St. George's had the better of the first half and Devonshire Colts the second as Clay Smith's seventh goal of the season in the 11th minute separated these teams at Wellington Oval.

The St. George's victory served to spoil Colts' hopes of a Dudley Eve spot while at the same time improved their own position in the standings from seventh to sixth, level on points with Colts. The loss was the first in the league for Colts since October 15.

St. George's got into the attacking mode right from the start and forced the game's first corner after just 18 seconds. The goal that kept both points at Wellington Oval came from a smart piece of finishing by Smith. He slotted the ball past the advancing Randy Darrell after a pass into the middle by Dean Minors on the left had put Smith clear following a quick St. George's break.

Smith, Minors and Marlon Outerbridge combined well in attack for St. George's during the early stages as the Colts back four of Derek Wright, McKonnen Hollis, Anthony Wilson and Dean Smith were kept busy in front of 'keeper Darrell.

Just a minute after Smith's opener the home team almost scored a second, but this time Gregg Foggo failed to connect properly with a knock-on by Smith to a Herbie Bascome free kick.

Another penetrating move by St. George's in the 20th minute created a good scoring opportunity but this time Smith's favoured left foot volleyed inches past a post after Outerbridge slid the ball behind the defence to set up the striker.

Colts' raids at the other end were rare and whenever they did get into the final third the St. George's defence of Andre Todd, Herbie Bascome and brothers Philip and Dean Bailey snuffed out the danger as Troy Hall was seldom tested. So keen were Devonshire Colts to jump start their attack that they brought on Quincy Aberdeen for Marvin Lewis after 39 minutes.

After a pep talk from coaches Lorenzo Symonds and David Furbert at the half, Colts came out in the second half with more determination and enjoyed a period of pressure from the outset, after Damon Ming had come on for the injured Wilson. And even though St. George's faded after the break Colts still could not produce an equaliser.

Craig Smith tried a long range shot from deep on the left that went past the far post while in the closing minutes Ellington Weldon's shot was turned around for a corner by Hall. From Aberdeen's corner on the left Hall made an important grab inside the six-yard box in a crowded area.

St. George's: T.Hall; A.Todd, H.Bascome, P.Bailey, D.Bailey; C.Greaves, G.Foggo (J.Laws 68 mins), Q.Francis, M.Outerbridge, D.Minors, C.Smith.

Dev. Colts: A.Wilson (D.Ming 45 mins), M.Hollis, D.Wright, D.Smith; J.Samuels, S.Burgess, E.Weldon, M.Lewis (Q.Aberdeen 39 mins), H.Trott, C.Smith.

Referee: Frank Drayton.

Men of match: Clay Smith (St. George's), Jah Samuels (Dev. Colts).