Southampton Rangers 0 North Village 3It wasn’t always pretty but champions North Village managed to rise above the mediocre in the second half to add two goals to their single tally in the first half before they were safely able to secure maximum points in this Premier Division clash at Southampton Oval.With Village looking strangely flat in the opening half they still took a 1-0 lead at the break on a goal by Ralph Bean Jr. after 41 minutes.And then they turned up the heat on the home side with two strikes in the second half through a Sammy DeGraff penalty after 77 minutes and a third strike from substitute Pierre Smith ten minutes from the end.The victory meant that Village were able to remain at the head of the table and strengthen their bid to snatch the Premier Division title once again.However, the visitors were forced to sweat it out to gain the initiative during the early stages as Rangers ventured forward and showed they were keen to grab early goals with some explosive striking potential.After just five minutes striker Dennis Russell should have scored but his lob at the goal saw goalkeeper Jason Williams, back-pedalling desperately after advancing off his line, only just able to grab the ball as it came down into his arm.Two minutes later a lapse by the Village defence allowed an unchallenged Mike Williams to hammer a blazing short just wide of the post from 24 yards.Village slowly settled down and were themselves unlucky after 13 minutes when Ralph Bean crossed but Tyrell Burgess’ close-range shot hit goalkeeper Jason Smith in the chest and rolled for a corner.Village had further misfortune fall their way with skipper Sammy DeGraff, who had a great game, creating an opening for Burgess forced Smith in the Rangers’ goal fall to smother.Burgess saw a lot of play for the remainder of the half but was often wayward with his finishing. But he was unlucky after 30 minutes when he thundered a free kick from 20 yards off the bar.Rangers though remained competitive and matched their opponents but had trouble advancing into goal-scoring positions.Travis Wilkinson however fooled the Village defence with a clever move down the left flank and his cross into the middle found Jermaine Dill whose quick shot sailed inches wide of the far post after 35 minutes and from 19 yards.Then during a quick counter attack Ralph Bean coolly steered home the opener from 12 yards after right full-back Taurean Manders made a dribble down the right flank before crossing the ball into the middle.The 1-0 lead by Village had immediate inspiration for the team and within three minutes they threatened to add another but Manders watched in agony as his shot destined for the back of the goal was blocked by Jeremain Dill as he stood on the goal line.While Village held a slight edge of play in the first half this trend did not continue after the re-start because the visitors didn’t take long to take a decisive edge as the home side seemed to let things slip.Jermaine Dill showed Rangers had early ambition when he headed a Wilkinson corner just wide after 58 minutes. But Village hinted that they were still seriously in the hunt for further goals when DeGraff had his angled shot from 14 yards sensationally saved by goalkeeper Jason Smith after 65 minutes.And substitute Pierre Smith followed this up a minute later as Village piled on the pressure when he fired wide from close range.After 77 minutes the eventual second goal came when DeGraffe slotted home a penalty, hotly disputed with Rangers complaining to referee Anthony Francis that the infringement was outside of the penalty area.Falling two goals behind killed off Rangers’ fading hopes but Village were able to add more agony with Pierre Smith lobbing a long kick from his goalkeeper over the head of the advancing Rangers’ keeper Smith.Southampton Rangers: J Smith; A Raynor, J Charles (J Caisey, 80min), S Williams, K Harrison; J Dill, V Perinchief, T Wilkinson, YBean (E Albouy); M Williams, D Russell. Subs not used: A Burrows, S Perinchief, R Swan. Booked S Williams.North Village: J Williams; T Manders, K Dill, S Fubler, L Alexandere; J Boyles, J Jennings (J Smith, 58 min), S DeGraffe; T Burgess (K Dill, 78 min), R Bean, V Tankard. Subs not used: D Tankard, T Wilson, J Sousa, J Lee.Referee: A.Francis.Man of the match: S DeGraffe.