A 65th minute goal by Errol McFarlane led Defence Force to a 1-0 victory over Joe Public in a fifth round Craven A Professional Football League encounter at the Hasely Crawford Stadium yesterday.
The win pushed the Army men to twelve points, three behind leaders W Connection. Public remained in third spot on seven points.
However, the win was not a totally convincing one and the soldiers would be prompted to look back at their performance and beef up their game for future assignments.
For Public, despite boasting some of the more prominent local players, their game was far from impressive.
Inside the opening ten minutes Public goalkeeper Michael McComie was called up to stop Carlos Edwards' six-yard shot.
Following that the Army enjoyed more possession and chances of taking the lead. McFarlane saw his attempt sail overbar, Granville Millington's low effort went past the left post and McComie advanced well off his line to rob Millington after his defence was caught napping.
Public's best chances at goal came off national striker Irasto Knights, who in the 35th minute forced Clayton Ince to make his first real save in goal.
Both sides were guilty of one too many passes on the attack and on other occasions the final shot or pass left a lot to be desired.
The fans were not hesitant in expressing their displeasure with the play by two of the better teams in the local league.
The winner arrived when Millington lobbed a ball nicely over defender into McFarlane's path and he made no error, slamming past McComie who was slightly off his line.
In search of the equaliser, Public introduced Terry St Louis and Kerwyn "Hardest" Jemmot into their attack, but it sill turned out to be a hard evening for Arnold Dwarika's men.
The soldiers would have been happy with the three points but with W Connection crew headed by president David John Williams looking on, the southerners know what to expect when they meet the winners at Guaracara Park on Friday.