Hamilton Parish 1

Somerset Trojans 2

Nine-man Somerset Trojans opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Premier Division by defeating title rivals Hamilton Parish with a controversial stoppage-time penalty from Shaquille Bean, the goalkeeper.

Bean held his nerve in extraordinary tension at Wellington Oval, after being made to wait several minutes to take the vital kick while both sides raged over the decision by Elihu Holmes, the referee.

Initially the anger came from Trojans, who thought Holmes had merely awarded a free-kick outside the box after Ijahmon Mallory’s foul on Dion Stovell in the dying seconds of the game.

The fury switched to Parish when it emerged Holmes had in fact given a penalty, handing Bean the opportunity to earn his side a huge advantage in their quest for a first league title in more than two decades.

He made no mistake with a powerful, low strike past Nigel Burgess, the Parish goalkeeper, to send the Somerset players and supporters wild.

Amid the commotion, Stovell was sent off for dissent, as he argued with Holmes after leaving the field to be treated for the injury he sustained winning the penalty.

Trojans had already lost Jensen Rogers, the full back, who was red carded after his second bookable offence with half an hour remaining.

Trevin Ming, the Somerset captain, paid tribute to his side’s battling qualities but insisted the trophy is not in the bag yet.

“It was great we all came together through adversity,” Ming said.

“We knew this was the one we had to win. We and Hamilton Parish both had the same thing in mind before the match, and so it was obviously going to be a very difficult game.

“Now we just have to stay humble and keep our heads straight in our last three games against Cougars, Village and Rams. All the teams in this league are fighting for something, so none of our games are going to be easy.”

On the penalty decision, Ming said: “It was clearly a penalty. It was inside the box, so there was no problem with that.”

The match got off to a frenetic start in the ninth minute when Donovan Thompson, the Parish forward, latched onto a high bouncing ball and volleyed home from the edge of the box.

In the 20th minute, Somerset were level, as Stovell confidently thumped a loose ball past Burgess.

Both sides remained keen to attack, with Tahj Wade a prominent threat on the left wing for Somerset, and Caisey Castle on the left wing for Trojans.

It was Trojans who created the better openings in the first half, Wade cutting inside to smash a shot against Burgess’s near post and Leo Burgess blazing over when well placed.

But as the game wore on, Parish’s endless energy put them increasingly on the front foot, with Coolridge Durham and Chris Caisey bustling in midfield, and the speedy Castle proving particularly difficult to contain.

Rogers had already been cautioned for tripping Castle once, when he brought him down again in the 63rd minute to collect his red card.

By now Parish were looking a good bet for the winning goal which would have taken them to the top of the table.

However, a succession of corners and free-kicks in dangerous positions failed to bring the goal they needed, and they were made to pay when Stovell went tumbling under Mallory’s desperate challenge.

Kieshon Smith, the Parish coach, refused to give up on the title. “It isn’t over yet,” he said.

“This will go down to the wire. My players don’t need me to lift them, they will lift themselves. They are still in a good position.

“Somerset are four points clear now, but there are still three games to play, and now it’s on them to hold onto it. Everybody has still got tough games to play, so we are all in it.

“Our performance was good today, but we just came up a little short with the last second penalty.”