Dandy Town 1 Boulevard 1

Deputising Dandy Town striker Kevin Hurdle drilled home an 88th minute equaliser to earn Hornets a fair share of the spoils at the Barn yesterday - but it was courageous ten-man Boulevard who escaped with a winning draw.

A share of the points for a Melchisedec Gibbons-less Blazers proved just enough as yesterday's final result secured a Champions Cup berth for the visitors who managed to withstand a tumultuous second-half onslaught from the home team and squeeze into the inaugural festive competition on goal difference over idle North Village.

Town, missing the likes of Lionel Furbert, Randy Swan along with Khano and Carlos Smith, remained atop the Premier Division despite having to settle for a stalemate in awful weather conditions hardly conducive to high calibre football.

Despite having a numerical advantage after only 17 minutes, blowing a golden opportunity from the penalty spot and then falling behind to an Angelo Simmons penalty on the hour, Town's championship pedigree rose to the fore as they shifted into top gear and never took their foot off the throttle, virtually setting up shop in Blazers terrain for the much of the second half.

It was during this period of sustained pressure that Blazers ‘keeper Shejuan (Shabba) Swan produced perhaps his finest performance between the posts, bravely throwing his body all around the penalty area while, at times, managing to get just enough glove on the ball to frustrate a hungry Town attack.

But it was always going to be a tall order shutting out a persistent Hornets frontline that repeatedly buzzed around the goal in the latter stages of a contest played in torrential downpours and under the lights.

Swan's one and only mistake of the match opened the door for Town to pounce and ultimately deny his team from coming away with maximum points. Latching onto a ball through the middle, Hurdle capitalised on his own rebound after Swan failed to cleanly collect his initial drive from point-blank range.

But up until that point, Town looked anything but championship material as it was Blazers who took the match to their hosts from the outset with forward Raymond Burgess nearly announcing his team's arrival with a rasping volley that dipped onto the upright after only three minutes.

However, Blazers hard work almost came undone at the seams when national team defender Robert Wilson handled Seyoum Tuzo's goal-bound shot on the line, leaving referee Anthony Mouchette no other option but to send the player on his way to an early shower and point to the penalty spot.

But Blazers would dodge the bullet when an over-confident David Lawler lofted his spot kick high and wide over the bar.

Town, though, would regroup and with their advantage enjoy the majority of possession heading towards the half. Often, however, good approach work amounted to little as Lashun Dill, Ty-Ron Douglas, Tuzo and Jared Peniston wasted golden opportunities - and they would pay a heavy price once play restarted after the break.

Hornets were rocked back on their heels right on the hour when a high punt forward in the box found the outstretched arm of left full back Adam Outerbridge. Exhibiting an air of confidence well beyond his teenage years, Bermuda Under-17 national player Angelo Simmons wrong footed ‘keeper Antoine Lightbourne with his well taken spot kick which nestled inside the bottom right-hand corner of goal to give Blazers a shock lead.

But from this point onwards, Hornets took full command against a Blazers side now playing with all ten men behind the ball in a desperate attempt to preserve their slim lead.

With the pitch totally saturated, play in the second-half proved scrappy. This, however, did little to discourage Town from throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Blazers in search of the crucial equaliser.

Something just had to give and it would take a rare mistake from Swan to finally unlock the visitors' defence and leave Town two points clear of second-placed PHC Zebras over the Christmas break.

Dandy Town: A.Lightbourne (D.Johnson, 68 mins), A.Outerbridge, D.Lawler, M.Lowe, C.Anderson, T.Douglas (D.Zuill, 68 mins), K.Hurdle, J.Peniston, S.Tuzo (capt), O.Steede, L.Dill (K.Butterfield, 70 mins).

Boulevard: S.Swan, C.Trott, Jahmarley Samuels, J.Samuels, T.Trott, G.Johnson (D.Warren, 58 mins), S.Lewis, R.Wilson, M.Parsons (capt), R.Burgess, A.Simmons (D.Russell, 64 mins).

Yellow cards: S.Tuzo ( Town); C.Trott, J.Samuels (Boulevard)

Red card:R.Wilson (Boulevard)

Men of the match: D.Lawler (Town); S.Swan (Boulevard)

Referee: Anthony Mouchette.