Personal pride at stake in Melksham derby

11:58am Friday 29th August 2008

There will be a lot of personal pride at stake at The Conigre, Melksham, where newly-promoted Cooper-Avon open their Division One account against local rivals Foresters Arms.

Cooper-Avon lost just one match last term in Division Two but missed out on the number one spot to Crown Cosmos on goal difference. Now Gary Newman's side have got the personnel this term to go one better and win they title and reach the top flight.

Cooper-Avon have kept almost all of last season's team and the likes of Simon Gillatt, James Ponsford, James Worsley, Josh and Tom Robinson and Dave Macey should have few problems in adapting to life in the division.

The downside for manager Newman is that with so many of his team now playing at a higher level on Saturdays they may well get asked not to play on a Sunday which might leave him having to use more fringe players than he would like to.

Foresters manager Pat Johnson won't have to say a lot to get his team fired up for their opening match and with bragging rites at stake Foresters are certain to raise their game.

Cooper-Avon ought to take the spoils but if Foresters can get the best from the likes of Leigh Rowles-Hitchcock, Luke Turvey, Marc Harewood and Greg Wilmot and their defence can stay tight then they might just take an unexpected point from the game.

White Hart Combe v Rowde

TREVOR Rawlings' White Hart Combe face a baptism of fire to their life in the division as they host Rowde, who are managed by one of Devizes Town's joint managers, Kevin Whitbread.

Rowde got off to a flyer last term when they beat British Lion on the opening day of proceedings and they would love to do the same again, however Combe could prove a lot harder to beat.

Both teams have lost players in the close season but they have brought in new blood who are expected to help their cause.

Rowde will look to talismanic striker Jamie Mullens to get them off to a winning start while Combe will see their potent strike force of James Stone, Craig Fullam and former Christian Malford striker Aaron Merrywheater as the men to give them victory.

The result should be a close one, with the game possibly being won by the odd goal, and the outcome may well depend on which defence comes out on top.

On this occasion the hosts are tipped for success.

Bradford News v Chippenham Sports and Social Club

BRADFORD News, who suffered relegation at the end of the last term, begin their bid to get back into the top flight with a home match against Chippenham Sports and Social Club, who themselves just avoided relegation from Division One.

Mark Hurkett's Bradford News side hope that Tom Downes will stay fit for them this season as he has looked good in pre-season. And if Harry Hamlin, Jamie Davies and Tom Downing can do as well as they did in the last campaign when under great pressure, the newsmen are favourites to start with a win.

Jason Bull's Sports side will of course have other ideas and they may well see this match as one they can and need to win if they are to avoid getting dragged into their annual relegation dogfight.

Chippenham Sports have won just one of their last four opening day fixtures and sadly for the visitors to Trowbridge Road this game is likely to see them return pointless to North Wiltshire.

Atworth United v AFC Calne

A NEW-LOOK AFC Calne travel to face an Atworth United side who themselves have seen many players leave in the summer, which must have come as somewhat of a shock to manager Paul Burns as the villagers had one of their best seasons for many years last term when they finished in seventh spot.

Atworth have lost forward Sean Fordham to neighbours Foresters Arms but they still have the services of their top goal scorer Ross Menghini, and youngsters Jack Adcock and Ian Jeffery and with a few new additions they should give AFC Calne a good game.

AFC Calne picked up just one point from a possible four from Atworth in their two meetings last season but even through they have seen seven players move on they should just have the edge to pick up their first league win against their hosts, with the goals likely to come from new signing Nathan West, Ryan Kelleher, Dean Fry or Simon Dance.

North Bradley v North Star A

AFTER suffering relegation at the end of the previous campaign, North Star A might not make a return to the Premier Division at their first attempt, but they should start the new season with a win away at North Bradley who look as if they are in disarray under new manager Tim Richards, who is struggling to get a side together for the opening day.

It's hard to know what sort of side Bradley will have available, but if the likes of Neil Wilcox, Mark Binns, Paul Riley and Matt Coles remain loyal and Richards can bring in a lot of new faces they could surprise a few teams.

But for that to happen Richards needs to act sooner rather than later otherwise some of his chosen targets will sign on for other clubs which could spell the end of Bradley.

When the sides clashed in the 2006/07 season North Star thumped Bradley 6-1 and 10-1 so they will fancy their chances of making it five wins on the trot against the villagers which should be a formality.

Biddestone Arms v Carpenters Arms

TROWBRIDGE-based Coyote, who won the WG Parr Trophy last season, have changed their name to Carpenters Arms and manager Chris Carr hopes that the name change will lead to greater things and that this will be the season that they can mount a serious challenge to reach the top flight.

Carpenters travel to Biddestone Arms for their opener and, although the visitors will be odds-on to claim maximum points, they might not have everything their own way against an Arms side who are managed by Richard Chaffey and Jack Goodship who hope that between them they can get Biddestone Arms playing well again.

Carpenters beat Biddestone Arms 4-2 and 4-0 in last season's exchanges, and if Carr has players like Matty Minnis, Scott Askew, Jason Povey and Nathan Flower on board again then the winning margin this time around might be even greater.