Robson Taylor Chippenham Sunday League News 2007/08  RSS feed | About

James Ponsford

Having beaten their nemesis Crown Cosmos last weekend, it was almost a case of after the Lord Mayor's Show for leaders Cooper-Avon, who came close to undoing their good work when they were held to a 4-4 draw at Bremhill View Social Club.

The home side led 3-1 at one stage, but the tyremen are likely to see it as a point gained rather than one dropped considering Bremhill won the reverse fixture 1-0.

Terry Cox put Bremhill ahead within the first five minutes when he rounded Cooper-Avon goalkeeper Alex Shaftoe to make it 1-0.

James Ponsford dragged Cooper-Avon level in the 10th minute, when he scored from the penalty spot, but by half-time Bremhill had taken a 3-1 lead and looked to be in the driving seat.

Dale Smith pounced on an error from goalkeeper Shaftoe to make it 2-1 in the 30th minute and 10 minutes later Steve Allison headed home a Nick Haigh free kick to give the hosts a two goal cushion.

Cooper-Avon came out a different side for the second half and Ponsford's second goal reduced the gap to the odd goal. Ponsford equalised when he made it 3-3 with his hat-trick goal, which also came from the penalty spot.

Ponsford then struck his fourth of the game to give Cooper-Avon a 4-3 lead on 70 minutes. With five minutes left Bremhill substitute Rob Smith came to his team's rescue when he fired home a fabulous free kick to earn the hosts a share of the spoils.

Hullavington 2, The Crown Devizes 1

WITH Crown Cosmos in Knockout Cup action, Hullavington knew that a win over The Crown Devizes would move them into second spot.

Hullavington managed to get the victory they were after but the 2-1 success was a lot closer than expected.

It was the Crown who took the lead after Hullavington's defence let the ball bounce and Paul Revening nipped in and lobbed keeper Anthony Brown from 20 yards.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Hullavington and they didn't really improve until the second half. By then they had lost Pete O'Neil, who was rushed to Chippenham hospital after clashing heads with an opponent, O'Neil was taken from Chippenham hospital to Bath to have a head scan, as he was believed to be concussed.

The second half started better for Hullavington. Liam Bailey came on for only his third appearance of the season, replacing Nick Cole who was carrying an injury. Hullavington won a penalty when Ed Wilkins was brought down in the box and Wilkins picked himself up to slot away his 30th goal of the season and in doing so he won his bet with manger Adam Reeves, who placed £50 that he wouldn't reach the 30 goal mark.

It could have been a good incentive for Wilkins to score this year, or maybe just a bad bet on behalf of the team's manager.

Hullavington had a golden chance to take the lead Liam Bailey chased down a long ball and somehow nicked it from the feet of their keeper, but faced with an open goal to shoot at he somehow knocked the ball wide from 10 yards.

Luckily for Bailey he made up for his terrible mistake and scored what turned out to be the winner. He received the ball outside of the box from Phil Garland and struck a beautiful left footed strike into the bottom corner from 20 yards out.

Bailey was voted Hullavington's players' player of the season last year for his reliable performances but due to work commitments he hasn't played enough for the villagers this term, but he is a handy player to have when he can play.

Crown manager Mark Roberts was indebted to Andrew Bevan-Witts for getting the game played. Bevan-Witts stepped in and took over from Roberts when family commitments almost forced him to postpone the match.

White Hart Combe 7, Sutton Benger 0

WHITE Hart Combe's 7-0 win over Sutton Benger has moved Combe into fourth place above Bremhill View Social Club, who slipped down to fifth spot despite drawing with the leaders.

Craig Fullam gave Combe the lead and Stefan Klukowski finished the scoring, but in between times, James Stone scored twice, Ben Munns netted from the penalty spot, Matty Windle scored his second in as many weeks and Ryan Wilkinson scored his first goal for the club to make up the seven.

Klukowski also got the ball in the net before scoring the final goal of the game but for a fourth week in succession his strike was ruled out for offside, so it was just reward that the striker scored in his final game before he goes off travelling the world

Horse and Groom 6, Audley FC 2

AT the foot of the table Westbury-based Horse and Groom were without manager Tim Beecham and he maybe tempted to stay away more often as his team claimed only their second win of the season as they trounced fellow strugglers Audley FC 6-2.

James Sweetman put the Horse and Groom in front but his effort was cancelled out by Chris Yeo. James Sweetman restored the lead for the Horse and Groom but once again Audley hit back to tie the scores, with Nick Gapper squaring things up. Ben Derrick headed the Horse and Groom into a 3-2 lead and from then on it was all one-way traffic as Stuart Bennett added number four before Sweetman completed his hat-trick with the hosts' fifth. Dan Cox claimed goal number six, but it was the Audley goalkeeper who helped the ball over the line as his team suffered their sixth loss in seven matches.

Chippenham Police 6, Pig and Whistle United 1

CHIPPENHAM Police boosted their hopes of beating the drop with a 6-1 demolition of Pig and Whistle United.

After last weekend's disappointing defeat at the hands of Sutton Benger, the police who were able to field a stronger team, and it paid dividends, assisted by the fact that United played without a recognised goalkeeper.

Paul Mills opened the scoring in the first half with a fierce shot into the roof of the net after a good break down the left involving Steve Worthy and Neil Parsons. Parsons made it 2-0 with his first of four goals when his tame shot went through the legs of the stand-in goalkeeper.

The visitors pulled one back with the route one approach and Nathan Mantle capitalised finishing neatly when one-on-one with Martin Notman. Parsons put the Police 3-1 up before the break with a solo effort, finding the far corner with a trademark placed shot from the edge of the area.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession in the second half but were unable to find that all-important goal, and the game was as good as over when Parsons sealed his hat-trick. Having been crudely brought down on the edge of the area, he blasted the resulting free kick home with venom.

James Parfitt made it five with an audacious lob from 40 yards with the keeper was out of position, and Parsons completed the scoring to continue his impressive scoring form after being played in unselfishly by Rob Chowdhury, finding time inside the area to slot the ball home and make it 6-1.

The victory for the police was the first time since February 2000, when they beat Bromham 6-2, that they have scored six goals. Previous to that their biggest win was an 8-2 victory over Avon Bradford in November 1999.

12:04pm Monday 10th March 2008

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