Boulevard 0 Dandy Town 3

Two scorching 25-yard first-half strikes from hard-working midfielder Seion Darrell combined with a tally from substitute Shakir Smith three minutes from the end gave visiting Dandy Town victory by a convincing margin at BAA yesterday.

While nobody likes to lose, the Blazers can take heart from the fact that they were competitive throughout and therefore should not emerge too demoralised by the loss because their opponents were nowhere close to being three goals better.

When female referee Wendy Woodley, officiating her first ever Premier Division game, blew the final whistle the only distinct difference between the two teams were Town's goals - the Blazers matching them territorially and with overall output and ideas in a contest that saw both teams however able to gain any real rhythm. But both get a C-plus for a decent opening league showing.

On a day when their scoring problems were apparent, Blazers were first agonised when striker Angelo Simmons had his crisp shot from close in sensationally saved by Town goalkeeper Mikkail Crockwell after 20 minutes.

Two minutes later a Dennis Zuill pass found Seion Darrell unmarked in midfield and he unleashed a torrid strike which, much to the surprise of everybody, sailed high into the goal with Blazers' goalkeeper Randy Broadbelt not even making an effort to pull it down.

Blazers made an attempt to hit back but the Town defence, marshalled by Zuill, held firm.

But after 36 minutes Simmons of the Blazers slipped through but watched in agony as he was denied by the advancing Crockwell who dived to save his close-range shot.

With two goals being denied the Blazers temporarily lost their edge and Town came into the game with more momentum.

Seconds before the half, it was Darrell who delivered the second for Town, thundering home a virtual carbon copy of the first goal to put his team 2-0 up by the half with the goalkeeper again seemingly unsighted.

A contest which had lacked any real sparkle for an extended period saw both teams play with more desire when things re-started but the increased tempo didn't last long.

Town struggled to gain any sustained flow in their approach work with the Blazers' defence easily able to deal with telegraphed passes while the home side started to look more and more threatening with their counter attacks.

The first 15 minutes saw the Blazers hold a decisive edge with Dunn-Ya Taylor and Chae Simmons close with shots just off target.

Town though recognised their ineptness up front and the entire front three were substituted.

As the Blazers continued to hold a slight upper hand, Town's defence refused to yield and they were eventually let off the hook three minutes from time when substitute Shakir Smith raced down the left flank, shrugged off a challenge by Niro Smith to blast home an angled shot.

The Blazers proved that it just wasn't their day for goals when they missed a penalty right at the end when Angelo Simmons had his shot saved by Crockwell after Keimon Simmons handled in the box.

Boulevard: R.Broadbelt; Jahmaini Samuels (N.Smith, 70 min), Jahmah Samuels, C.Trott (S.Brimmer, 65 min), J.Payne; D.Taylor, C.Simmons, I.Coke (R.Saltus, 75 min); A.Simmons, R.Burgess, T.Walker. Subs not used: W.Place, S.Worrell.

Dandy Town: M.Crockwell; E.Signor, D.Zuill, T.Russell, K.Simmons; M.Parsons, S.Darrell, H.Wolfe; A.Russell (D.Signor, 78 min), L.Holder (C.Andereson, 78 min), L.Dill (S.Smith, 70 min). Subs not used: J.Smith, D.Hill.

Yellow cards: C.Simmons, R.Saltus (Blazers); M.Parsons and L.Dill (Town).

Referee: Wendy Woodley.

Men of the match: D.Taylor (Blazers); Mikkail Crockwell and Seion Darrell (Town).