Ijahmon Mallory’s penalty kick earned Hamilton Parish their first Premier Division win of the season at Wellington Oval yesterday.

Parish won the match 3-2. The home side were forced to chase in an evenly-fought contest that they initially led before a Keston Lewis brace from the penalty spot handed Flanagan’s Onions the lead.

But a clinical finish from striker Donovan Thompson levelled for Parish on 78 minutes before Mallory completed the late fightback and secured the win with a well-taken penalty that sent Stephen Gould, the Onions goalkeeper, the wrong way.

Parish led 1-0 at the interval thanks to a Shayne Hollis strike, the home side’s first goal since scoring against Somerset Trojans in the Dudley Eve competition on September 13.

Hollis also missed a penalty that could have eased some of the pressure at a time when Onions desperately sought to get a foothold in the match.

Kieshon Smith, the Parish coach, admitted that his team was fortunate to come away with maximum points after failing to capitalise on a number of chances.

“I felt we made it hard for ourselves,” he said. “Countless chances went begging. We normally end up losing whenever we miss chances, but today someone smiled upon us because we still came out on top.”

Smith praised his players’ never-say-die approach that ultimately shone through.

“When they got their two penalties we found ourselves trailing,” he said. “We were down 2-1 but respect to the guys who dug in.

“We didn’t want to settle for the draw today. Flanagan’s are a team we haven’t beaten down here in the last three years, so I think that was the motivation for us to get this win.”

Parish controlled the tempo early on and came close to breaking the deadlock when midfielder Patrick Richardson found himself alone in the area with only Gould to beat but could only shoot tamely into the goalkeeper’s arms.

Hollis also made a hash of an opportunity when scoring seemed easier. The diminutive striker intercepted Phil Matthews’s intended back-pass to his goalkeeper but blasted wide.

At the other end, Onions carved out space but their final pass in the attacking third was missing, with Lewis left to lead the line by himself with little or no support from the midfield.

Hollis finally broke the deadlock when he controlled a diagonal pass from Patrick Richardson, rolled his marker, and beat Gould with a low drive at the near post.

Lewis and Martel Laws, the midfielder, both went close for Onions just before the interval.

Parish then blew a golden opportunity to extend their lead when they were awarded a penalty early in the second half after Gould felled Thompson in the area. Hollis stepped up to take the penalty but fired wide.

That miss came back to haunt Parish as Lewis converted back-to-back penalties to put Onions in the driver’s seat.

The Onions captain added parity to the scoreline after sending Reid Trott, the Parish goalkeeper, the wrong way after team-mate Pete Robey was fouled in the box.

Before the dust had settled, Onions took the lead when Lewis scored again from the spot after team-mate Nathan Peskett was brought down in the area.

With the game slipping away, Parish did not panic and were able to find the extra gear needed to see off a gutsy Onions side.

Thompson levelled the scores with a brilliant goal, dribbling several yards under pressure before sliding the ball past the advancing Gould.

Mallory then applied the decisive touch, rolling his penalty inside the bottom left corner with Gould guessing the wrong way.