ending a two-year stint in the First Division.

A dismal league record of two wins and a draw against 12 defeats has made this a virtual certainty.

Head coach Johnny Nusum conceded that the drop appears inevitable and yesterday was not holding out much hope that they could survive.

"It's beyond hope,'' said Nusum. "Looking at the standings and the possibilities we would need a giant turnaround...there is no real chance for us to avoid relegation.'' Fellow strugglers St. George's are this week's opponents at Wellington Oval in what has become somewhat of a derby match.

Mathematically, Parish can still catch and even overtake St. George's and St.

David's if they gain maximum points from their three remaining games and the others lose theirs.

Parish have five points while the other two are locked on 10 apiece. However, St. George' and St. David's have a match remaining against each other and a win by either would doom Parish no matter what results they are able to generate.

Said Nusum: "All that's left for us is to get some respectability and not make us look as bad as the points indicate.

"I think we've been very unlucky in the second half and the scoreline does not truly reflect the way we've played.

"There were several matches where we were very much in them but failed to take advantage of it.

"Our finishing has been horrendous and with the defence we have, we need to score a few goals to have a chance at winning.'' Counterpart Greg (Brutus) Foggo indicated that the next two matches would be the barometer as to whether St. George's escape the plunge.

They have a chance to garner two points and move past the Islanders, who have a formidable task in the form of league leaders Somerset.

"We'd definitely like to take the next two to ease the pressure on the last game,'' said Foggo. "I still think we'll be there (First Division) next season.'' An added bonus for Foggo is that he is likely to have a full arsenal to draw from with the inclusion of danger man Clay Smith and the return of Greg Foggo Jr., Phillip Bailey and midfield workhorse Jan Cieters.

Apart from the aforementioned Somerset versus St. David's clash at St.

David's, there are a number of intriguing battles among teams challenging for league honours.

The most striking of these is tonight's match pitting defending champions PHC against Boulevard (9 p.m.).

Both have 19 points and Boulevard were making a solid push for the top spot before being upended at Somerset last week and will want to regain momentum against a Zebras outfit who, although not dominating, as in previous years, are still in contention and as dangerous as any.

"We're just taking it one game at a time,'' said skipper Mike Dill. "It's been a pretty rough season with so many injuries...it's almost a totally different team.'' Nevertheless, the Warwick club have hung in the pack and surprised many with their resilience.

"I think what really threw everybody off was our bad run in the Dudley Eve (Trophy) and then getting knocked out of the FA (Cup), but our league standing wasn't affected that much.

"People wrote us off, but we were never more than four points off the pace.

"The experience of a few players that were there and the fact that we stuck to our game plan and style of play has also helped.'' Another enticing match may be the one at Bernard Park, where the high-flying North Village Red Devils square off against a Dandy Town outfit, still recovering from the tragic death of former team-mate Jerome Belboda.

Village are three points behind the leaders and two adrift of the chasing pack of four that contains Town.

But while the Hornets were regarded as one of the hottest teams a scant two weeks ago, Village now lay claim to that title, having shown themselves to be more than worthy opponents with three straight wins, including triumphs over Somerset and then leaders Devonshire Colts.

"After the last three games the guys are obviously full of confidence,'' said Village's Kevin Grant. "The players are enjoying it now and there is more understanding.

"After taking a lot of licks early the players are really trying to salvage pride and things are looking better for us.'' Town meanwhile look to end this streak and give their own chances a boost.

"We can't look any further past Sunday,'' said Hornet coach Mark Trott. "The players are aware of the challenge in front of them and know they have to play their hearts out for the full 90 minutes.

"North Village are a well-coached and well-drilled team, and we expect them to be prepared to play at a very high level, so we'll have to be able to match that standard.'' The one remaining game has Devonshire Colts travelling to Southampton to face Hotels, who are themselves not yet out of the danger area.

Second Division match-ups include Devonshire Cougars hosting Wolves, Prospect entertaining Paget, BAA on the road against Port Royal, Somerset Eagles at home to Southampton (3 p.m.) and Vasco tackling Social Club at St. John's field (3 p.m.).