Devonshire Colts are so bad that they have failed to win a game inside 90 minutes all season.

Winless in the league, and miserable in the cups, Colts could have had few complaints if they'd been relegated this year. Heaven knows they deserved to be.

In contrast St David's Warriors missed out on automatic promotion on goal difference to Somerset Trojans, despite winning more league games than their rivals.

A normal year would have seen Colts go down, and St David's cursing the fates that denied them an opportunity to play in the top flight.

This though was not a normal year, the Bermuda Football Association's restructuring of the game saw to that.

And while this weekend St David's will still be cursing the fates that dangled the promised land in front of them, only to snatch it away at the last moment, Colts will be whispering prayers of thanks for their survival.

Quite how they managed it is anyone's guess. All that can be certain is that they wouldn't have done without the heroics of goalkeeper Gregory Rose.

Even Rose's appearance had an element of luck about it for Colts.

The goalkeeper has been out for eight weeks with a dislocated thumb and only started training again last week.

Rose saved three penalties on Thursday night as Colts won the Premier Division play-off by the narrowest of margins. He saved the first after just three minutes, and then two during a shoot-out that all but shredded the few nerves the spectators had left.

"It's the luck of the draw I guess, I just went the right way and got there," said Rose.

In between there was everything a football game can produce; a red card, an own goal, a player on the verge of a breakdown, pitch invasions, a disallowed goal, a late equaliser, and lots, and lots of tension.

For pure excitement the game was unrivalled all season, and if the BFA want to make things interesting right until the end, they'll keep it for next year as well.

The excitement started in the third minute when Sean Perinchief needlessly brought down St David's striker Otis Minors in the penalty area.

Aaron Lugo calmly stepped up and smashed the ball past Rose, only to be ordered to retake it. The second time Rose guessed right and saved it.

During a frantic first half it was difficult to tell which side was the Premier Division team and which the First Division one.

Certainly St David's were well worth their lead when Angelo Cannonier smashed home his side's second penalty of the night.

By that time Colts were already a man down, having harshly lost Ryan Purnell for dissent.

They should have been down to nine men given Perinchief's reaction to the second penalty. The Colts defender had to be physically restrained by several team mates as he remonstrated with the assistant referee.

At that point Colts were on the verge of a meltdown. And if St David's had kept the pressure on they would have won.

"I had to calm the team down at half time," said Colts coach Keshon Smith.

"We haven't had the run of the green as far as refereeing goes this season.

"I told them to forget about the referee, just worry about your own game and the goal will come."

Why Kameron Fox chose to sit back after the break is a mystery.

They did it in the first game and Purnell made them pay for it. This time they managed to beat themselves.

A Carlos Trott shot was deflected off the head of Ankoma Cannonier into his own net, and then Aaron Crockwell fouled Marco Piper in the area and Aljame Zuill made no mistake from the spot.

From a goal up, St David's were a goal behind and chasing the game.

They thought they'd got back into it almost immediately, when Angelo Cannonier smashed a free kick past Rose, only to discover it wasn't a direct one.

And as St David's frantically searched for an equaliser Andre Famous and Zuill both missed chances to end the game.

Given Colts' season, and what had gone before, Angelo Cannonier's equaliser seven minutes from time was almost inevitable.

Lugo sent a long pass out of defence and Cannonier did the rest, sending the St David's fans wild in the process.

In the circumstances it was probably wise of the BFA to skip extra time and go straight to a penalty shoot-out.

Zuill got Colts off to a good start, and Cannonier did likewise for St David's. But from then on it was all about Rose.

He denied Lugo a second time, and after Otis Minors had blasted over, he got down well to deny Lambert and was promptly submerged underneath a pile of Colts players and fans.

So Colts still haven't managed to win a game inside 90 minutes, but they are unlikely to care just for the moment. They are safe for another year.

St Davids: J Minors, F Sewell (D Rogers, 72), D Outerbridge, Ankoma Cannonier, A Lugo, A Crockwell (L Minors, 62), D Lambert, D Paynter (S Boddington, 72), M Jones, O Minors. Subs not used: S Butterfield, M Crawford. Booked Lambert, O Minors.

Devonshire Colts: G Rose, M Williams (C Trott, 46), J Butterfield, S Perinchief, T Foote, M Burch (A Famous, 72), M Piper, A Zuill, K Jones (E Wilkin, 79), R Purnell, D Williams. Subs not used: M Pace, S Burgess. Sent off Purnell.

Referee: K Evans

Man of the match: G Rose