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

Tamlyn Goodrich

It's crunch time for teams at both ends of the table. Leaders Biddestone White Horse are away at White Horse and both teams need the points, but for different reasons.

Biddestone White Horse, who reclaimed pole position last weekend, obviously need them to stay ahead of the chasing pack, while White Horse require them to maintain their slender advantage over the teams in the drop zone.

The match at the cement works, Westbury, should go the way of the visitors, who have already defeated their hosts 6-1 earlier in the season. Chris Andrews led the scoring with a hat-trick and Matt Unwin, Ben Morris and Scott Fleming shared the others.

However, White Horse have come a long way since then. Two week ago they were rock bottom of the table and were dead men walking. They had been given the last rites, but they received an unexpected stay of execution after they fought out a gutsy and well deserved 3-1 win over AFC Melksham.

Now they have two games left to prove they deserve to stay in the division, and, although the odds will be against them, they have a chance.

Biddestone White Horse will be without goalkeeper Pete Dennett, defender Andrew Davis and attackers Paul Clifford, Tamlyn Goodrich, top scorer Scott Fleming and Pete Enmunson, who are all away on holiday.

There is no doubt that when they looked at the fixtures they were mighty relieved that this match wasn't against any of the top sides, but they could still come a cropper as White Horse are determined to stay in the division and if they play as well as they did when they defeated AFC Melksham then they have a good chance of causing another shock. But more importantly for Clive Black's men is that they would move on to the 13 point mark which could yet prove to be a lucky number for Westbury's White Horse men.

Pheasant v AFC Bell

THE top match involving sides challenging for promotion is undoubtedly the one at Yatton Keynell where second-placed Pheasant host AFC Bell.

And if it is anywhere near as entertaining as the first meeting of the sides, when AFC Bell won 4-3, it promises to be another nail-biting affair.

Both teams go into the heavyweight contest on the back of defeats, AFC Bell having lost in the Knockout Cup semi-final while Pheasant suffered a surprise defeat against Crown, which ended their 12-match unbeaten run.

AFC Bell will be hoping to complete a league double over Oli Selman's side to extend their unbeaten league run to nine matches and manager Craig Townsend is likely to shuffle his pack after last week's loss against Crown Cosmos. Having scored a hat-trick in the reverse fixture, Townsend will probably put himself back up front in the hope of adding to his 34 goal tally.

Pheasant could go into the game still reeling from their defeat by the Crown as it was the last thing that they had expected. Having taken over at the top of the table the previous weekend they though their stay in the number one position would last a lot longer.

The hosts will need all their big guns firing and will need Tom Jones, Nat Auckland, Jack Coathupe and Ben Highmore to have big games otherwise the Pheasant could be plucked for a second successive week.

The match is too close too call and may even end in a high-scoring draw.

Bromham (Sunday) v AFC Melksham

AFC MELKSHAM, who are in third place, should really be out of the race for promotion, but if they can beat Bromham away from home then their hopes of a top two finish are still alive, although they will be limping over the line rather than running.

When the teams met earlier in the season the game ended 3-3, with Chris Dore, Sean Meer and Dan Rimmer scoring for Melksham and Chris Sampson, Shaun Kingsbury and Steve Moxham replying for Bromham.

Since then both teams have suffered from inconsistency and it is Bromham who go into the contest with the slightly better form over the last four games.

They have won their last two matches and both victories have come away from the Jubilee Fields. Bromham manager Ady Kember may wish that they were playing this fixture away from home as the last time they won on their own patch was back in October and with no win in five there is cause for concern especially after Bromham dropped only one point from a possible 24 at their home base last season.

Melksham will believe that they have a good chance of beating Bromham and they will be hoping that Wayne Bailey will be able to start only his second game since October when a knee injury threatened to rule him out for the season.

AFC Melksham manager Mike Rogers believes that having Bailey back will be like bringing in a new player and if he can strike up a partnership with Steve Pegler then the pairing should provide plenty of goals.

If the match is as entertaining as the earlier meeting of the sides and they are again fully committed, then once again their could be plenty of goals scored, but on this occasion the points are likely to go the way of Melksham.

Pack Horse Rangers v Corsham Park Rangers

BASEMENT side Corsham Park Rangers know their chances of survival hinge on the outcome of their match against Pack Horse Rangers.

Corsham Park, who have 10 points to their name, need at least one more victory from their remaining four matches to be in with a chance of avoiding the drop, but even if they get one, a lot will depend on the results of the other three side who are embroiled in a fascinating relegation battle with them.

Martin Perrett's side might have already lost 5-1 against Pack Horse this term, when goals from Simon Reid, Andy Ponting, Dan Jackson and Justin Darby (2) gave Pack Horse a deserved win, but with tough fixtures against Pheasant, AFC Bell and Westbury Rangers B still to come this will be their best hope of gaining a couple of points.

Corsham Park might have lost three on the trot but their opponents' recent form isn't a lot better as they have no win in five matches, but they picked up a point from their previous match so they might just have a little more confidence than the visitors to Stanley Park.

With so much to lose, Corsham Park will raise their game for one of their biggest ever matches since they joined the league in 1999 and if they can field 11 players from the off, then they might nick a point from the game.

Crown FC v Blue Circle (Sunday)

BLUE Circle are another side who are stuck in the relegation mire, and they have to travel to Green Lane, Devizes, where they will face Crown FC who brought down the mighty Pheasant FC last weekend.

And considering Steve Martin's Westbury-based Circle side have not won away from home all season, they are likely to suffer an eighth defeat on the road.

Crown welcomed back Dan Sloan from suspension last Sunday and he had an immediate impact as he scored two of the three goals that saw Mark Adamson's men beat the Pheasant 3-2.

Sloan was also on target when the sides met way back in early September, but on that occasion his goal and another from John Oram couldn't save the Crown from defeat as a Steve Martin double and Wayne Bristow's single earned the cement boys a 3-2 success.

From the four teams involved in the battle to stay in the division Blue Circle will be favourites to be playing Third Division football again next term as they have up to seven games in hand on the three teams below them.

Blue Circle are tipped to lose against the Crown but only a major catastrophe would see them denied Third Division survival.

11:45am Friday 14th March 2008

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