Robin Hood kept their slim title hopes alive with a hard-fought win over Hamilton Parish.

A 2-0 win at Wellington Oval for Kyle Lightbourne’s men, coupled with Dandy Town’s defeat at Devonshire Cougars on Friday means that six points separate the top two.

Hood scored twice in the second half, and with five matches remaining much will hinge on the next three games, with Town playing champions Somerset Trojans, Southampton Rangers and Boulevard. Hood, meanwhile, face Boulevard, Devonshire Colts and Cougars.

Lightbourne, the Hood coach, said finishing second would represent a big improvement on last season’s fourth-place finish, their best in the Premier Division.

“Right now that’s our aim, we’ve held that position for a very long time and it would be a disappointment to give it up,” he said.

“Last year we finished fourth and we’ll try to keep improving the squad every year and changing mentalities. A game like today you have to go out and play, run around and work hard for your team and that’s required every week.

“Parish are fighting for their lives, they have some honest guys, the goalkeeper is decent and the two centre backs work hard and it wasn’t going to be easy. Our next matches are against Boulevard and Devonshire Colts and Boulevard have upped their game over the last few weeks.

“After that we have a tricky game against Somerset. We got 16 points in the first half of the season and our aim is to get 16 more and I don’t see why not, we should be able to do it. That’s our challenge.”

Kieshon Smith, the Trojans coach, admitted his team paid the price for squandering chances in yesterday’s 1-1 draw away to Southampton Rangers, which leaves them languishing in mid-table.

“We missed too many chances and that cost us the win,” Smith said.

“You have to put your chances away in order to get those maximum points.

“We would have liked three points today, but I was pleased with the guys who worked well and created a lot.”

The point did not help Rangers’s position near the bottom of the table, only increasing the gap between themselves and last-placed Parish to three points.

Dawud Tucker, the Rangers’s deputising coach, felt his team deserved to win as goalkeeper Jason Smith returned from a six-game suspension to strengthen a defence that has been leaking goals lately.

“The win was definitely there for the taking,” Tucker said. “Goals win matches and a lot of times guys don’t capitalise but those are the things we are working on.

“The previous weeks have been pretty rough for us, but the point was definitely a step forward and hopefully things turn around for us.”

Boulevard and Devonshire Cougars continued their climb to safety after wins. Boulevard moved ahead of PHC Zebras and into fourth place after winning 2-1 at Police Field while Cougars handed Town their second league loss on Friday at Devonshire Recreation Club.

Devonshire Colts remain just above the drop zone after going down 1-0 at Bernard Park to North Village, who moved up to third.

Ian Coke, the Boulevard striker, believed his side were well worth their win against Zebras.

“We needed the win today as we were looking to bounce back from our defeat in the FA Cup,” Coke said.

“The league has always been our main focus, though, and we knew we needed to buckle down because we’re aiming to finish in the top four.

“So far it’s been a good campaign and a couple of good performances to close out the season would do the club good, the fans good and the community good.”