X-Road Warriors 2 Hamilton Parish 2

X-Road Warriors came from behind twice to earn a valuable point against Hamilton Parish at St. David’s on Sunday.

Prolific goalscorer Donovan Thompson chased down a Tymon Daniels’ long clearance to outrun two defenders before slipping the ball pass the advancing Peppers’ goalkeeper Nigel Burgess to tie the match with the only goal in the second half.

The point moves the Warriors four points clear of the relegation zone with seven league matches to play.

“It was a very evenly-contested match,” X-Roads’ coach Ralph Bean Jr said.

“Parish pushed us today but credit to my team for coming back from behind twice to earn a point as they are paramount right now. Wherever you can pick them up is a good thing and this is also good for our momentum going forward.”

Parish jumped on Warriors before they could settle early when Kion Knights rose highest at the back post to head Jordan Outerbridge’s corner into the roof of the net as early as the third minute.

X-Roads equalised against the run of play midway through the first half when Thompson did well to hold off three defenders before being bundled over by Quinn Outerbridge, who was booked for the challenge. Goalkeeper Burgess’s badly placed defensive wall allowed Chae Brangman to roll his free kick into the corner of the net leaving Burgess stranded.

The diminutive Shane Hollis restored Parish’s one-goal lead just before half time from another Outerbridge assist. After running on to an inch-perfect pass, Hollis controlled before drilling his low shot beyond the diving Jamie Furbert in the Warriors’ goal to give Parish a deserved lead going into the break.

Within eight minutes of the restart, Thompson found the equaliser using his speed and composure to score past the advancing Burgess and X-Roads thought they had scored the winner late in the match when Thompson had the ball in the back of the net only for it to be ruled out for a handball.

“I I wanted three points so that we could open the gap a bit more,” said Parish coach, Sergio Goater.

“It was a lack of concentration on our part and there were too many missed chances but I will take the point which is better than a loss.” Parish now have 17 points and are ten points clear of the drop zone.

SCORERS

X-Roads: C Brangman 37, D Thompson 53

Hamilton Parish K Knights 3, S Hollis 42

TEAMS

X-Road Warriors (4-2-3-1): J Furbert 7 --- R Beek 6, L Simmons 7. T Daniels 7, N Smith 6 --- A Daniels 7, C Brangman 7 ---J Lottimore 6, D Thompson 8, J Morgan 5 (sub: K Brangman 46min, 6) --- A Wilson 6 (sub: E Mensah, 84). Substitutes not used: T Perinchief, D Woolridge, Q Darrell. Booked: K Brangman, N Smith, E Mensah.

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): N Burgess 6 --- J Bean 5, M Hill 7, Q Outerbridge 6, M Turner 6 -- Z Burgess 6, A Nelson 6 --- K Knights 7 (sub: K Wade, 76), S Hollis 7, J Outerbridge 7 --- M Walker 6. Substitutes not used: C Lindo, S McKittrick, J Small, C Castle, E Furbert, K Richardson. Booked: Q Outerbridge.

Referee: M Wyer