Champagne corks were flying at the east end last night as St. George's celebrated both a championship and promotion.

Despite being held to a scoreless draw by Boulevard, player/coach Neil Paynter and his troops were still able to revel in the glory of claiming passage to the Premier Division.

In earning a point from the contest and moving to 32 points, St. George's gave themselves an unassailable advantage with only two matches remaining.

Ireland Rangers squandered a perfect opportunity to move closer to the top spot in falling to defeat at the hands of St. David's.

"I'm excited and pleasantly surprised about our achievement,'' said Paynter after being told of the Rangers result. "We were working all year for this very moment and I'm pleased that we have been able to reap the fruits of our labour.'' "What kept us on track were the goals that we set out to accomplish right from the start,'' said Paynter. "Sometimes there is some adversity and you have to take a step back in order to recognise and refocus on what it is you have to do to succeed.'' It was back in 1997 that St. George's last graced the top stage, but were relegated at the end of the season.

Yesterday witnessed St. George's being held by a youthful Boulevard team who appeared not at all intimidated by the league leaders.

Few chances arose in the first half, the best scoring opportunity falling to Tyrone Fubler, whose 16-yard blast brought out a fingertip save from Kimwandar Walker.

The second half began with Lashun Dill forcing centre-half Paynter into a desperation clearance after a near tragic mix-up between goalkeeper Troy Hall and full back Kervin Moreno opened the door for Dill.

Following the close call, St. George's began to dominate, launching waves of attacks. However, when final efforts were not placed high or wide, there was the spectre of Walker to cast away the danger.

YMSC 0 Somerset Eagles 7 Somerset Eagles continued their promotion charge, battering Social Club into submission for the second time in as many weeks.

Stephen Burrows stood out for Eagles, netting three goals, while Rodre Wilson scored twice, and Lamaul Crofton and Jelani Butterfield had one each.

Eagles thus moved to within a point of second place Ireland Rangers for the promotional play-off spot, which will have the second place finisher in the First Division squaring off against the number seven team in the Premier Division over two-legs.

St. David's 2 Ire.Rangers 1 Dropping points to St. David's has made the fight for second in the First Division tighter, but visiting Rangers have themselves to blame for not coming away from Lord's with at least a draw.

Three missed chances early in the second half when they trailed 2-1 could have put the west enders firmly ahead, but with Clifton (Shanty) Anderson failing to capitalise and centre-back Duane DeRosa having his header cleared off the goal-line, Rangers failed to grab the initiative.

However, while the visitors had their periods of agony, the home team similarly suffered through poor execution.

After 80 minutes Otis Minors hit a hard left-footer that sailed inches over the bar while substitute Chris Foggo followed up by heading a corner right at goalkeeper Ricky Tucker, and four minutes from time Kevin Lambe saw his shot deflected off the legs of the goalkeeper.

Things were different in the first half. St. David's earned a 1-0 lead after just five minutes, a thunderbolt free kick from Angelo Cannonier smashing home. Rangers came back to level the score nine minutes later when Sean Symons smartly headed in a corner. But St. David's re-established their one-goal lead after 26 minutes when Keenan Butterfield tapped home a cross from the hard-working Minors.

Prospect 5 Ham Parish 1 Prospect climbed from eighth to seven in the tables, replacing their opponents with this emphatic win at Police field thanks to striker John Richmond. The big forward tore Parish's defence to shreds by scoring four goals.