St George’s 1 North Village 1New Rams coach Ralph Bean Jr was denied victory in his first official match in charge after his team were held to a 1-1 stalemate against hosts St George’s Colts at Wellington Oval yesterday.Former Ram Mackie Crane put the home team on course for a second straight league win when he fired home from close range in the 22nd minute.However, Village midfielder Keishen Bean equalised for the visitors in the 72nd minute to help his team to a share of the spoils.Moments after levelling the scores Rams nearly took the lead when Bean gained possession of the ball in the box. But after controlling Clay Darrell’s cross on his chest, Bean lifted his shot over the bar much to the relief of St George’s who were caught flat footed at the back.St George’s played the final half-hour of the match with ten after midfielder Philip Anderson was sent off for handling the ball in the box. Rams winger Clay Darrell blasted the resulting penalty kick over the bar.Darrell’s miss was one of several golden opportunities Village squandered which ultimately undermined their hopes of coming away with maximum points from a match they deserved to win.St George’s pressed forward from the outset and were eventually rewarded when Crane, in his first appearance of the new year, pounced onto a ball played into space by Jarreau Hayward, rounded Rams’ makeshift ‘keeper Pierre Smith and rolled the ball into the empty net.The burly striker’s goal came against the run of play as the visitors laid siege to Colts’ goal at the opposite end.Rams threatened to crack the ice when striker Joshua DeSilva scooped Darrell’s cross over the bar when well placed in front of goal. Colts’ ‘keeper Charlie Marshall Jr then pulled off a brilliant save to thwart former Colts player Darrell from point blank range and then dived full length to push another effort from DeSilva against the upright before the ball was cleared away to safety.Darrell also had a goal-bound effort cleared away by Colts defender David Signor.Rams dodged a bullet early in the second half when defender Zaniko Hendrickson nearly sliced an intended clearance into his own net.Colts were then reduced to ten men when Anderson received straight red after handling Lashun Dill’s corner kick in the box.Darrell, who was a thorn in Colts’ side down the right flank throughout the match, made a complete mess of the penalty kick after his team were thrown a lifeline.Bean moved from midfield to play up front in his team’s attack as Rams went in search of an equaliser while St George’s desperately clung to their slim lead. And the tactic paid off when the Bermuda international got behind the defence and beat Marshall with a low drive at the near post from an angle to earn his team a point on foreign turf.St George’s: C Marshall, D Signor, E Signor (J Darrell, 57 mins), P Anderson, J Bassett, J Dickinson, J Hayward, C Durham, J Daniels, M Hodsoll (W Jones, 79 mins), M Crane (M Paynter, 74 mins)Goal: M CraneYellow card: M HodsollRed card: P AndersonSubs: M Tucker, K Wilson, J Carlington, J AndersonNorth Village: P Smith, K Bean, C Darrell, J Davis, J DeSilva (K Talbot, 66 mins), L Dill (K Durrant, 86 mins), Z Hendrickson (P Castle, 58 mins), J Jennings, T Jennings, J Sousa, D Tankard.Goal: K BeanYellow card: D Tankard, C DarrellSubs: W Ming, R BassettMan of the match: K BeanReferee: A Francis