Allan Clarke (18146/11)

All three of the title chasing sides will again be expecting to pick up maximum points on Sunday.

Leaders Corsham Centre A visit Semington Rovers and although the Centre haven't been as clinical in front of goal as they have been in previous seasons, they are still the division's top scorers with 64 goals from their 13 matches.

The Centre's last victory against Semington came in the semi-finals of last year's knockout cup, when goals from Simon Gray (2) and Tim Jefferies earned them a 3-0 victory and it would be a big surprise if Pete Ralph's side didn't at least match that scoreline as they bid to extend their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

Despite Semington's poor run of form through February that saw them fail to win any of their three games, they will be up for the game, but they will be without player-manager Allan Clarke who is out injured.

Better news for Semington is that they should welcome back top scorer Stuart Barber who missed their goal-less draw against Miller Sports.

The Centre will be hoping they can field a near full strength side, but, with one eye on their Wiltshire Sunday Cup semi-final meeting with Greyhound the following week manager Ralph will have to decide whether to bring in a couple of their reserve team players or take a final look at his team ahead of their biggest game for a couple of seasons.

Whatever he does, Ralph will be hoping that inspirational captain Craig Gingell can add to his 12 goals to date.

The Centre will be favourites to claim a fourth successive victory over Semington, but if they go into the game half-hearted then their could be an upset on the cards.

Biddestone Social v Bradford News

SECOND-placed Biddestone Social have had a few scary moments over the last two weekends, but they have shown that although their forwards might not be firing on all cylinders their back four can be relied on to keep their title challenge on track.

Biddestone beat Holt 2-1 three weeks ago and followed that with a narrow 1-0 win over basement side North Star A last weekend.

If those results are anything to go by they could face another tricky game on Sunday when they host Bradford News who are in the bottom two.

Biddestone Social will be expected to win, but if Mark Hurkett's side are as fully committed as they were when they played the leaders last week they could give Social another scare. The newsmen might have lost 5-0 but their second half display saw them hassle the Centre for every ball and a repeat performance could help them keep the score down.

Bradford News will feel they are due a change of fortunes against Dan Lardner and Danny Jones's side who have won the previous six matches but it has to be said that Bradford have never been humiliated by their hosts as their biggest wins have been 3-0 and 4-1.

If the visitors to Yatton Road can keep things tight at the back and find a way to unlock the Biddestone Social defence then they might nick a point.

Mark Maguire, Tom Downing, Jamie Davies and Harry Hamlin are all on three goals and if one of them were to provide the winning goal they would become an instant hero.

Bradford News may have to settle for second best again as the home team go in search of a ninth successive victory and with their big guns likely to explode into action at some stage, the scene could be set for the likes of Jamie Lyons, John O'Meara, Gary Banks and co to go on a goal scoring spree as they look to improve their goals for tally which currently stands at 45.

Westbury Rangers A v Dog and Fox Ashley

WESTBURY Rangers A and Dog and Fox Ashley are set to meet at Meadow Lane in what is seen as an appetiser ahead of their presstoprint sponsored-Eric Hughes Memorial Knockout Cup semi-final showdown at the end on the month.

Rangers, who are still in the title race, will be favourites to take the spoils, but their manager Shaun Gardiner is the first to admit that he does not like playing the Bradfordians.

Gardiner believes the Dog and Fox are Rangers' bogey team, but past results do not back his case.

Of the 17 meetings of the sides since they first met in the top flight back in the 1999/2000 season Rangers have won eight, three have ended all square and the Dog have won the other six. So this game will be another closely fought affair that could go either way.

Rangers have a 100 per cent record at Meadow Lane and have won all the seven matches they have played there to date. And that is likely to become eight as the Dog and Fox have lost their last two games and since the start of the season have won just two games away from their own pitch at St Laurence School.

Both teams will be out to draw first blood ahead of their semi-final encounter but neither team will want to give too much away so they might be prepared to field a weaker side for this week's game.

Rangers are still in with a chance of finishing top of the pile and they are tipped to gain their 11th victory with a narrow success, maybe by the odd goal in a low scoring contest.

Holt v FC Colerne

HOLT and FC Colerne met just over a month ago at Colerne's Bath Road ground and on that occasion honours were shared in a 1-1 draw, with Craig Aitchison scoring for Colerne and Rob O'Harrow netting Holt's goal.

The reverse match at the Fortress should be as equally as entertaining and promises to as close and could once again end in stalemate as the two matched sides look for a return to winning ways after recent losses.

FC Colerne, who suffered their first defeat in four games when they lost 2-1 away at Westbury Rangers A last weekend, are the inform side as Holt go into the game on the back of losses against both Biddestone Social and Miller Sports, but having never lost against Colerne Stuart Faint's side will want to keep that record intact.

And as long as strikers Tom Pang and Neil Grant play they will have a good chance of extending their unbeaten record against their guests to six matches.

Holt have won three of the previous five meetings, with the other two ending in stalemate, and both Pang and Grant have a habit of getting on the score sheet against their rivals.

FC Colerne will be happy to go into the game as underdogs, as they always seem to come good when they have been written off, and if their own hit men Craig Aitchison, Charlie Spirrell, Ross Hall and Jamie Bowler are on song then they might just collect maximum points for the first time against Holt which would result in the two teams swapping places in the table.

Winsley v Box Rovers

WINSLEY will be hoping that Box Rovers, who were unable to raise a team for their recent game against Dog and Fox Ashley, will have enough players for their scheduled match at Freshford.

Since the 2005/06 season Winsley have had a stranglehold over Rovers and they have convincingly won the five meetings involving the two clubs and will be confident that they can make it six wins on the spin.

Two goals apiece from Trowbridge Town's Dean Ranger and Bromham's Mike Little earned Winsley a 4-0 success when the teams met at the end of December which just happened to be the last time Dean Ranger struck gold for his brother Paul's village side.

The statistics might point to another win for Winsley, but there is no doubt that if Rovers were to put out a half decent side which manager Kirk Boobyer knows he is capable of doing then they would have a very good chance of beating Winsley. If Box had their best players available on a regular basis they would be one of the best sides in the division as they have so much talent in their squad.

The sad thing is that many of the players can't be bothered to turn up when the going has got tough for Rovers.

The fact remains that Rovers are struggling for a team and it is hoped that players might start to show some loyalty to Boobyer and that they will see the season out. If they can gain a win over Winsley then they might just get their appetite back for the game and who knows they may well have a say in where the title ends up as they still have the top two sides to play and they will no doubt raise their game for those matches.

Maud Heath Sports v Miller Sports

MAUD Heath Sports, who registered their first victory since October last weekend when they beat Winsley, were looking forward to their match at the Recreation Ground in Calne against Miller Sports.

But Andy Townsend's side, who were hopeful of claiming another important victory in their bid to beat the drop, will have an unexpected rest as Miller Sports have postponed the game due to many of their players being away on a stag weekend.

12:00pm Friday 29th February 2008

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