North Village 2

Southampton Rangers 0

Wrong performance, right result.

That was Shaun Goater's assessment of North Village's hard-fought victory over struggling Southampton Rangers at Bernard Park yesterday.

Village created virtually nothing during a tepid first half display with the match seemingly heading for a bore draw until defender Sean Fubler volleyed his side ahead from a corner kick deep into the second period.

Rangers then missed a great chance to draw level with substitute Garnell Darrell blazing over the bar with the goal at his mercy, before Village's Jason Lee wrapped up the win in the dying stages with a composed close range finish.

"That was not the performance we were looking for," said Goater, "but I'll certainly take the 2-0 win.

"We didn't really create anything before our first goal and our quality was just not there today."

Goater admitted the scoreline slightly flattered Village and was quick to praise their opponents' defensive resilience and hard work.

"Rangers made life difficult for us today and I'm sure they will be feeling a little hard done by.

"We always seem to have tough games with Rangers and today was no different. It was what I expected."

With shot-shy Village appearing lifeless in attack during the opening 45 minutes Goater brought on Jason Lee for the second half.

The pacey teenager injected some much-needed spark into Village's front-line and very nearly added a third goal just before the final whistle.

With Village already two goals up, Lee found himself with a free run on goal but his heavy touch allowed keeper Jason Smith precious time to come and collect the ball before the striker was able to pull the trigger.

"I felt Jason Lee would be more effective from the bench today and that proved to be the case," said Goater.

"He took his chance well and gave us a bit more spark up front."

For Rangers coach Keith Jennings it was a case of right performance, wrong result.

"I thought we played well today, I can't fault the players," he said. "I thought the game was heading for a point and that would have been a fair reflection.

"I mean, Village only really created two chances and scored them both whereas we missed our couple of opportunities. That's been the story of our season so far but if we keep playing like that we'll be okay."

Village were once again wearing their pink kit in a show of support for October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Spearheading the fundraising campaign is Village defender Devrae Tankard.

Last October saw Village wear pink socks during games but club president Shervin Dill said they were keen to step up their show of support for this year's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

"Devrae Tankard one of our Premier Division players is spearheading the fundraising and the players and members are all very supportive and excited to be a part of raising funds for such a worthy organisation," said Dill.

North Village: J.Williams, D.Tankard, S.Fubler, K.Dill, T.Manders, J.Boyles, S.DeGraff, S.Jennings (J.Lee, 45), T.Burgess (J.Sousa, 85), R.Bean, P.Smith (T.Watson, 77)

Substitutes not used: M.Swan, A.Lee, K.Dill, K.Arruda

Goals: S.Fubler, 76, Lee, 84

Yellow cards: J.Boyles

Southampton Rangers: J.Smith, M.Williams, A.Raynor (S.Perinchief, 67), T.Brown, J.Charles, J.Dill, K.Simons, K.Fray (G.Darrell, 75), Y.Bean, V.Perinchief, A.Burns

Substitutes not used: J.Caisey, E.Albouy, K.Dill

Yellow cards: Y.Bean

Referee: L.Raynor

Man of the match: S.Fubler