On current form, a dearth of goals in this fixture might have been predictable.

North Village have not won in the league since beating St. George's in October; this was their seventh game since without a win.

For that matter, PHC do not concede goals very often, with this their ninth clean sheet of the season.

Honours were even in the yellow card department, too: four apiece. Apart from two PHC players who earned referee Richard Knight's displeasure by joining the second half after it had started, most of the other bookings were for poor tackles caused by bad timing rather than malice.

North Village dominated the first half and most of the second. Forced wide every time they proceeded down the field, they won a dozen corners, but the chance of the day, one of the very few real moments of possibility, fell to PHC with 20 minutes remaining in the game.

From about 25 yards out, Ottis Steede hit a high, dipping ball which would have just sneaked under the crossbar into the top right hand corner had Village keeper Dwayne Adams not risen magnificently to fist the ball clear and save the day.

The shot came during a rare sustained burst of pressure from the Zebras which brought three corners in two minutes. But each came to nought, as did so much else on the day.

Never boring, the match was keenly-fought, closely-contested, and, ultimately produced a fair result.

If the moral victory in a scoreless draw goes to the team which makes all the running, the day belonged to North Village. But if the side that takes the pressure to emerge with a clean sheet gets the moral honours, then PHC can be said to have carried the day.

But a large and well-behaved crowd went home satisfied with the entertainment, so perhaps they should be counted the winners overall.

PHC : J.Smith, E.Hunt, C.Dowling, M.Wade, W.Trott (D.Wilson, 62 mins), D.Outerbridge, B.Bean, O.Steede, K.Mills (R.Lightbourne, 5 mins), S.Ming, T.Russell.

North Village : D.Adams, K.Grant, M.Hansey, G.Romaine, A.Simon, R.Spence, C.Dill, N.Smith, J.Smith, K.Jennings, D.Wade (S.Dill, 62 mins).

Referee : Richard Knight Men of the Match : Enwar Hunt (PHC); Cal Dill (North Village).