A rasping 25-yard volley by Leonard Hypolite proved decisive as Devonshire Colts toppled league leaders North Village yesterday.

The ball came to Hypolite in the 76th minute following a Colts corner.

He caught the ball cleanly, powering it low and to the right of a diving Carlyle Crockwell.

The goal was just about what Colts deserved in a scrappy encounter, which failed to live up to expectations.

Vicious winds made ball control difficult, and neither side got on top of the conditions.

Keeping the ball on the ground with a short-passing game would have been the key. But for some reason was ignored.

The game at Frog Lane field was also plagued by niggling fouls, giving referee Calvin Simons plenty to do.

Nevertheless, both teams sufficiently upped the tempo in the second half to give the crowd something to shout about.

In the opening skirmishes, the Red Devils made some promising inroads down the left flank.

But although Tito Smith found plenty of space, he failed to capitalise because of poor finishing.

In the 12th minute, Colts very nearly opened their account from a free kick.

Hypolite rapped the crossbar with a speculative centre-come-shot from 30 yards.

Crockwell seemed taken by surprise as the ball, carried by the wind, soared over his head.

Vic Ball also went close for Colts with a free kick -- this one just outside the 18-yard area in the 20th minute.

He struck the ball with the inside of his boot, sending it curling to the left of Crockwell.

At the other end, Village did not seriously trouble Antoine Lightbourne until the 35th minute.

It followed a brilliant swivel-and-shoot by Eugene Simmons from 20 yards out.

After the restart both sides came out with fresh determination to get on with the job.

Village replaced striker Philip Clarke with Sean Dill as they hunted for the elusive goal.

Kevin Jennings soon had Lightbourne stretching after some soccer wizardry down the right flank.

As he cut into the centre he unleashed a low, fierce 10-yard shot, which had Lightbourne diving.

Jennings' darting runs were a constant menace to Colts throughout the afternoon.

But the Red Devils were simply not cohesive enough to unlock Colts' defence.

In the 69th minute, Colts' substitute Jermel Belboda went close after linking up with Harrison Trott and stabbing the ball to the right of Crockwell.

After Hypolite's strike, substitute Aljame Zuill nearly made it two in the 82nd minute.

Trott lofted the ball high into the penalty area, only for Zuill to head it over the bar.

Devonshire Colts: A.Lightbourne, D.Williams. D.Wright, J.Samuels, L.Hypolite, G.Burt, H.Trott, V.Ball (J.Belboda, 67 mins), K.Smith (A.Zuill, 77 mins), E.Weldon, Q.Aberdeen.

North Village: C.Crockwell, A.Simons, K.Simons, D.Bell, S.Franks (T.Darrell, 79 mins), R.Edness, K.Jennings, E.Jennings, T.Smith, E.Simmons, P.Clarke (S.Dill, 54 mins).

Referee: Calvin Simons.

Men of the match: Leonard Hypolite (Devonshire Colts); Kevin Jennings (North Village).

THAT'S FAR ENOUGH -- North Village's Kacy Simons, left, is about to halt Quincey Aberdeen in his tracks in yesterday's feature game at Frog Lane field.