leaders Devonshire Colts and Southampton from reaching conclusion, as BAA Field was converted into a veritable fish pond by torrential rain.

She also possibly saved Colts from defeat against a Rangers outfit anxious to move back into contention.

A heavy shower greeted the start of the match, eventually relenting to a steady downpour. But by then the near entire pitch had been saturated, with passes suddenly stopping the various pools.

After watching players from both sides skid around dangerously, referee Gary Cooke called a halt to the proceedings at 28 minutes, 45 seconds of the first half, forcing a replay.

"It just became ridiculous out there,'' said Cooke. "The rain was coming down and not draining anywhere.'' Ironically, the stoppage marked the second time in less than 24 hours that Cooke had been forced to abandon a match, having signalled the premature end of Saturday night's Vasco-Dandy Town affair at PHC due to light failure at 28:35, with Town ahead 1-0.

Yesterday, Rangers, playing for the first time in three weeks, appeared hungry from the outset and were quickly on top of their favoured opponents.

Just two minutes had elapsed when striker Herbie Dillas gave the visitors reason to celebrate, taking advantage of a glaring error by captain and centre-back Shannon Burgess to score.

Burgess, back in the lineup after being absent during Colts' two previous outings, completely missed his attempt at clearing the ball deep in his own territory, allowing Dillas to run through all alone and pick a spot to the left of goalkeeper Troy Hall.

Even without a result Colts were able to hold onto their four-point league lead with 21 points compared to 21 for second placed Town. Conversely, Rangers (17 points) plummeted two spots to eighth, being overtaken by Devonshire Cougars (18) and Boulevard (19), who have played a game more.

Meanwhile, PHC officials had advised the Bermuda Football Association during the week that they were having problems with their lights and though the opening Second Division match between Social Club and Hotels was played without incident, several lights on two poles on the eastern end went out during the main game.

One pole was left with one light working and the other with two and Cooke took the players off to the side while attempts were made to correct the problem.

After a wait of seven minutes, Cooke blew the whistle to signal that the match was being abandoned.

Though they held the lead, Dandy Town's players and officials took the decision in stride, knowing that the match was still in the balance and could have gone either way. Their reaction would probably have been different had they held the lead late in the game. The game will now have to be replayed.

Town capitalised on early domination when, from their third corner of the match in the ninth minute, the lead was taken from a smartly headed goal from Reggie Tucker, meeting Lionel Furbert's corner on the left and heading the ball into the near top corner.

Vasco started to click and responded with three corners in succession as they searched for the equaliser.