North Village 2 PHC 0

Goals in the opening half by Clay Smith and Jamaul Boyles saw leaders North Village strengthen their Premier Division title hopes with this impressive victory over their closest rivals at Bernard Park yesterday.

The win leaves Village four points clear at the top of the table, with PHC remaining in second place.

Though deserving winners, Village had to fight hard late in the second half to preserve their lead as the Zebras pinned them back with a wave of sustained attacks following a tactical change which saw Stephen Astwood and Otis Steede - labouring in midfield for the entire first half - move further upfield.

Smith put the home side ahead after 28 minutes after a blunder by skipper and centre-back Stanton Lewis.

Speedy Kevin Jennings raced down the right flank and watched as Lewis failed to clear his cross after miskicking in front of goal. It was then left to Smith to cash in as he gleefully took advantage of the gift and drilled the ball home from 12 yards.

Then after 41 minutes, Village went up 2-0 when Boyles whipped the ball home during a goalmouth scramble which followed a corner from Kevin Jennings.

PHC had come close to scoring after 15 minutes when Steede masterfully dribbled around centre-back Kimandi Binns and fired in a crisp shot from the edge of the box that had Village goalkeeper Dwayne (Streaker) Adams diving full length to push around the post.

And in a half clearly dominated by Village, PHC carved out another chance two minutes before the interval only for striker Dennis Russell to make a mess of the opportunity.

After a ball bounced in Russell's favour, the lanky forward got behind the defence but hit the ball poorly, directly at the advancing Adams who deflected it for a corner.

Scoring opportunities were rare early in the second half with both teams attempting to settle down and play attractive soccer, but time and again their promising approach work evaporated outside the box as the defences cleared with ease.

As the half progressed, PHC made the changes that enabled them to play with more momentum but the improvement failed to produce a goal, shots by centre-back Chris Furbert and substitute Torri Russell both sailing over the bar.

While PHC threatened, it was Village who came closest to scoring when, three minutes from the end, centre-back Lewis cleared a shot from Vernon Tankard off the goal-line.

North Village: D.Adams; J.Thomas, K.Binns, Kent.Jennings, R.Spence; J.Boyles, M.Hansey, D.Warren (K.Dill, 85 mins); Kev. Jennings, C.Smith (M.Dill, 85 mins), V.Tankard. Subs not used: T.Jennings, C.Augustus, A.Smith.

PHC: S.Dupres; J.Sealy, C.Furbert, S.Lewis, C.Dowling; J.Raynor (M.Williams, 78 mins), O.Steede, S.Russell (J.Ball, 56 mins), S.Astwood; R.Lightbourne, (T.Russell, 56 mins), D.Russell. Subs not used: J.Smith, N.Simons. Booked: O.Steede, S.Astwood.

Referee: A.Mouchette

Men of the match: J.Thomas (Village); O.Steede (PHC)

Saturday night's scheduled Premier Division clash at BAA Field between Wolves and Devonshire Colts was called off due to a waterlogged pitch after the opening women's division game between Wolves Girls and Prospect had already been played.

In yesterday's only other Premier match, Somerset and Devonshire Cougars shared the spoils in a 3-3 draw at Somerset.