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

Marcus Wallen

Leaders The Ship opened up a three point lead over Potterne at the top of the table after they beat the villagers 5-2 at their Stallards pitch in Trowbridge.

Potterne took the lead in the fifth minute when Myles Hickton ran onto a through ball and lobbed the goalkeeper from 18 yards.

The Ship equalised in the 10th minute after a scramble in Potterne's penalty area and the ball fell to Lee Hayward who slotted the ball into the net. The hosts took the lead in the 12th minute when Dave Percival controlled the ball from a cross from the left and his shot went in off the post.

Potterne equalised in the 25th minute thanks to a good run down the left by Nick Holmes who crossed the ball from the goal line and Myles Hickton was on hand to score his second goal of the game.

Both teams had chances to score in the final minutes of the first half but neither took their opportunities.

The second half saw The Ship pressing the Potterne goal but good defending by Wayne House and Jamie Bayes kept the scores level. The home team finally broke Potterne's resistance after 55 minutes when Paul Gittins headed the ball in from a corner.

Potterne threw men up front as they went looking for the equaliser, which left them exposed at the back and The Ship took advantage of this to increase their lead in the 85th minute when Tom Bonsor scored.

The Ship made it five in the 87th minute when Dave Percival rounded the goalkeeper and calmly slotted it into the net.

The final score of 5-2 was a little flattering to the home side as Potterne gave them a good game for 85 minutes but conceded late goals as they looked for a way back into the game.

Atworth United 3, Rowde 5

ROWDE are closing in on second-placed Potterne. Their 5-3 victory at Atworth United saw them pick up their 11th win of the campaign that has moved them within three points of an automatic promotion spot.

Atworth were without several regulars, including goalkeeper Joe Menghini and influential players Phil Strange and Ian Jeffery, but put up a brave performance which gives them some confidence going into next week's WG Parr Trophy semi-final against favourites Coyote.

Things started badly for the home side when they found themselves 2-0 down after only 10 minutes, with Marcus Wallen scoring both goals .

At this stage Atworth manager Mark Jeffery feared a heavy beating, with Wallen and Jamie Mullings causing all sorts of problems. However Atworth stand-in goalkeeper Craig Rees produced a couple of fine saves to keep them in it and they were rewarded when Jack Adcock controlled a high ball, turned and his shot deceived the Rowde keeper to put them back in the game.

However their joy was short lived when Rowde scored a third goal minutes later with Jamie Mullings hitting the net.

The goals continued to flow in a breathless first half when Atworth's Sean Fordham delivered a wicked free kick that flicked off the head of Rowde defender Martin Robinson to bring the hosts within a goal of the visitors after just half an hour.

A remarkable first half came to a close when Rowde's Wallen powered in a fourth goal to complete his hat-trick and on the half-time whistle they took advantage of a lapse in concentration by central defender Glen Young to rifle in a fifth goal which was scored by Ray King to leave Atworth facing a second half where they could have easily folded.

However credit goes to the weakened Atworth team as they took the game to the opposition in the second period, prompted by Ross Menghini and tricky wing play from Sean Kerslake. Atworth introduced the evergreen and ever-keen Stuart Holland and Alex Davies for Sean Fordham and Steve Lye and both players were unlucky not to score.

Laurence Brill and Rikki Sullivan snuffed out the threat from the Rowde forwards and Sullivan was especially pleased to get 90 minutes under his belt for the first time since he suffered a bad groin injury in the first game of the season.

Ten minutes from time Atworth were rewarded for their second half showing when Stuart Holland fell under a challenge and up stepped Ross Menghini to confidently slam home the resulting penalty for his 16th goal of the season in all competitions to bring a little respectability to the scoreline.

Biddestone Arms 0, British Lion 3

BRITISH Lion completed a league double over Biddestone Arms and their 3-0 win continued to put pressure on the leading pack at the top of the table, who had already written off the Devizes-based side.

But their fourth win on the trot means the British Lion are still in with an outside chance of stealing a top two finish.

