A lone first-half strike by Dennis Robinson was enough to give North Village a win over Devonshire Colts at Frog Lane, keeping alive their slim championship hopes.

Robinson connected with a sliding effort from close range a minute before the interval to catapult his side ahead of Somerset into third place in the First Division, a point behind new leaders Boulevard and second-placed Dandy Town, with one match remaining.

However, in what was an absolute `yawner', Village showed little of the form or character required of champions.

The result was a scrappy affair that included two missed penalties -- one by each team -- which had neither able to consistently string together passes or construct attacking forays against the opposition.

And while the Red Devils controlled much of the action, they appeared more a team playing out the string than one challenging for a title, this against a Colts outfit featuring several players normally associated with the Alliance Division.

In fact it was the home side that got out of the blocks early, with just two minutes having passed when Colts' midfielder Leonard Hypolite nearly put them ahead with a 20-yard shot that dropped inches over the crossbar following a right-wing corner.

Elliot Jennings responded by crashing a left foot shot into the side netting from close range, despite the attention of two defenders.

After 20 minutes Village goalkeeper Gladwin Edness was forced to tip a goal-bound drive by Dean Smith against the bar after a fine overlapping move on the right by the full-back.

A minute later more Colts pressure earned them a penalty as Paul Hollis was fouled by Mike Hansey, however Edness was up to the task, spectacularly diving to his right to snare Ellington Weldon's attempt.

At the other end 11 minutes later Village suffered a similar scenario, as Maceo Dill was hacked down by Jermel Belboda, but Derek Bell saw his weak spot kick smothered by Randy Darrell going to his left.

What ensued was a litany of errors by the visitors as they missed no less than four opportunities to move ahead.

Robinson finally ended the drought in the 44th minute when Maceo Dill beat Keenan Burchall for pace on the right side before squaring the ball into the middle, leaving Robinson to apply the finishing touch.

The second half offered even less reward -- both for players and spectators -- in what was already a dour affair, and the only complaint when referee Richard Knight blew the final whistle was that he had not done so earlier...much earlier.

Devonshire Colts: R.Darrell; D.Smith, Jermel Belboda, M.Hollis, K.Burchall; L.Hypolite, P.Hollis (S.Waldron 57 mins); V.Ball (D.Zuill 70 mins); C.Smith, R.Jones E.Weldon.

North Village: G.Edness; K.Grant, C.Roberts, D.Bell, A.Simons; S.Franks, M.Hansey, D.Robinson (Q.Paynter 73 mins); M.Dill (C.Furbert 79 mins), E.Jennings, S.Dill.

Referee: Richard Knight.

Men of the match: Randy Darrell (Devonshire Colts), Gladwin Edness (North Village).