Hamilton Parish 0

Somerset Eagles 1

A nightmare unfolded for Parish yesterday when their existence in the Premier Division came to an end with this one-goal defeat against Eagles at Wellington Oval.

Parish could be blamed for ending their resistance in top flight football in the second last game of the season because of their inept finishing combined with the fact that they missed two penalties in the second half _ both of which were saved by Eagles' goalkeeper Tahj Bell.

Eagles, who actually matched their opponents throughout the contest, won by a soft goal by Daren Dowling after 52 minutes with the striker gaining possession at the edge of the penalty box after Parish made a feeble clearance following a raid on their goal. Dowling steering the ball home through a packed defence.

On a day when Eagles coach Kenny Thompson was unavailable because he was abroad while the team reportedly fielded several players who were not involved in the FA Cup semi-final against Parish a week ago, the make-shift Eagles' squad proved to be equal to their opponents in all phases of the game.

But it was Parish who blew it in the end with their poor finishing in front of goal and a blatant inability of knowledge of taking penalty kicks.

Trailing 1-0 after 76 minutes Kiaya Darrell placed his penalty, awarded for a tough tackle, at Bell who had to fall to his knees to make a simple save.

Then just two minutes later a second penalty awarded for a hand ball saw Parish's best player Neil (Diamond) Robinson watch in agony as his spot kick to the left saw Bell dive full-length to save.

Earlier Parish had what was the miss of the day when forward Angelo Cannonier placed a shot inches wide when he was just a few feet to the right of the Eagles goal.

A dejected Parish skipper, goalkeeper Nigel Burgess, was completely baffled at the end after watching the game slip away at the expense of his team's failures.

"What can you say other than goals win games and we just couldn't put the ball away, we had the penalties and a few easy chances to score but didn't.

"We could have at least rescued a point today, but couldn't find the goal and that is our season...that's for sure."

While a fair result would have been for the teams to share the points, Eagles had the better of the opening half with a few early chances.

After 15 minutes Aquino Grant crossed from the left only to see Troy Tucker astonishingly put the pass over from a few feet. Two minutes later Aldolphus Lambert sent a fierce 20-yarder which goalkeeper Burgess did well to smother into his chest.

The second half saw Parish come into the game with momentum after Eagles took the lead but they had no vision in the box and created far too many basic errors within shooting range.

The two missed penalties knocked the stuffing out of Parish during the last 10 minutes when it was clear that Eagles would not buckle under whatever pressure the home team would be able to muster.

Hamilton Parish: N.Burgess; T.Webb (K.Hollis, 78 min), C.Hansey, K.Darrell, R.Smith; K.Cann, C.Hill, N.Robinson, C.Caisey; D.Simmons (O.Allan, 65 min), A.Cannonier.

Substitutes not used: R.Simmons, D.Simmons.

Somerset Eagles: T.Bell; K.Brown (M.Dill, 81 min), T.Davies, A.Rocker, A.Lambert; W.Tucker, D.Swan, T.Tucker; S.Smith (A.Hunter, 75 min), D.Dowling, A.Grant (J.Bean, 63 min).

Substitutes not used: R.Williams, P.Russell.

Goals: Dowling, 52

Yellow cards: S.Smith.

Referee: E.Holmes

Man of the match: T.Bell (Eagles).

Devonshire Colts 1

Dandy Town 4

A Raymond Beach brace put Dandy Town one win away from winning their first league title since the 2003/04 season as they saw off Devonshire Colts at Police Field.

The win, coupled with North Village's draw sees the St. John's Road club go to the summit of the league by one point over Rams with one match remaining.

Helping Beach in the goal scoring department was Nahki Wells and Lashun Dill, while Nelson Bascome jr. got Colts' lone goal.

Hornets now play PHC at Southampton Oval knowing a win will confirm them as this year's champions, while North Village travel to White Hill Field to tackle Somerset Eagles.

Devonshire Cougars 2

Somerset Trojans 1

Goals from Lamont Bragman and Aljame Zuill secured Devonshire Cougars victory over relegated Somerset Trojans at Devonshire Rec.

Marcellos Thomas pulled the visitors back into the match but Cougars managed to hold out for the win.