Hamilton Parish 0 St George’s 0

There was nothing to separate these clubs in a lacklustre affair at Wellington Oval yesterday.

While the game offered little in the way of scoring, Hamilton Parish, the nominal home team, had only themselves to blame for missing an abundance of opportunities that could have put St George’s away early.

Diminutive winger Jeremiah Steede had ample opportunities to get Parish on the scoresheet, but his near-misses in the fifteenth and 20th minutes set the tone for a day of frustration against a pesky Colts outfit.

St George’s nearly sneaked through the back door to score in the 30th minute when a deep cross into the box was met with a powerful header from Sage Blair-Paynter that forced Parish goalkeeper Nigel Burgess to save brilliantly and nullify the threat.

However, in the 38th minute, Parish were at it again when Chris Caisey easily beat his defender, raced into the penalty area and fed a deft pass to Steede, who controlled the ball but hesitated in pulling the trigger. The chance was lost when a Colts defender dispossessed him — another glorious chance gone.

The second half continued with both sides struggling up front owing to a slew of errant passes and offensive inefficiency. In the 83rd minute, St George’s had their final strike go begging after Jelani Carlington served up a good cross to Blair-Smith that he could only thump high over the crossbar. Parish were equally frustrated by their inefficiency in the 85th minute when Jokoi Fox raced into the penalty area and sent his blast into the side-netting from six yards out.

“We have a lot of young talent coming through our ranks this year, so our objective is all about how to develop them,” Kervin Moreno, the St George’s coach, said. “It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming together slowly.”

TEAMS

Hamilton Parish (4-3-3): N Burgess — C Caisey, E Hassan (sub: J Burgess, 46min) J Lawrence (sub: K Cann, 73), C Caisey — J Fox, S Hollis, K Richardson, R Richardson — G Saltus (sub: P Madeiros, 66), A Smith: Substitutes not used: S Burgess, B Correira. Booked: Lawrence.

St George’s Colts (4-3-3): F Hall — J Hayward, E Signor (sub: Z Smith-Tucker, 51), G Wade, A Francis — J Hayward, D Signor, M Mendes — J Carlington (sub: K Carlington, 83), S Blair-Paynter, J Brangman (sub: K Ottley, 46min). Substitutes not used: C Marshall, N Spencer, S Paynter, Z Burgess, C Wade.

Referee: M Wyer.