Hamilton Parish 3BAA 1Champions Hamilton Parish advanced to a third straight Shield final yesterday with a hard-earned victory at Wellington Oval.Parish were boosted by the return of college student Shayne Hollis, who is to take part in the MLS draft next month, and they also had home field advantage for this match. But it was BAA, 4-1 winners over First Division leaders St. David’s in the last round, who took a sixth minute lead when Ian Simmons pounced on a loose ball in the penalty box to score past Nigel Burgess in goal.That effort came just moments after Vance Hill blasted over the top from a good position as BAA put Parish on the back foot.However, the two-time defending champions were soon imposing themselves on BAA’s defence as Hollis and Ian Coke provided pace in the Parish attack. A good move brought them the equaliser in the 26th minute when Romone Smith drove a low shot inside Stefan Dill’s right-hand post.Immediately BAA thought they had a corner at the other end when Jaylon Bather went down after a challenge from Calvin Hansey. Moments later Bather took a good pass inside the box but tried to run the ball around the keeper instead of shooting first time and the opportunity was lost.BAA were not allowing Parish to take control of the match and almost grabbed a second goal themselves in the 32nd minute when Deondre Trott provided a good cross into the box only to hold his head in agony when Willie Clemons miskicked from six yards with the goal at his mercy.Instead of taking a lead into the break, BAA were trailing for the first time in the match when Hollis forced the ball over the line in the 44th minute after a cross from the right resulted in a scramble inside the six-yard box with no BAA defender able to clear the danger.BAA continued to look threatening on the break and came within inches of equalising early in the second half when a long ball over the halfway line by Jibri Salaam sent Hill through before his shot was deflected by Burgess against the outside of the post before going out for a corner. In the 62nd minute Parish cushioned their lead to 3-1 when Coke was rewarded for his hard work. His initial shot was blocked by the keeper but Coke followed up and chased a bouncing ball that was going out for a corner and managed to steer his header inside the upright.BAA immediately made a double substitution, bringing on Calin Maybury and Ryan Tyrrell for Salaam and Bather. Burgess parried the ball from a well struck effort from Clemons as BAA continued to push forward. Then the veteran ‘keeper tipped a dangerous corner from Ian Simmons over the bar, before Jalen Harvey shot wide of the far post from the resulting second corner.Right at the end Burgess denied BAA again when he used his legs to block another effort from Harvey as Parish hung on to book their spot in the New Year’s Day final. They are looking for a third straight triumph in the competition after victory over Wolves and X-Roads in the last two finals, though promotion remains their top priority, says coach Keishon Smith.“I thought it was a good game, I have a lot of respect for BAA, they are one of the better teams with how they play the game,” said Smith who insists he wasn’t too worried when BAA took an early lead.“No concern at all because the game is 90 minutes and when you have the quality that I possess in my squad right now with the likes of Ian Coke and Shayne Hollis, who is going on to MLS trials, it brings a big buzz to the team. It might be one of his (Hollis) last games for the club but he is setting the standard for a lot of my junior guys coming through.“To get back into the final and defend something you have won the last two years is something to make mention of. But we don’t plan on being down here (First Division) to defend it again next year. This is our third time, and if nobody has done that before, then we want to take on that challenge. It was a big step today, but them taking the early lead did us a favour because it made us bring our game.“The guts, determination and harmony that we have right now makes it a wonderful place to be.”Hamilton Parish: N. Burgess; P. Richardson (G. Walker 69 min), C. Hansey, T. Douglas (N. Swan 67), D. Minks, J. Outerbridge (D. Rogers 79), M. Dill, D. Simmons, R. Smith, S. Hollis, I.Coke.BAA: S. Dill; D. Trott, T. Caines, Z. Robinson, J. Harvey, J. Salaam (R. Tyrrell 65), J. Buelow (Q. Lema 69), W, I. Simmons, V. Hill, J. Bather (C. Maybury 65), W. Clemons.Booked: D. Trott, V. Hill, T. Caines, J. Harvey.Referee: R. MingMen of the match: Ian Coke (Parish).