Flanagan’s Onions 1

Hamilton Parish 5

Not so much a contest as a walkover, Hamilton Parish made a mockery of their low-scoring reputation at Goose Gosling Field yesterday.

The league leaders were too good for a Flanagan’s Onions side that could not cope without Stephen Gould, their first-choice goalkeeper, who was injured against Devonshire Cougars last weekend.

Gould is more than the Onions goalkeeper, he is the dominant presence at the heart of their defence, and his absence largely contributed to an Onions display that was notable for its sluggishness and lack of confidence. None of which should be allowed to take away from a fine Parish team performance, in which they outplayed their opponents in every area of the field, and scored five times, just one less than they had managed in their previous six league games.

Shayne Hollis, the Parish captain, opened the scoring with a fine strike from the edge of the Onions penalty area after the home side had failed to clear their lines.

The first of Angelo Cannonier’s two goals, a simple header from a yard out, also came from a defensive error, and his third on the stroke of half-time killed the game.

Onions were marginally better in the second half, but Keston Lewis and Vincent Minors were disappointing all day upfront, and Lewis’s goal, while an impressive effort, was more down to Parish becoming complacent than Onions getting back into the game.

The league leaders’ superiority was underlined by Donovan Thompson, who came on as a substitute for Cannonier with little more than an hour gone, scored moments later with his first real touch and rounded off proceedings at the end as Parish made the most of the space created by Flanagan’s charging forward.

The strikers will take the glory, but the credit should start with the defence, a unit, marshalled by the excellent Ijahmon Mallory, that stifled any attacking threat from Onions. It took the home side nearly an hour to muster a serious effort on goal, a Nathan Peskett shot from outside the area that flew harmlessly wide.

Peskett might count himself lucky not to have been booked in the first half for a swan dive in the penalty area when he had already beaten his man, but found he had no support and a group of Parish players closing in on him. The pressure that Onions found themselves under almost constantly was indicative of the complete team performance Parish produced.

Parish would have the rest of Bermuda believe that until this point they have been more concerned with avoiding relegation than winning the Premier Division.

That is as maybe, but they are the team to beat and will have a target on their backs for the title run in.

Whether they can stand the pressure remains to be seen, although Mallory’s demand of his team-mates at the end of the game that they “not speak to the media” suggests they are not entirely comfortable with their role as top dogs.

“That was definitely a good team performance,” Earnest Lathan, the Parish assistant coach, said. “I don’t think anyone gave us a chance [of winning the league] at the start of the season, even us. Everyone who plays, plays to win the league, it’s been real good so far. We’ve just got to stay focused.”