Hamilton Parish 1

Southampton Rangers 0

Hamilton Parish are rapidly establishing themselves as the Premier escape artists in Bermuda.

A scrappy win over Southampton Rangers at Wellington Oval yesterday dragged the team out of the bottom two, and turned a two-way relegation fight into a three-way battle for safety.

Parish are now third from bottom, three points clear of the relegation zone, and only behind Rangers on goal difference. Next week the clash against Devonshire Colts, who dropped into the bottom two, will be a fight for survival.

Rangers too will be looking over their shoulders after this defeat, and a trip to Dandy Town is not something they will be looking forward to with any great relish.

They will have to face Hornets without the services of defender Julian Caisey who was sent off by referee George O'Brien after being booked twice for two seemingly innocuous challenges. The dismissal completed a miserable afternoon for Caisey who spent much of the match chasing Angelo Cannonier's shadow.

Not that Parish striker Cannonier faired much better, he got into some good positions but invariably squandered chances when they presented themselves. His worst offence came midway through the second half when he found himself free in the Rangers penalty area, but somehow managed to fire high and wide of the goal.

Rangers did little going forward themselves, and while Morico Iris was a rare bright point in an otherwise poor team performance, he too struggled when it really counted, either shooting wide, or scuffing his shot into the grateful arms of Parish goalkeeper Nigel Burgess.

In the end the winner came in a manner that befitted the occasion, with ten minutes remaining a scrambled shot came back off the Rangers post and was toe-poked home by Shane Hollis from little more than a yard out.

PHC 2 Devonshire Cougars 1

Kyle Lightbourne's side kept their slim title hopes alive with a nervy win over Devonshire Cougars at Southampton Oval yesterday.

Casey Castle scored twice in the first half and with little more than five minutes left PHC seemed to have the points in the bag. Then Domico Coddington popped up to grab a late goal, and set up a frantic closing few minutes.