Southampton Rangers 1

North Village Rams 1

Village coach Elliott Jennings might have been spared the sack at Southampton Oval yesterday. But his team's lacklustre start to the season continued as the visitors barely held on for a share of the spoils in this evenly contested Premier clash which ultimately proved to be a tale of two halves.

Village, who have twice conceded seven goals in matches already this season, took the lead on 13 minutes when the wiry Vernon Tankard stooped low to nod home a Ralph Bean jr rebound and should have had all three points in the bag by the half as they imposed their will upon a lethargic Rangers outfit.

But the home team bounced back after the break when forward Travis Wilkinson fired home from close range on a counter attack to add parity to the scoreline.

Both teams created further chances and hit the post but in the end had to settle for a point in a match that could have easily gone either way.

Rangers assistant coach Janeiro Tucker thought his men were unfortunate not to take maximum points after making amends for a poor first half performance which saw them play second fiddle to their more illustrious opponents.

"I thought we showed guts and determination to come back against a team like Village and were a bit unlucky not to have won the game," he said.

"Village were on top in the first half but in the second half we came back and showed them that we are not going to be anybody's whipping boys."

Newly-promoted Rangers looked anything but Premiership material in the early stages and only after switching from a 4-4-2 to a 5-3-2 formation were they able to stop the Reds dead in their tracks and threaten to run away with the match.

"It's good to get a point in our first game back in the Premier Division in several years and I thought we played quite well," Tucker added. "We counteracted Village's plan and in the end achieved our goal of coming away with at least a point today."

Rams coach Jennings was far from impressed by his team's overall performance and admitted that a plethora of squandered chances in the first half ultimately undermined their own victory hopes.

"Had we put away our chances things might've been different for us . . . but that's football," he said. "We must put away our chances to take some of the pressure off of our defence."

Village virtually had things all their way in the opening stanza but failed to put the match beyond their hosts' reach, enabling Rangers to regroup and claw their way back in contention.

"We didn't score enough goals to take the pressure off of us," added Jennings. "Today we conceded less goals but missed some easy goals.

"But nothing is easy and we will just have to fight harder and put away our chances to get to the next level."

It all looked so promising for the Reds in the early going when when Tankard positioned himself well in the box to head home a Bean rebound that Rangers 'keeper Jason Smith palmed into the dreadlocked forward's path.

And given the amount of chances they had to add to their lead, Rams should have had this match in the bag by the break. The visitors' crisp passing and superior off-the-ball running created all sorts of problems for Rangers. But a slew of missed gilt-edge chances kept Rangers in the match.

Though the hosts' chances were far and few between, striker Bean should have done better when last-man Robert Wilson miskicked in the box. But with time and space on his side Bean, son of former Somerset Trojans striker Everette Wellman, shot harmlessly into the hands of a relieved Calvin Augustus in the Rams' goal.

Bean, however, made amends shortly after the interval when he broke free down the left side, cut back in, and squared the ball to the onrushing Wilkinson who buried his shot inside the far post to level the score.

Bean nearly got his name on the scoresheet seconds later when he charged down the middle. But this time Augustus was equal to the task, palming the ball over the bar.

Rams almost retook the lead against the run of play in the closing stages when a Keith Jennings snapshot came back off the uprights and sub Jared Peniston had a goal ruled offside.

But Rangers had one last trick up their sleeve and came to within inches of pulling off an upset when sub Morricko Iris had a shot come back off the woodwork, much to the collective relief of a Village side now short on ideas and hanging on by a thread.

Southampton Rangers: J.Smith, D.Charles, K.Tucker (capt), K.Simmons, M.Williams, J.Charles, J.Dill, R.Anthony (T.Brown, 45 mins), R.Lowe (M.Iris, 63 mins), T.Wilkinson (T.Flood, 73 mins), J.Bean.

North Village: C.Augustus, R.Wilson (D.Butterfield, 73 mins), D.Edwards, K.Dill, N.Wilkinson, T.Jennings (J.Peniston, 60 mins), J.Jennings, K.Jennings, J.Boyles, V.Tankard (V.Minors Jr, 56 mins), R.Bean Jr (capt).

Yellow cards: D.Charles, J.Bean (Southampton); J.Jennings, K.Jennings (Village)

Men of the match: J.Bean (Southampton); J.Jennings (Village).

Referee: R.Cann.