North Village 0 St. George's 1

Unbeaten North Village were brought down to earth by the most unlikely opponents as St. George's Colts scored a shock win at Bernard Park to move off the bottom of the Premier Division yesterday.

Village, the last of the unbeaten teams coming into the weekend, were thus denied the opportunity to take over sole possession of first place.

The Red Devils didn't panic when Sinclair Gibbons broke the deadlock just four minutes into the second half. But the longer the match went on without an equaliser, the more urgency they began to show. And in the end their efforts proved too little too late.

Village upped the tempo but the visitors matched whatever they could throw at them as 19-year-old Khabir Dill remained composed in the St. George's goal in his second game of the season, while the back four of Neil Paynter, Uroy Fox, Dean Bailey and Kervin Moreno stood firm in front of him.

"I didn't take St. George's lightly for one minute, knowing Neil Paynter's capabilities," said Village coach Scott Morton.

"I tell my players every game that teams will come to play against us in a very competitive way. We failed to meet that aggression."

The Village loss means there are just three points separating the top six teams in the standings after three matches.

"Every game I expect to win, whether it's against Dandy Town, Devonshire Colts or Wolves," said Morton, who insists the loss won't affect the team's build-up to the Martonmere Cup final in two weeks' time.

"I think it's a good build-up, ultimately you want a victory but every game teaches you something," said the coach.

"It's going to be an unpredictable season, I hope every team remembers that."

St. George's were desperate for points after losing their first two matches, and the longer the first half went on the more their confidence grew as Village failed to exert their authority.

The best of the early chances fell to the East Enders in the 18th minute when Paynter's long free kick into the Village box dropped behind their defence but Kyle Williams could only put his header into the side netting.

Village suffered a setback in the 34th minute when key defender Kentoine Jennings went off with a shoulder injury after falling awkwardly from an ariel challenge by Sinclair Gibbons. Village played for six minutes with 10 men as they hoped Jennings would be able to return. Eventually they replaced him with Domico Coddington and switched Michael Hansey from an attacking position back to defence.

Village put two efforts into the side netting in the closing minutes of the half, first from Jamaul Boyles and then in injury time when Coddington missed the target after Williams lost possession on the right side just outside the box.

St. George's would have felt something was in it for them at the half and they responded as such, breaking the deadlock with their first league goal of the season in the 49th minute.

Village did a poor job of clearing a ball in their box and finally Sinclair Gibbons hooked a shot into the net from 10 yards out. They then missed a chance to add to that lead as Herbie Bascome poked a shot just wide of the far post following a cross from Gibbons.

Village upped the pressure in the final half hour as they forced corners and free kicks in a desperate attempt to equalise. Coddington blasted over from 10 yards after the ball had been laid back in his path from a Cal Dill corner. Another Village substitute, Vernon Tankard, then drove a right-footed shot just past the far post as St. George's were forced to hang on.

They brought on Wayne Henry to give some experience to their midfield as Village threw players forward in search of a goal.

"It feels great getting three points, we couldn't afford another loss," said player-coach Paynter. "At half-time I thought we should have come away with at least one goal.

"We came up here looking for three points, the morale was high from the Rangers game. We're not going to just get the respect we deserve, we have to earn it."

North Village: Z.Hendrickson; S.DeShields, A.Simons, Ken.Jennings (D.Coddington 40 mins), D.Thomas, J.Boyles, T.Jennings, C.Dill, M.Hansey, J.Davis (K.Dill 76 mins), R.Spence (V.Tankard 62 mins).

St. George's: K.Dill, D.Bailey, K.Moreno, U.Fox, N.Paynter, M.Outerbridge E.Signor (W.Henry 79 mins), S.Gibbons, G.Foggo (W.Pitt 90 mins), H.Bascome (K.Butterfield 71mins), K.Williams.

Referee: Lyndon Raynor

Yellow cards: None

Men of the match: Cal Dill (Village), Khabir Dill (St. George's).