Paget 1 Boulevard 0

Delray Rawlins fired home the lone goal inside ten minutes to give Paget Lions a vital victory over fellow strugglers Boulevard at White Hill Field on Saturday.

Rawlins latched onto a precise square pass by Xave Smith to control and finish low past the diving Blazers keeper DeAz Chambers in the eighth minute.

The victory moved Paget out of the relegation zone at the expense of Young Men’s Social Club, who play away at St George’s on Sunday, and Lions captain Diaje Hart was pleased to come out on top.

“It was always going to be a dogfight and I am pleased we got the three points,” Hart said.

“We should have scored more but we are happy with the clean sheet. We have been unlucky in many ways this season but I definitely feel we have enough to stay up.”

After Rawlins scored, both sides created their fair share of openings in a frantic first half and Blazers should have equalised when Darius Cox played a majestic lofted ball over the top into space and Kyah Blyden beat the offside trap to control it.

However, the winger was thwarted by Paget keeper Jade Morrissey, returning after injury. Morrissey clattered into Blyden outside his area but with a few defenders covering he received only a yellow card.

Paget pushed for a second goal and nearly found it when a neat sequence of passing culminated with Xave Smith pulling back for Tristen Davis to whip towards goal, but his effort drifted wide of the far post.

Blazers lost one key player when Cox suffered a hamstring injury in the 38th minute and was replaced by Kelvon Butterfield but the bottom side never gave up and Blyden clipped a free kick to the back post, where Ernest Trott’s downward header was thwarted by Morrissey.

Paget’s Xion Smith was allowed to evade the Boulevard midfield with quick feet before his low effort was blocked by substitute Butterfield. From the resulting corner, Rawlins glanced his header off the outside of the post.

The home side continued to press for the cushion of a second goal before half time and looked most likely to get it from set pieces.

Nelson Carpenter recycled a corner that was poorly cleared by the Boulevard defence and Hart was left alone to collect the driven pass inside the box. The Paget captain forced a reflex save from Chambers with his cutting effort that was whizzing towards the near corner.

Keedai Astwood then clipped a free-kick into the Paget penalty area just before half time but his captain Trott could not direct his header on target.

The second half became a battle of attrition, with both sides having periods of possession and territory. Paget largely had the measure of thanks in large part to Davis and Ajani Lee, who kept their positions well and tracked across the pitch to limit Blazers in the second period.

Shakir Smith joined namesakes Xave and Xion on the pitch for Paget in the final half-hour and should have scored just before the end after being found neatly by Nelson Carpenter. But he took too many touches and allowed Jayshun Walker to block his effort.

SCORERS

Paget: Rawlins 8

TEAMS

Paget Lions (4-2-3-1): J Morrissey 7 — Xave Smith 6, R Deshields 7, J Carpenter 6, K Knights 6 — T Davis 8 (sub: K Richardson, 81min), A Lee 7 — Xion Smith 7 (sub: K Leverock, 88), D Hart 6, N Carpenter 6 — D Rawlins 7 (sub: S Smith, 58 5). Substitutes not used: R Russell, A Butterfield, O Tucker, S Bean. Booked: Morrissey, Xion Smith, Deshields.

Boulevard Blazers (4-1-4-1): D Chambers 6 — K Astwood 6, D Cox 5 (sub: K Butterfield, 30 6), I Mallory 7, J Walker 6 — N Dailey 6 (sub: T Gibbons, 56 5) — D Walker 7, E Trott 6, N Smith 6, K Swan 5 (sub: C Summers, 56 6) — K Blyden 5 (sub: A Famous, 74). Substitutes not used: T Lowe. Booked: Dailey, Astwood

Referee: M Wyer