Boulevard 5

Ireland Rangers 1

Ireland Rangers proved no match for a ruthless Boulevard in a lopsided affair at BAA Field on Saturday night that amounted to no more than shooting practice for the home side.

After nearly 30 minutes of painful-to-watch, kick-and-run football Blazers finally settled down into a groove and opened the floodgates before blowing the visitors clean off the pitch.

The versatile Wolde Place got the ball rolling when he served up a 'whopper' to give Blazers the lead before Ian Coke's strike nine minutes later ultimately proved to be the proverbial straw that broke Rangers' back.

Boulevard captain Chae Simmons also got in on the scoring act with by far the best goal of the night while Angelo Simmons netted twice either side of the half to put the visitors completely out of their misery.

Second-half sub Regeno Gomes grabbed a late consolation for a Rangers team that never showed up and failed to get a single shot on target until the 40th minute.

Angelo Simmons and Coke were a constant threat to the Rangers defence with their alarming pace up front. But it was the tactical move to shuffle Simmons and the menacing Takeyhi Walker on opposite flanks that eventually told as the visitors gradually came unstuck at the rear.

Blazers took the lead when the hard tackling Cud Joe Matthews won a midfield battle for possession and sliced open the defence with a well threaded pass that Place clinically slotted past goalkeeper Chris Bromby in stride.

And the dust had hardly settled when the fleet-footed Coke won a foot race, danced around the hapless Bromby and slipped the ball into the empty net to double Blazers' lead and effectively end the match as a contest.

But Blazers were not done manhandling their opponents just yet as skipper Chae Simmons sent the sparse crowd rushing to their feet with a humdinger of a volley from a tight angle that flew into the roof of the net to give the former Wolves player a second goal in as many outings before being substituted.

Bermuda under-23 striker Simmons then rubbed salt in the wound right on the stroke of half-time with a low drive that left Bromby stranded at the near post as the traffic continued to flow one way. And after toying around with their opponents for much of the second half, Simmons punctuated the rout with a simple tap-in after sub Reiko Trott had done all the leg work.

Rangers softened the blow somewhat by pulling one back in the closing minutes through Smith who popped up unchecked in the box and beat 'keeper Shejuan (Shabba) Swan between the uprights with a low drive from yards out.

But the visitors' widest margin of defeat so far this season was further compounded by the losses of defender Leslie Trew (groin) and forward Junior DeSilva (back) to injury while Blazers also did not go unscathed as 17-year-old midfielder Niko Smith (injured shin) was carried off just before the half after being hacked down by Rangers sub Jonathan Bean who had been on the pitch for no more than a minute.

Boulevard: S.Swan, J.Payne (R.Trott, 65 mins), W.Shuaib, Jah.Samuels, C.Matthews, N.Smith (D.Taylor, 45 mins), A.Simmons, C.Simmons (J.Samuels, 50 mins), T.Walker, I.Coke, W.Place.

Rangers: C.Bromby, J.Martin, L.Trew (J.Bean, 45 mins), W.Anderson, G.Butterfield, J.Rogers, S.Brangman, Y.Pitt, M.Lopes (R.Gomes, 75 mins),J.DeSilva (A.Outerbridge, 35 mins), S.Fubler. Yellow cards: C.Matthews (Boulevard); J.Rogers, J.Bean, A,Outerbridge (Rangers).

Men of the match: A.Simmons (Boulevard); W.Anderson (Rangers).

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.