Devonshire Cougars practically handed North Village their second successive Premier Division championship last night after Boulevard Blazers edged by the title contenders 2-1 at BAA Field.

Not intimidated by a Cougars attack which had recently acquired a knack for blowing their opponents clean off the pitch, Boulevard made the most of two first-half defensive lapses, Tekeyhi Walker and Raymond Burgess pouncing to upset the form books.

Raymond Beach pulled one back midway through the second-half for Cougars but Blazers hung on and could also afford to miss an 80th minute penalty when substitute Melchisedec Gibbons' spot-kick was saved by Devonshire `keeper Ricardo Brangman.

While Blazers virtually assured themselves of Premier Division football with last night's result, for Cougars, there simply would be no "ol?" as they failed miserably in their bid to take over top spot and keep the title race interesting. Village can now take the title with a win over bottom side PHC tomorrow.

With the appearance of a ship without a rudder, Cougars looked anything but a team challenging for a league championship in the early goings. And despite possessing an attack that had smacked in 12 goals in their previous three outings, it began to look as though it would take a compass to help their forwards find the target. Veteran player Shawn Smith - forced to play in the middle in the absence of Mark Smith - finally threw up a challenge but his soft header posed little problems for Blazers' `keeper Shejuan Swan.

However, Boulevard did not fare much better themselves, skipper Shaki Crockwell taking until the 19 minute to test Brangman with a haphazard shot from 12 yards.

Cougars were not so lucky in the 35th minute when Moroccan import Farid El Karfa sent in a high diagonal cross which took an awkward bounce and evaded the grasp of Brangman, allowing an opportunistic Walker to stab the ball into the vacated net.

This goal seemed to finally awaken the sleeping giant and Cougars responded by forcing three successive corners, but all to no avail.

Two minutes before the half, they dug themselves into a deeper hole, when again poor defensive work proved their undoing. Challenging for a high loose ball, despite the close presence of three Devonshire defenders, Burgess somehow came into possession just inside the 18 yard box and made no mistake with his well-timed lob over an onrushing Brangman.

Blazers almost increased their advantage to three after the break when seconds after kick-off the killer one-two combination of Crockwell and Burgess almost saw the latter convert at the far post from close range.

Given another reprieve, Cougars replied with Beach and Wolfe narrowly shooting wide of the upright as the visitors desperately sought to get back into contention.

At the other end, Crockwell forced Brangman to execute the save of the night with a cracking volley on the run that the latter somehow managed to push around the post. Burgess barely missed getting a head to the ball from the following corner-kick.

Blazers fans were left dumbfounded in the 71st minute when referee Lyndon Raynor failed to acknowledge his linesman's flag after Crockwell was sent tumbling in the box while challenging Brangman to a high ball.

Cougars profited from that let off when in the 78th minute Beach managed to get a boot to a low cross from out on the left.

However, their celebrations were muted when Blazers were awarded a penalty four minutes later, but once again they escaped further punishment when Gibbons fluffed the chance.

: S.Swan, R.Wilson, L.Stevens, Jahmah Samuels, T.Trott, T.Walker (V.Phillips, 83 mins), J.Samuels, F.Karfa (M.Parsons, 68 mins), R.Burgess, S.Crockwell, C.Trott (M.Gibbons, 72 mins).: R.Brangman, O.Butterfield, K.Swan (E.Bean, 56 mins), D.Brangman, J.DeShields, S.Smith, W.Salaam, L.Tota, Y.Pitt (M.Doucet, 79 mins), H.Wolfe, R.Beach.: O.Butterfield (Cougars).: R.Burgess (Boulevard); W.Salaam (Cougars).: Lyndon Raynor.

l