Corey Hill is not ready to concede promotion just yet, but the Hamilton Parish coach admits it will be a tall order after a winless run this month.

Parish were left frustrated when Tre McCallan’s late equaliser for St George’s last weekend denied Parish a first win of the new year.

The 1-1 draw enabled top pair Southampton Rangers and Somerset Eagles to extend their lead at the top.

Parish now have a seven-point gap between themselves and Eagles, who also have a game in hand.

“We just want to finish strong, we have slipped up obviously,” Hill said. “I’m happy with the progress between last year and now. At this stage last year we didn’t even have a point and finished bottom with just three points.”

That lone win for Parish came last February when they beat St David’s 3-1. Now they are hoping next month represents a turnaround for them, although time is running out if they are to close the gap on Eagles who, like Rangers, are still unbeaten.

Parish reached the Shield final, losing to Rangers 2-1 on New Year’s Day, but since then they have failed to win in three league matches, with defeats to Wolves and Rangers and a draw against St George’s.

“We’ve dropped of the pace a little bit, but the guys have shown character throughout the season and we just need to continue on and finish strong,” Hill said.

“We still have to rely on other results; it’s out of our hands. But until it’s mathematically not possible, we still have to believe.

“Anything can happen in football, nothing is guaranteed and we just have to keep doing our part and see where we end up. With the standard of football in Bermuda, I can’t concede yet.”

Parish should get back to winning ways on Sunday when they face second-from-bottom Ireland Rangers, a team Eagles thrashed 12-0 last weekend — the biggest win in the First Division this season.

“Three points are three points, regardless of the size of victory,” Hill said. “I just want three points, 1-0 or 10-0!

“We had an unfortunate result against Rangers [1-0] when I thought we should have got a point out of that game. We lost a bit of momentum during the festive season and it has taken us a while to regroup. Hopefully things will start looking up this weekend when we have Ireland Rangers.”

“It would have been nice to have been in a better position. Only two teams can go up and we’ll fight to the end. Anybody who goes unbeaten should be rewarded in the end.

“It’s a bigger picture for us than what most people see. It’s not just about one season; it’s bigger than being promoted to the Premier Division, in terms of our programme.”

The biggest wins were recorded in the two divisions last weekend, with PHC Zebras hammering Boulevard 8-2 to reclaim first place in the Premier Division.

The previous highest scoring First Division match was Wolves’ 7-4 win over Ireland Rangers in November. Earlier this month, Southampton Rangers and Flanagan’s Onions recorded 8-0 wins over Ireland Rangers and Vasco.