DIVISION THREE REPORT: Victories for all three relegation battlers (From Wiltshire Times)

DIVISION THREE REPORT: Victories for all three relegation battlers

5:00pm Monday 12th March 2012 in Sport

AN ASTONISHING day of results in Division Three saw all three of the sides battling to avoid relegation to Division Four along with Pig & Whistle United pick up victories that means the pressure remains on them as everything remains as it was prior to kick-off. Talbot FC, who are in the bottom two with Pig & Whistle, must have though that they would have moved to safety after their 2-0 victory over second-placed Somerford.

But with other results going against them the only thing the result did was to tighten leaders Staverton’s grip on top spot.

After a goalless first half Steve Wordley broke the deadlock for Talbot when he turned his marker on the halfway line and raced clear before going one and one with Somerford’s keeper and slotting home.

With 15 minutes remaining Jamie Van-Crump ended Talbot’s six match losing run when he drilled home a 25-yard wonder goal to give them their 2-0 success ahead of next week's reverse fixture with the villagers.

Bremhill View Boys 2 Kings Arms (All Cannings) 1

KING'S Arms' (All Cannings) first defeat in nine games saw their promotion chances dented after they were beaten 2-1 at Bremhill View Boys, whose win boosts their own chance of beating the drop.

Arms, who were expected to avenge their 5-1 defeat from earlier in the season, were unable to unlock their hosts' defence in an evenly matched first half that saw the teams go in at 0-0.

Bremhill struck first in the second half with Caner Ozkaya putting them in front.

Devlin Keane, up from defence, restored parity for Kings Arms before Rory Worthington fired home the winner for Bremhill Boys.

North Star B 2 GRFC 1

NORTH Star B completed the trio of victories for those clubs at the wrong end of the table.

Lee Lovelock’s side did things the hard way as they had to come from a goal down against GRFC to claim a 2-1 win which owed much to the heroics of their keeper Jamie Rivers.

Keeper Rivers produced his first breathtaking stop on six minutes when he somehow turned a Robbie Burton volley from six yards around the post.

Rivers was beaten by Connor Laidlaw who chased down what looked to be a lost cause to put GRFC in front at half time.

North Star were on level terms within a minute of the restart Kevin Foley turning home a Gary Lovelock cross and the score remained 1-1 thanks to keeper Rivers who denied Burton in at least five one on one situations.

North Star sealed their win in comical fashion when Nick Benson’s shot crept through the legs of a clutch of players before finding the net to make it 2-1.

White Horse FC 3 Corsham Park Rangers 1

WHITE Horse FC and Corsham Park Rangers went into their game at Leighton Sports Centre knowing that only two points would do, as the battle for vital league positions intensifies.

The visitors made the trip to Westbury with the bare eleven and, despite going 2-0 down in the early stages, put in a resilient performance that sadly for them ended in a 3-1 defeat.

In what was their final home game of the season White Horse made their typical bright and breezy start and they only had to wait until the fifth minute before they found themselves celebrating their first goal of the morning.

Dale Rowland showed good feet down the left flank before his cross picked out top scorer Chris Stiles, whose volley ricocheted back off the crossbar and fell at the feet of Jordan Gullis who was left with the simplest of tasks, tapping in for his ninth goal of the season.

With their tails up and their guests struggling to get into the game the Horse pressed on and doubled their lead just three minutes later.

With his name already on the scoresheet Gullis turned provider, his low cross met by Andy Bartlett’s darting run to the near post, with the right winger's neat flick flying past Ranger's keeper Tristan Miller.

After the worst possible start the visitors would have been forgiven for crumbling, but the second White Horse goal woke them from their slumber.

They immediately started to ask questions of their own, with front men Kevin Bance and Kadir Ayhan both denied by last-ditch tackles from young centre back Danny Clarkson.

They continued to apply pressure though and managed to reduce the arrears in the 11th minute, when Simon Young’s corner wasn’t cleared and Chaz Young poked home from close range.

Despite the manic opening to the game it soon calmed down and became virtually a mirror image of when the two sides last met back in mid-November, with their contrasting styles cancelled out by well organised defences.

With no further clear-cut chances looking likely it took a goal of the utmost quality to extend the home team’s lead in the 35th minute.

After another attack had been nipped in the bud the ball fell to Tom Crawford 30 yards out, who unleashed a thunderous shot with the outside of his right boot that had Miller grasping at thin air and the net rippling.

The respective half time team talks appeared only to reiterate the importance of defence, with Rangers’ orderly backline handling the free-flowing style of their opponents and the Horse’s dealing admirably with their guests more direct approach.

In fact, the only two incidents of note in the second period were Miller’s good save from Stiles, as the half reached the midway point, and Horse substitute Mick Smith’s goal line clearance in the dying moments that denied a nail biting conclusion to the game.

The win boosts White Horse’s hopes of claiming a back door promotion spot, with just a solitary game remaining, and means that there is still work to be done in Rangers’ last four games if they are to achieve the same.

CHIPPENHAM SUNDAY LEAGUE ROUNDUP, STATS AND PICTURES IN THURSDAY'S GAZETTE & HERALD AND FRIDAY'S WILTSHIRE TIMES AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @gazsport and @WTSport

Comments are closed on this article.