MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Former champions Downs FC maintained their pursuit of a semi-final spot in the Manchester FA/Magnum/Captain’s Bakery Major League after edging Georges Valley 2-1 in their cross-zone fixture on Saturday.

Downs raced to a 2-0 lead at the deCarteret College field following goals from Damion Lawrence (17th) and Ranieke Blake (57th).

But the south Manchester side had to stave off a late rally from the home side after Damion Green nicked a last-minute consolation for Georges Valley.

The victory means Downs, with their sixth win in eight matches, moved to the top of Zone Two on 18 points, but have played a game more than the unbeaten Ricam Academy.

Meanwhile, in the other cross-zone game played on Saturday, Land Settlement earned their first points of the season after blanking Old England 3-0 in the battle of the promoted teams.

Playing away from home, Settlement opened the scoring as early as the 10th minute through Jeremy Wright.

However, they had to wait until the last five minutes to secure their first win in eight games when Yakime Thomas and Christopher Richards scored in the 85th and 90th minutes, respectively.

Despite the win, Settlement stayed bottom of Zone Two on three points, while Old England (six points) remained second-from-bottom in Zone One.