Southampton Rangers scored a last gasp goal to snatch a hard-fought home victory over newly crowned Dudley Eve champions Devonshire Colts yesterday.

Rangers clawed their way back into a well-matched game after going in 1-0 down at half time, and their persistent pressure in the final 45 minutes secured them a deserved three points.

The decisive strike from Omari Hart came with two minutes left on the clock.

Hart was fed on the left wing by substitute Janeiruo Tucker, who replaced Kwame Tucker just five minutes earlier.

With a defender closing in on him on the left hand side of the box, Hart fired a well struck shot which went to the right of goalkeeper Troy Hall.

Rangers coach Earl Basden said after the match: "Our players showed a lot of heart and spirit. The match was fairly evenly matched for the latter part.

"We always tend to leave it late against them here. They just won the Dudley Eve tropy and have played a lot of football recently so we knew if we ran hard at them they were bound to tire.'' Colts coach David Furbert said: "I'm disappointed, that's all I'm going to say.'' The match began with a minute's silence for Howard Raynor, a founding member of Southampton Rangers, who was buried last week.

The game was tightly contested in the open 45 minutes with few chances created and Colts ending the opening half the stronger.

Rangers went close in the 13th minute when Tucker headed a free kick just wide Colts right back Sullivan Phillips, who had an outstanding match, defended well and went on a series of dangerous overlapping breaks down the wing.

Winger Craig Darrell had a chance to open the scoring for Rangers in the 23rd minuite but delayed too long before shooting.

It was Colts, looking the more confident side, who went ahead in the 31st minute. Rangers keeper Randy Darrell made an excellent one handed save on the ground from a powerful shot, but Quincy Aberdeen was on hand to tap in the rebound.

Rangers almost replied eight minutes later when a corner flashed across the box, but no one was there to convert. On 40 minutes, Kwame Tucker hit a great 30 yard shot which narrowly missed.

Rangers stepped up the pressure in the second half as Darrell came more into the game. At one point, he turned his man well before twisting in the box to deliver a dangerous cross, but there was no one to meet it.

In the 67th minute, Colts defender Jermel Belboda brought him down in the box for a penalty after the winger had cleverly slipped past him. Troy Hall saved the spot kick from Sheridan Ming but the midfielder followed up to net the rebound.

Rangers continued to pile on the pressure, with Rohan sending in a shot just past the right hand post after a great run.

Darrell went down in the box with three minutes to go but was adjudged to have handled the ball. It would have been a soft penalty, but Rangers had no need of another spot kick as Hart sealed the points.

Rangers: Randy Darrell, N.Grant, R.Belboda, P.Brangman, Antwone Tucker, S.Ming, O.Hart. Kwame Tucker (J.Tucker 84 mins), Craig Darrell, N.Smith, R.Simons.

Colts: T.Hall, S.Phillips, S.Burgess, N. Samuels, J.Belboda, M.Hollis, T.Smith, D.Ming, J.Laws (G.Trott 25 mins), Q.Aberdeen (C.Hill 63 mins).

Referee: Calvin Simmons.

Men of the match: Craig Darrell (Rangers); S.Phillips (Colts) Yellow cards: R.Simons, Antwone Tucker (Rangers); M. Hollis, D. Ming (Colts).