FC Colerne bid to upset leaders

12:00pm Friday 23rd November 2007

Westbury Rangers A continue to dominate proceedings a the top of the Robson Taylor, Chippenham League Premier Division.

Rangers are four points clear of their nearest challengers, Box Rovers, and they will be confident that after Sunday's round of fixtures they will still have a healthy advantage over the other 12 top flight sides.

Rangers visit FC Colerne and the first meeting of the sides should go the way of the visitors, but the famous Colerne slope, which has led to the downfall of many sides in the past, might just help Ian Spirrell's side spring a surprise.

Rangers will be very confident ahead of the game but they will respect their hosts, who have won their last two matches but who have not played for two weeks so could be a little rusty.

The plus side for Colerne is that their injured players will have had more time to recover from their knocks.

Colerne could still be reeling from the loss of Sam Puckett to Box Rovers, but they will raise their game for the arrival of a Rangers side who are on a high at the moment and will view the game as one where they ought to claim maximum points.

Manager Shaun Gardiner will be very disappointed if they return home without getting anything from the game. Gardiner is happy with his mix of youth and experience. The youngsters he has introduced to the team are proving their worth but he is still reliant on his prolific striker Marc Lanfear to fire his team to glory. If he could find another goal machine to play alongside Lanfear Rangers should be pushing for the title come next May.

Rangers are expected to win this game, but the result could be a lot closer than one would expect it to be.

Second placed Box Rovers entertain Dog and Fox Ashley and the two sides will get the chance to renew their old rivalries which over they years has resulted in a number of thrilling games.

Since the sides first met in 1999 Rovers have had the upper hand, with 10 victories from the 16 encounters. The Dog have only won two and two have ended in stalemates.

The Dog and Fox's greatest success came in November 2003 when they beat Rovers 8-4, with Steve Roddy scoring seven times.

Roddy, Dan Cottrell and Russell Whatley should all be back for the Dog and Fox this weekend after missing last Sunday's humiliating 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Semington Rovers and that will give manager Clive Bancroft a boost ahead of what should be a tough game.

The Dog and Fox should be capable of winning despite being up against a Rovers side who are having one of their best seasons for a long time. While Roddy loves to score against Rovers, Tom Smith likes to play the Dog and Fox and could well hit the target as he has done many times in the past.

If last term's meetings are anything to go by then the match could be settled by the odd goal. Rovers won 2-1 and the Dog claimed a 3-2 success, but on this occasion it should be Rovers who take the spoils.

Biddestone Social's new management duo of Dan Lardner and Danny Jones will be confident they can start their reign with a win at home to North Star A, who are currently struggling at the wrong end of the table. Lardner and Jones replace John O'Meara, who stepped down just over a week ago and if the pair can get their array of stars to turn out on a regular basis then they could do well for the remainder of the campaign.

Biddestone Social have suffered only one defeat in the league and that was against Corsham Centre, who they had beaten in the Knockout Cup.

Biddestone Social's defeat in the cup to Cooper-Avon was O'Meara's last match in charge so with just the league to concentrate on Lardner and Jones might opt to bring in a few new faces or they could keep things as they are and look to build for next season.

Biddestone Social should beat North Star, who have won just one of their eight matches to date, but manager Gary Elliott knows that if his team hadn't been hit with injuries they would be a midtable side rather than the one in the relegation zone, as they are at present.

Elliott will be hoping that he will get some good news before this weekend's game and if he can get his young goalkeeper Jamie Bartlett, who was injured while playing for Calne Town, back into action the Star will have a slim chance of getting a point from the game. Elliott spotted Bartlett playing in the local park and invited him to join the Star. He has been an instant success, which led to him signing for Calne Town, and after a few games in the reserves he was called into action for the first team after an injury to their regular goalkeeper Steve Allison.

But on his debut a few weeks ago he suffered an injury which had left him sidelined ever since.

Bradford News are bottom of the table but over the past four weeks they have started to show a new determination which has seen them win two of their last four matches - one in the league and the other in the Knockout Cup.

The newsmen were beaten only 2-0 by leaders Westbury Rangers A last Sunday but for Mark Hurkett's team it will be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire this weekend when they host defending champions Corsham Centre.

The teams have met four times in the past two seasons and the Centre have netted 33 goals compared to the newsmen's three and Bradford will find out just how much they have improved this term when they meet at Bradford's Trowbridge Road ground.

The hosts will be looking for damage limitation but this could be the best time to face the Centre who will probably be without striker Simon Gray who usually has a field day when the sides clash.

Corsham Centre manager Peter Ralph will not approach the game as if it's already been won as he is well aware of Bradford's recent good form but he will be quietly confident that his team should have an easier game than they did last weekend when they drew 2-2 with Box Rovers.

The Centre will be odds-on to claim a high scoring victory but the longer Bradford can keep things tight at the back the harder it will be for the Centre to break them down. But should the home team concede an early goal then you would have to fear the worst for them.

Old adversaries Semington Rovers and Miller Sports lock horns for the first time since March 2006 when the sides were in the First Division. On that occasion Miller Sports won 3-0 on their way to finishing top of the table.

The match will see Miller's Graham Pearce return to his former club and he will be given a hostile welcome as over the years the teams have become fierce rivals. Current form points to a victory for Semington Rovers, who are at last starting to find their feet in the top flight, but with local pride at stake the game could go either way.

Miller Sports will rely on their experienced stars, like goalkeeper Nick Evans and his Westbury United team-mate Nick Ridout to fire them to glory, and could also welcome back Ashley Groves for the game.

Semington manager Allan Clarke will hope for big performances from his in-form striker Stuart Barber, Kelvin Lockwood, Stuart Donohoe, and goalkeeper Tom Wysocki who was exceptional in Semington's 5-0 victory over the Dog and Fox Ashley last weekend. Although Wysocki had a relatively quiet game he produced a number of important saves when he had to.

Although Semington are tipped to claim the honours, the game might be won by the odd goal or could even finish with each team claiming a point.

Both Maud Heath Sports and Winsley had their matches postponed last weekend.

Maud Heath Sports suffered a postponement due to a waterlogged pitch while Winsley forgot to take their kit along for their match with Biddestone Social, something which they won't do again in a hurry as the mistake could prove to be a costly one.

Maud Heath Sports are due to entertain Winsley at the Recreation Ground in Calne but now the skies have decided to open up, Maud Heath might suffer the same fate as they did last term and that was to play just four league matches from the end of November through to the end of March once the inclement weather decided to interfere with the league fixtures.

Maud Heath Sports have already indicated that should the rain continue to fall then their game is likely to be postponed, but hopefully the rain will stop and the game will get played and should that happen Winsley, despite of their poor form this term, will be favourites to seal victory.

Winsley have won three out of the four previous meetings between the sides, with Maud Heath Sports taking the spoils in the other one, thanks to a 7-3 success - and how Andy Townsend would love for his team to repeat that scoreline.

There is no doubt that both teams have been plagued with injuries this season, but it is hard to say which of the two sides have been hardest hit.

It would probably be Winsley who, having finished runners-up last term, are way below par. Winsley manager Paul Ranger is doing everything he can to get matches played in spite of missing many key players.

His opposite number Townsend would like the chance to field his first choice 11 for one match this season, but not having seen many of his players perform this term due to injury, he probably won't know what his best team is.