Southampton Rangers were dragged back into the relegation fight yesterday at Wellington Oval where Hamilton Parish came from a goal down to win and move ahead of their opponents in the standings.

Striker Donovan Thompson led the Parish fightback with two goals, including an 85th minute effort that made certain of the points after Rangers threatened a late rally.

Rangers took the lead in the 28th minute but Parish struck twice in 11 minutes to turn the match around as they went into the break 2-1 up.

Kieshon Smith, the Parish coach, was clearly a relieved man at the final whistle as the victory moves them further away from the drop zone ahead of another relegation scrap next weekend against St David’s before they close out their season against Devonshire Cougars, North Village and PHC.

“All the lessons were learned from the season with the cup final appearance and cup runs, and for my young team this is what it is about,” Smith said.

“We want to stake out claim and make sure we survive so that we can have another chance at it next year, to move from strength to strength. Hats off to Rangers who came down here and took the lead early but St George’s is our house and we pick up points down here.

“These are no more cup games now but these are our cup games, Premier League survival and hopefully get ourselves a Dudley Eve spot. Survival is the ultimate and the only mission in front of us right now.”

Astwood set up good chances in the first twenty minutes for Khalil Symonds and Vernon Perinchief who both shot off target with left-footed efforts. Parish came closest to taking the lead in the 19th minute when Thompson sent Patrick Richardson through on the right side of the box before he smashed a shot against the crossbar.

Astwood broke the deadlock for Rangers when he showed good skills to hook the ball over Nigel Burgess in the Parish goal. But an equally well-taken goal six minutes later brought Parish back level when Richardson collected a pass on the edge of the box and dribbled into the area before slotting his effort past goalkeeper Jason Smith.

Despite playing into the wind, Parish managed to take the lead right on half-time when veteran midfielder Neil Robinson, at 47 the division’s oldest player, sent a free kick to the far post where Ijahmon Mallory headed towards goal and Thompson followed up to convert the rebound.

Parish were forced to replace midfielder Devon Rogers after a clash of heads left him with a cut above the left eye. He insisted on returning to the field after treatment but Smith quickly made the decision to replace him with Lorenzo Simmons a couple of minutes later.

A minute earlier Rangers should have had an equaliser when Perinchief set Astwood through with a long pass from inside the Rangers half, but the winger hurried his shot and put the effort wide when with just Burgess to beat.

Thompson missed a couple of good chances, too, at the other end as the match hung in the balance with Rangers threatening to make them pay. The striker won a header with Lowe but lack of composure resulted in a weak shot for goalkeeper Jason Smith to save. At the other end Burgess made an important save to a Dion Stovell shot to keep Parish in the lead.

Just when Rangers were threatening a late equaliser, Thompson made amends for his earlier misses to settle the game for Parish. A long ball out of defence saw the last defender, player-coach Maurice Lowe, fail to clear as Thompson pounced and ran 30 yards into the box before beating Smith with his low shot.

“He only just went 18 and we’re looking to build something around him and Shayne Hollis,” said Smith. “We have a good cast right now and we’ve surprised a lot of teams this year.

“Today’s three points are massive, it leapfrogs us over Rangers, puts pressure on the teams behind us and makes next weekend’s game against St David’s even more mouthwatering.”