Somerset Trojans 0 Hamilton Parish 1

An early goal from Shayne Hollis was enough to earn Hamilton Parish a hard-fought victory against Somerset Trojans in the Premier Division at Somerset Cricket Club on Saturday night.

On a day when Trojans’ most famous footballing son, Clyde Best, had a street outside Somerset Cricket Club named in his honour, their present crop of players found themselves thwarted by Parish’s defensive blockade.

While Parish’s win somewhat spoiled the celebrations for Best, perhaps it was only fitting for the visiting side to triumph, given that the game started on a sombre note with a minute’s silence for Alvin Baker, the team’s former captain, who died aged 45 last week.

Parish enjoyed a perfect start with Hollis scoring in the third minute when Ryan Tyrell’s enticing pass set him free on goal, with the diminutive striker’s excellent first touch taking the ball past Shaquille Bean, the outsrushing goalkeeper, before tapping into an empty net.

Content to sit deep and defend their slim advantage, Parish were making life difficult for Trojans, although the home side did manage to breach Parish’s watertight backline when Calin Maybury’s late run into the box went unchecked.

Maybury, the Bermuda Under-20 midfielder, found himself one-on-one with Nigel Burgess, the Parish goalkeeper, but made a poor decision in attempting a chip that was easily saved.

After the break, Trojans continued to probe the Parish goal but to no avail, having a penalty claim turned away by referee Lyndon Raynor midway through the second half after Jensen Rogers buckled under a challenge from Ijahmon Mallory, the Parish defender.

Parish were happy for Trojans to have the majority of the possession with a view to hitting their opponents on the counterattack, which they did to good effect late on when Hollis wriggled his way through on goal before planting his shot against the post.

Kieshon Smith, the Parish coach, hailed his side’s gritty rearguard action and admitted that their game plan could not have worked any better.

“Somerset is a hard place to come and I couldn’t have asked for any more from my players,” said Smith, whose side lost 3-1 to Trojans at Police Field in the Dudley Eve Trophy earlier this season.

“We talked about the importance of keeping a clean sheet and at least look to get something out of the game.

“The goal was well-taken, we defended well and limited their shots on goal.”

Smith singled out the workaholic performance of match-winner Hollis for special praise.

“Shayne’s always a threat with his pace and the first touch for his goal was just superb,” he said.