Southampton Rangers 1

Devonshire Colts 1

High-flying Devonshire Colts were held to a draw by Southampton Rangers yesterday.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession and carved out several clear chances to take all three points, but ultimately came up short at Southampton Oval.

However, a combination of poor finishing, the woodwork, some superb goalkeeping and Lozendro Symonds’s missed penalty enabled Rangers to come away with a point that their scrappy performance probably didn’t deserve.

The visitors led 1-0 at half-times thanks to an Eli Smith strike that capped a good build up down the right channel.

Colts, though, were ultimately denied maximum points when Akale Bean, the Rangers striker, brought the teams level from the penalty spot midway through the second half.

The hosts went straight for the jugular after building up a good head of steam from the opening kick-off. Joseph Butterfield, the Colts centre back, cleared away a dangerous cross at the last moment as two Rangers attackers moved in for the kill at the back post.

Rangers caused anxiety with a series of probing long balls that exposed Colts’ last line of defence, Gregory Rose, the Colts goalkeeper, racing off his line on one such occasion to punch away a searching diagonal cross in the box from Vernon Perinchief, the Rangers holding midfielder.

Although Rangers enjoyed the majority of possession, they were unable to find a way through and after absorbing some early pressure, Colts began to carve out space and create chances of their own.

The visiting side came agonisingly close when McQuinn Burch, the midfielder, headed just over from a set-piece, while at the other end Perinchief had a goalbound effort deflected for a corner.

Rangers dominated possession in the latter stages of the opening exchanges as Colts’ back four sat deep and invited pressure.

However, the visitors took the lead against the run of play when Smith popped up in the box and calmly rolled the ball past Jason Smith, the Rangers goalkeeper, after a delightful build-up involving several passes in midfield.

Colts blew a golden opportunity to double their lead moments later when Kyle Jones, the midfielder, hurried his shot over, even though he had time and space to pick his spot.

The visiting team picked up their tempo at the start of the second half and threatened when Burch forced Smith to make a diving save, and then Jones intercepted a poor back-pass but succeeded only in chipping into the arms of the goalkeeper.

By now it seemed only a matter of time before Colts would double their advantage, such was their dominance.

However, Rangers had other ideas and during a counter-attack were awarded a penalty when Justin Maybury, the Colts full back, was penalised for a foul in the box.

Bean made no mistake with his spot-kick, slamming the ball into the roof of the net to drag his side level.

Despite relinquishing their lead Colts did not panic and should have sewn the game up after carving out a slew of clear cut chances.

Jones missed a breakaway after a through-ball sliced the Rangers defence apart, and then Symonds had a penalty shot saved by Smith, who was penalised for a foul in the box moments earlier.

Colts went close again on two occasions towards the end, with Burch’s glancing header striking the crossbar, and Quinn Simmons placing a free header over the bar.

The outcome resulted in Colts moving level on points and goal difference with second-placed Robin Hood while Rangers climbed from fifth to fourth.