Boulevard 0

Southampton Rangers 1

Rohann Simons scored one and might have bagged a hat-trick as Southampton Rangers eased past an under-strength Boulevard side at Police Field yesterday.

Simons and strike-partner Vernon Perinchief ran the Blazers defence ragged all afternoon, with Nelson Smith enduring a particularly torrid time at the hands of the veteran duo.

In contrast, Boulevard, who were without the services of Takeyhi Walker, Mel Gibbons, and Angelo Simmons, struggled to make any impact upfront and were largely reduced to taking pot shots at Rangers goalkeeper Jason Smith from outside the area.

On the odd occasion that Blazers did come close, the final ball let them down, or they fell victim to several marginal offside decisions that left striker Dion Stovell seething, his frustration eventually earned him a yellow card.

Simons scored the only goal of the game after half an hour when he got goalside of Smith to head home a smart cross from Kamen Tucker, who took full advantage of Boulevard's failure to properly clear a free-kick.

By that time Rangers should already have been a goal to the good, but Simons' lob over Randy Broadbelt hit the post and bounced out.

The second half followed a similar pattern, Simons and Perinchief created several chances, but just couldn't kill Boulevard off.

Blazers meanwhile struggled to contain the pair, and a mix-up between Ajani Gibbons and Broadbelt gave Simons another half chance, but this time his header went just over the crossbar.

Blazers did drag themselves out of their malaise to briefly threaten Rangers, but substitute Temiko Wilson wasted two golden opportunities to put his level, first heading well wide when he was left unmarked in the Rangers box, and then firing straight at Smith when he found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat.

In the end Rangers were worthy winners, and will cause some problems for any of the teams still left in the competition.

Boulevard: R.Broadbelt, D.Bell, N.Smith, A.Gibbons, M.Parsons, C.Simmons, H.Burrows, S.Furbert (T.Wilson, 58), R.Burgess (D-Y Taylor, 77), D.Stovell, D.Bascome

Substitutes not used: P.Parsons.

Southampton Rangers: J.Smith, M.Williams, K.Simmons, K.Tucker, J.Charles (J.Hill, 76), K.Smith, A.Raynor, T.Brown (J.Bean, 61), D.Francis, V.Perinchief, R.Simons

Substitutes not used: T.Flood, D.Tucker, Y.Tucker

Goals: Simons 29

Yellow cards: Broadbelt, Smith, Stovell (Boulevard); K.Tucker, Bean (Rangers)

Referee: A.Mouchette

Man of the match: V.Perinchief (Rangers)