Robin Hood 0 Hamilton Parish 3

Hamilton Parish got off to a winning start in group C of the Dudley Eve Trophy at Devonshire Rec on Tuesday night as new signings Kion Knights and Zuhri Burgess got among the goals.

The two players, who both represented Parish as youngsters, were among five new recruits named in the starting eleven with the team now having the luxury of a deeper squad than that which won promotion last season.

Goalkeeper Julian Roser, who transferred from Dandy Town, Casey Castle (PHC) and Matteo Turner (Somerset) also made their Parish debuts and coach Sergio Goater was pleased with their contributions.

“To integrate them into the system of play, that’s we’re trying to do,” Goater explained afterwards.

“It takes a bit of time and fitness has to increase but it’s good to get a victory at this level. It’s going to be a lot harder and they have to understand that.

“Plus, it’s still pre-season so it is very hot. A nice shutout, which is good for the confidence, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Parish created most of the early chances against a Hood side short on numbers with only two veteran substitutes on their bench in Timmy Figureido and Matthew Fullerton, while player-coach and top defender Dante Leverock played as a centre forward.

Knights had an early chance for Parish when he spotted Hood goalkeeper Joshua Roberts off his line but his attempted lob went wide, while at the other end Tajai Goater got away from full-back Casey Castle before also firing wide from inside the box.

Knights made up for his earlier miss in the 28th minute when he ran through down the left before scoring with a shot from inside the box into the far bottom corner after a Hood move broke down.

Parish forced a couple of corners early in the second half as they looked for more and they didn’t have to wait too long to extend their lead with two more goals in the space of three minutes just before the hour mark putting the game out of Hood’s reach.

Burgess, a summer signing from Devonshire Colts, doubled the lead in the 55th minute after spotting an opening following some good Parish passing around the edge of the Hood box to drive a fierce shot into the roof of the net from 25 yards.

Jordan Outerbridge, one of Parish’s top scorers last season, closed out the scoring in the 58th minute when his low shot found the bottom corner, although Outerbridge and some of his team-mates thought Macquille Walker might have got a touch on the ball before it went in.

However, Referee Garic Swainson confirmed the ball went in untouched and awarded the goal to Outerbridge.

Parish went close to adding to their tally late in the game, first when a free kick from Shayne Hollis from the edge of the box resulted in a a good save to his left by Roberts.

Then, after Leverock laid on a good chance inside the box for Goater who put his effort wide, Parish went close again in the 89th minute when Walker broke away from the last of the Hood defenders before putting a left-footed effort wide of an open goal.

Liam Evans, the Hood captain, admitted it was a tough season-opener for the team and is hoping to have more players available for their next group match against Devonshire Cougars on September 20.

“This was our first real anything this season,” Evans said. “At the end of the day we just wanted to put in some work and get some minutes in the first game of a long season.

“It’s a pre-season tournament, obviously you want to win, but at the same time you have to be realistic as we’re waiting on a bunch of guys to come back.

“At the same time we have a youth programme and hopefully there will be some guys coming in and stepping into some big shoes.”

SCORERS

Hamilton Parish: Knights 28, Burgess 55, Outerbridge 58

TEAMS

Robin Hood (4-3-3): J Roberts 6 – N Outerbridge 6, L Evans 6, M Hollis 6, A Simons 6 – T Lowe 6, K Naylor 6, E Outerbridge 6 – D Leverock 7, T Goater 6, N Edwards 6. Substitutes not used: M Fullerton, T Figureido.

Hamilton Parish (4-3-3): J Roser 6 – C Castle 6, Q Outerbridge 6, M Turner 6 (sub: K Wade, 63 6), J Bean 6 – S Hollis 7 (sub: K Richardson. 87), Z Burgess 7, M Hill 6 (sub: S McKittrick. 71 6) – M Walker 6, J Outerbridge 7, K Knights 7. Substitutes not used: K Richardson, R McKittrick, D McKittrick.

Referee: G Swainson.