Hamilton Parish 7 X-Roads 0

Hamilton Parish handed X-Roads another tough lesson as Justin Bell and Leroy Lewis both scored hat-tricks in an emphatic victory at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Bell, who netted once in the first half and twice after the break, was pleased to help his side towards their target of a finish in the top four.

“They came out to play from the first whistle, but the clean sheet was vital as we aim for a top-four finish,” Bell said

X-Roads, who were officially relegated last week, started off on the front foot and made some early opportunities. Akim Johnston whipped a few good crosses in for Donavan Thompson and Charles Whited to attack, although neither forward could direct their header on target.

The early flurry of chances woke Parish up, with Aaron Nelson finding Lewis in space on the left flank and the winger made space for himself before rattling an unstoppable effort off the far post past motionless goalkeeper Q’Shai Darrell.

Within five minutes Parish doubled their lead, this time Nelson spreading the play confidently for Bell to drift inside past Josef Smith and fire just inside the near post.

Aaron Spencer replaced the injured Seth Somner midway through the first half to further add to X-Roads’ woes, but to their credit they continued to probe in an attempt to salvage some pride from a difficult season, with Thompson dragging an effort wide after being played through by Aaron Spencer.

Lewis would punish that profligacy in front of goal when he whipped a beautiful free kick around the Warriors wall nd inside the far post.

Just as X-Roads started to settle into their shape and seemingly content with the scoreline after creating enough to be competitive, Samario Valasse-Paul evaded challenges from Adil Cajee and Daniel Teleman to cross right on to the head of an unmarked Bell, who had the simple task of heading into the empty net past Darrell.

Warriors tried hard to get back into the game, but they lost their shape on numerous occasions, one of which offered Bell the opportunity to finish off his hat-trick in style.

Quinn Outerbridge defended calmly from a X-Roads counter-attack and made his clearance count to pick out Bell in acres of space in the opposition’s half, and the former North Village star made no mistake with his crowning moment, sprinting into the penalty area and finishing with aplomb to make it five just after the hour.

Lewis completed his hat-trick after receiving a good pass by Mauriq Hill, this time skipping past Angelo Matthews and finishing low past Darrell.

Youngster Aidan Peets rounded off the scoring just before the final whistle, dancing around the languid challenge of Spencer and then firing into the bottom corner past Darrell.

SCORERS:

Hamilton Parish: Bell 11, 54, 65; Lewis 7, 43, 87; Peets 90

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-2-3-1): N Burgess 7 – K Wade 6 (sub: J Stowe, 67min 5), Q Outerbridge 6, M Hill 7, M Turner 6 – A Nelson 7, N Brockington 6 – L Lewis 8, S Valasse-Paul 6, K Knights 6 (sub: K Trott, 67 5) – J Bell 8 (sub: A Peets, 67 6). Substitutes not used: C Smith, A Foy. Booked: Turner.

X-Roads (4-4-2): Q Darrell 6 – J Smith 6, A Cajee 5 (sub: Terencio Lowe, 78), D Teleman 6, T Daniels 6 – Teiko Lowe 5 (sub: A Matthews, 62 5), K Richardson 6, S Somner 5 (sub: A Spencer, 27 5), A Johnston 6 – C Whited 5 (sub: T Whited, 62 5), D Thompson 5. Substitutes not used: D Woolridge. Booked: Daniels, Smith.

Referee: A Francis