Hamilton Parish 2

Robin Hood 0

Shayne Hollis was the hero as Hamilton Parish inflicted Robin Hood’s first defeat of the season with a determined performance at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Hollis, the striker, ensured a finely-balanced match swung in the home side’s favour with a smart finish just after the hour mark; his predatory instincts later forced an own goal from Joseph Pereira to make the game safe after a rare blunder from Timmy Figureido, the Hood goalkeeper.

In a game of few chances, Parish were worthy winners thanks to some solid organisation throughout the team, nicely complimented by Hollis’s skilful dribbling in the final third.

Keishon Smith, the Parish coach, said: “I felt we controlled the game from the beginning, and Shayne Hollis did very well for the two goals. That’s two shut-outs in the last two games now, which is definitely something to build on.

“We are trying to get as far away from the bottom as we can, and then we can try putting some pressure on the teams at the top.”

Until Hollis’s opening goal, Figureido and Nigel Burgess, the Parish goalkeeper, had both dominated their own penalty boxes and dealt with most attacking threats with relative ease. However, as the game seemingly drifted towards a draw, Hollis suddenly found himself in space on the edge of the penalty area, with enough time to pick his spot and steer a shot beyond Figureido’s reach.

That goal sparked Hood into life, and in the 69th minute they thought they were level through their best piece of quality in the match. Antwan Russell, the striker, ran on to a diagonal ball and placed a neat header past Burgess, only to be ruled offside, prompting angry protests from Hood at what must have been a marginal decision.

Hood toiled without a hint of reward after that, and the game was ended as a contest when Figureido made a hash of a cross, scuffing his punch to allow the lurking Hollis to gleefully nod towards the empty net. Pereira chased back to try to hook the ball clear, but succeeded only in helping it over the line.

Hollis wheeled away to claim the goal, and on the merits of his performance it was difficult to blame him. In the first half, his looping volley brought a full-length dive from Figureido, and his close control generally brought some of the game’s more eye-catching moments.

Kyle Lightbourne, the Hood coach, said: “They scored with their first opportunity of the second half, but it was a good finish, and we knew Shayne Hollis is a good player.

“Well done to Hamilton Parish. Now our unbeaten run is gone, we have to regroup; it’s not the end of the world.”