CHRISTIAN Malford, who remain in the Division One drop zone, were to rue missed chances as fellow strugglers Sutton Benger battled back to draw 1-1 at Stanley Park.

The teams had drawn 2-2 at the same venue the previous week bu Malford were the livelier team in the early stages with Benger keeper Luke Todd saving well from Scott Evans and Kevin Long firing past the post. The Benger defence remained solid to thwart the Malford forwards.

An early substitution was necessary for Malford, disrupting them for a few minutes but after 23 minutes they took the lead when from a Kevin Long cross on the right Rob Lowe stooped low to head home.

Benger did come back into the game with James Weston causing problems with his runs from the left.

Malford again dominated the early part of the second half but missed a succession of chances as well as some good saves from Benger’s keeper.

As the half wore on Benger looked more solid at the back and pushed forward themselves, Malford keeper Ben Munns having to push a looping shot from the right over the crossbar.

After 80 minutes Benger were awarded a free kick and Benger defender Chris Miles beat the Malford defence to the ball to head home and equalise.

Malford then pushed forward and had chances to win the game but could not find the target. The game was played again as last week in a very sporting spirit and was well refereed by Dan Spyer.

Local rivals FC Pig & Whistle and Melksham Cosmos met at Awdry Avenue in a match that was expected to live up to the previous clash between the teams which had finished 2-2 back in November.

On this occasion it was Cosmos who claimed the bragging rights and they will boasting of their success for weeks to come after they destroyed their hosts 10-1 to move second in the standings.

Dan Moore started the carnage, Alex Shaftoe scored the next three goals with Jason Hull’s double giving them a 6-0 half time lead.

Jack Woolsgrove pulled one back for the Pig & Whistle but after that it was all Cosmos who made it 7-1 thanks to a second of the morning from Moore. Hull completed his hat-trick before Marc Scammell and Joe Griffiths got their names on the scoresheet to make up the 10.

Any outside chance that Miller Sports A may have had of snatching an automatic promotion spot all but disappeared after they suffered a 7-2 defeat at North Star FC.

Despite being on top from the start it was North Star who fell behind when against the run of play Richard Moules gave Miller a surprise lead.

Parity was quickly restored when Karl Sharratt bagged his first of the season to make it 1-1 and a second from Sharratt put the Star 2-1 ahead. Mike Stevens drew Miller level with another goal that was against the run of play.

North Star flew out of the traps in the second period and a quick fire double for Declan Blandford helped them establish a 4-2 lead.

Karl Sharratt completed his hat-trick for 5-2 and Mickey Taraskevics added their sixth before Jamie Van Crump opened his account for the club with their seventh of the game.

A third straight defeat for Sportzcoach Dragonz United who have been struggling over recent weeks saw their promotion hopes completely destroyed after they suffered a 12-1 mauling at the hands of runaway leaders Potterne CFC,who now have an 18-point lead over Melksham Cosmos, who occupy second spot with five games in hand on Craig Fisher’s table toppers.

Craig Townsend scored the first two goals for Potterne before Craig Neate halved the deficit for a Sportzcoach side who trailed 2-1 at the break.

The second period saw Potterne run riot and once they had moved 3-1 ahead the floodgates opened. Townsend added a further five to his first-half double, Neil Clark netted himself a four-timer and a single from Wayne House made up the villagers' dozen.