The Lion got off to the best start possible with a goal after only three minutes. Andrew Webster flicked on Andy Stonestreet's long throw-in and Luke Enderby scored a rare goal with his head from eight yards.

Darren Brown nearly doubled the lead after eight minutes but his 20 yard drive curled just wide of Mark Ogilvie's goal. Four minutes later Enderby set up Nathan West and his cross-cum-shot flew across the goal when only a touch from any of the onrushing Lion players would have resulted in a goal.

After 15 minutes Webster crossed for Brown but the midfielder's shot from 18 yards should have tested Ogilvie more than it did.

Although the Lion had totally dominated the opening exchanges, the Arms showed great character and slowly started to get a foothold on the game.

Scott Bowen charged down Mark Stonestreet's attempted clearance and although he skipped round the Lion goalkeeper, he somehow placed his shot wide of an empty net.

Six minutes later Stonestreet had to act smartly to save well at the feet of Bowen as the Arms' striker was set free.

Cruelly, the Arms were punished within a minute. Enderby's pass put Lee Campbell through on goal and although Ogilvie did well to partially block his shot, Campbell's lob over the keeper gave Webster a simple chance to head home from close range to make it 2-0.

Six minutes before the break West released Enderby and although he lobbed Ogilvie, centre half Paul Duckett was on hand to clear off the line. The Lion's goal had another charmed escape right on half-time. Rich Chaffey crossed and Bowen's close range shot bounced off the underside of the crossbar to the feet of Jack Goodship who blasted over with the goal gaping.

The first half an hour of the second half became pretty much a stalemate as the Lion seemed happy to sit on 2-0 lead and the Arms, while stopping the visitors from extending their lead, were unable to create clear cut opportunities of their own.

Going into the last fifteen minutes, the Lion did start to create more chances as the hosts pushed extra bodies forward. John Stockman and Enderby linked well but an Arms defender did enough to block Webster's shot.

With nine minutes left, substitutes Luke Hunneyball and Rob Drown exchanged passes. Drown's shot beat Ogilvie but Craig Duff managed to hack the ball away from danger. Drown then went close with an acrobatic strike after Fran Fife and Enderby had worked the ball into the penalty area.

With time running out, Enderby's long pass found Webster free on goal but as the Lion targetman was about to shoot he was perhaps harshly flagged offside. The decision became academic as in injury time a repeat pass from Enderby left Webster on his own and this time he calmly slotted past Ogilvie to wrap up the win.

Christian Malford 0, Foresters Arms 2

FORESTERS Arms clinched both points at Christian Malford with a 2-0 win as Malford's long losing streak continued.

Both sides struggled early in the game on the bumpy pitch, but Foresters took the lead after 14 minutes when the Malford defence let Greg Wilmot out-run them to a kick from Foresters' goalkeeper Dan Neale. Although Wilmot's first effort was parried by stand-in keeper James Pope, Wilmot made no mistake with the rebound.

Foresters looked more dangerous going forward and should have gone further in front, but for several near misses and saves by Pope.

Malford were again forced into changes each side of half-time due to yet more injuries.

Foresters were clearly on top and were awarded a penalty after 57 minutes when Greg Wilmot was brought down in the area by a Malford defender, but Luke Turvey's penalty was well saved by Pope.

This seemed to spark Malford and at last they began to press the Foresters' defence although they failed to trouble the keeper.

After 80 minutes Foresters went 2-0 in front when Luke Turvey's cross-cum-shot deceived the Malford keeper and drifted over the unlucky Pope.

Although Malford continued to press, the game, which was well refereed by Mark Sammut, ended with no further score.

Coyote were unable to raise a team for their trip to Avebury where they were scheduled to meet fellow WG Parr Trophy finalists AFC Calne.

The match may have been postponed by Coyote, but nobody notified match referee Pete Cox who travelled all the way from Melksham for the game.

12:08pm Monday 10th March 2008

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