Hamilton Parish 4 Boulevard Blazers 2

Hamilton Parish arrested a four-match losing streak and demonstrated a welcome return to form as they beat Boulevard at a windswept Wellington Oval on Saturday.

A brace by in-form forward MacQuille Walker, together with single strikes from Jordan Outerbridge and Zuhri Burgess, ensured victory over Blazers, allowing the Hot Peppers to swap places in the Premier Division standings with their rivals.

Parish came out firing early and often, placing the Blazers’ defence under intense pressure as they appeared bent on on ending the tailspin drama of recent weeks.

Walker was the most menacing with his pace and size warranting great attention and following an intricate attacking move also involving Quinn Outerbridge and Jordan Outerbridge, Walker was left to apply the finishing touch to give the home side a ninth-minute lead.

Stunned by the early strike, Blazers gradually worked their way into the match and were able to draw level when Teh-kei Taylor popped up inside the penalty area to slam a close-range effort past Parish goalkeeper Paul Tohill.

Jordan Outerbridge put Parish ahead again on the stroke of half-time as he buried the ball past Azir Harvey.

Further invigorated following the interval, Parish pressed further ahead when Walker produced a fine individual effort to outstrip his marker and find the back of the net for the second time a minute after the restart.

Undeterred Boulevard continued to fight back, with Jahzardae Samuels, Ian Coke and Clay Darrell behind many attacks and it was no surprise when Darrell struck paydirt in the 50th minute.

Zuhri Burgess completed the scoring and secured the win for Parish with his 62nd- minute strike to give Parish their first victory since an opening defeat of X-Roads.

“This is the tonic we needed,” said captain Kye Wade after the match. “Today we played Hot Peppers football and got the result we needed. We still need to tighten things up at the back, because we’re letting in too many goals.”

Scorers

Hamilton Parish

Walker 9, 46; Outerbridge 44; Burgess 62

Boulevard

Taylor 36; Darrell 50

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): P Tohill 6 – K Wade 6, Q Outerbridge 6, K Knights 6, A Nelson 5 – Z Burgess 6, J Outerbridge 6 – K Richardson 6 (sub: S McKittrick, 69min 6), S Hollis 6, M Turner 6 – M Walker 7. Substitutes not used: J Steede, S McKittrick, S Burgess, C Lindo.

Boulevard (4-4-2): A Harvey 5 – A Johnston 6, A Williams-Smith 5, A Famous 6, T Jefferies 6 (sub: J Williams, 77 )- J Samuels 6, T Walker 7, T Taylor 7 (sub: D Hendrickson 55, 5), K Davis 7 – C Darrell 6, I Coke 7.

Referee: T Simons