up.

“There was a lot of character demonstrated out there,” repeated Smith. “We fought to the end and really can’t say much about the result. They gave it their all against a good team.”

Blazers are now five points from safety with two games remaining and face a must-win game next week at home against Somerset Trojans, who are one place above them in the league.

There are similarities between the two sides with with Smith acting in an interim role after replacing Jomar Wilkinson, while Trojans coach Jensen Rogers has been taking charge of the west enders in the absence of Scott Morton, who has recently been granted an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons.

TEAMS

North Village (4-4-2): D Bell 8 -- T Wilson 6, K Knights 6 (P Smith, 71 min), T Bean 6, S Somner 6 -- N Smith 6, V Perinchief 6, T Williams 6, K Harrison 5 (sub: T Ming, 64 6) -- J Bell 7, J Smith-DeShields 6. Substitutes not used: N Anglin, J Sukdeo, Omari DeShields, D Dillas, N Anglin. Booked: Perinchief.

Boulevard (4-1-4-1): A Harvey 9 - A Johnston 6, A Williams- Smith 6, E Reiko, 6, O Wilson 6 - N Smith 6 - T Walker 6, J Samuels 6, K Davis 6, S Woolridge 6 (sub: A Famous, 81) Robinson 5 - K Easton 5 (sub: C Darrell, 52 5). Booked: Easton, Johnston, Smith.

Referee: L Arrujo (USA).