For all that this was, a middle-of-the-table match on a bumpy Lords pitch with noticeable bald patches, neither side lacked application or resolve.

What was missing was goals.

The ball found the back of the net on three occasions, each ruled offside or subsequent to a previous foul.

The referee reached for his yellow card four times, thrice against Boulevard players, but to judge the game by the number of bookings would be misleading.

For the most part, it was played with exactly the right blend of spirit and determination.

What was lacking, ultimately, was skill, not will.

An overcast day, with rain threatening but never present, saw Somerset off to a flying start down the left wing, with Duane DeRoza and Rodney Bascome finding the corner and crossing almost with impunity for the first 20 minutes of the match.

Boulevard rearranged themselves to fend off the threat, whereupon the Trojans switched their efforts to the right wing, where they now found ample space.

Meanwhile, in midfield, the Blazers' Dwight Warren and Ross Lambe were running rings around their opposition -- to no avail as their forward movement was repeatedly stifled by a well-marshalled Somerset defence.

After 26 minutes, Somerset's Eugene Dean was booked for a trip while he was lying on the ground, which seemed harsh. Referee Dennis Wainwright was right on top of the play, and may have seen something the enraged Somerset bench, at the other end of the field, did not.

Ten minutes before half-time, Somerset goalkeeper Andre Hendrickson acrobatically tipped the ball inches over the bar in what was his first real save of the day. A few minutes later, Somerset gained three corners in quick succession, but could make nothing of them.

From the last of these corners, with two minutes left in the half, Boulevard's David Gibbs broke loose, but missed from close range at what would have been an ideal time to score.

The second half started crisply, but soon enough lapsed into more of the shapeless same.

Within three minutes of the restart, Boulevard's Vernon Eve was booked for encroachment, and 13 minutes later he was joined in the referee's book by team-mate Leroy Stevens for an ugly side-on tackle, the only semi-serious offence of the day.

Play moved from end to end, but without generating the excitement that phrase suggests. With both defences closing down their attacking opposition, neither side could achieve dominance.

Midway through the second half, Boulevard's Dean Boyles was booked for a trip; a few minutes later the Trojans' Jermaine Burrows scored well after the whistle had gone for a foul.

Leroy Stevens of Boulevard netted the best disallowed goal of the day -- a lovely glancing header -- with just five minutes left, and after that both teams were content to see the day out and get indoors before the rain started.

With this result, Boulevard have all but lost their League title, but at this rate -- seven draws out of out eight League games played -- they have already logged an achievement of a different kind.

Boulevard : M.Steede, W.Richardson, M.Trott, V.Eve, D.Boyles, L.Stephens, L.Hypolite, S.Smith (J.Samuels, 64 mins), D.Warren, R.Lambe (C.Rogers, 71 mins), D.Gibbs.

Somerset Trojans : A.Hendrickson, R.Butterfield, E.Dean (D.Basden, 68 mins), D.DeRoza, R.Scott, D.Woolridge (K.Simmons, 60 mins), D.Durrant, T.Dickinson, L. Crofton, R.Bascome, J.Burrows Men of the Match : Dwight Warren (Boulevard), Rodney Bascome (Somerset) Referee : Dennis Wainwright