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

Lee Hayward

Leaders The Ship should have few problems in extending their 100 per cent record to 14 matches when they host Christian Malford at the Stallards playing fields in Trowbridge.

There should only be one outcome to the game and that is a comprehensive victory for the hosts.

While the Ship have won 13 games on the bounce the visitors to Trowbridge have lost 13 on the trot and are in great danger of getting sucked into a relegation dogfight with basement side Chippenham Sports and Social Club.

Malford have already suffered a 6-3 loss against the Ship, and if the goal scorers on that day are on form then there will be more heartache for Malford. Lee Hayward scored twice, with Dave Percival, Tom Bonsor, Toby Dawson and Scott Cunningham sharing the others,.

Cunningham will miss the rematch as he is on a 12 month vacation from the game but he won't be missed, as manager Hayward has so many good players to pick from as his replacement.

Malford will again fear the worst, and they will be hoping that they will get a few of their injured players back for the game even if it is for damage limitation only.

Malford may be forced to use James Pope, who scored one of their goals in the earlier defeat as goalkeeper and Pope will have to hope for a solid performance from his defenders if the villagers are to have any hope of avoiding another heavy defeat.

Foresters Arms v Rowde

ROWDE, who are presently in third spot, will close the gap on their fierce rivals Potterne, who are without a game, to just three points should they beat Foresters Arms who are just four points behind Kevin Whitbread's side in the league standings but have played four more matches.

Foresters host Rowde at Awdry Avenue, Melksham, and although they were thumped 7-1 by their guests when the teams met in October they are likely to give them a better game second time around.

Foresters have made a steady rise up the table, but they are lacking a little as they search for a little more consistency that would help them clinch a top six finish which would have been above their greatest expectations when the season kicked-off back in September.

After falling to win any of their opening three games it seemed as if they would struggle, but the addition of a number of new players saw them regain some confidence that had seemed to have deserted them, and now they have some recognised fire power in front of goal it takes the pressure off what was a beleaguered back four. Having said that Rowde have a potent pairing upfront in Marcus Wallen and Mullings and if the duo are on form then Foresters could get chopped down to size by the villagers for a second time this campaign.

Chippenham Sports and Social v North Bradley

AT the foot of the table, basement side Chippenham Sports and Social Club entertain North Bradley and although Bradley won their home fixture against the Sports 4-3, Jason Bull manager of the hosts will see this as a match that they can win and pick up two valuable points in their bid to beat the drop.

If they succeed in beating Bradley and Christian Malford lose away at the Ship then the Sports and Social Club will move off the bottom for the first time since September.

Bradley's management duo of Damon Berrelly and Tim Richards will be without Stuart Powell, who scored a hat-trick in their earlier success but they hope to welcome back Matty Coles from suspension and if Leigh Trainer and Neil Wilcox, who will be handed the captaincy due to the suspension of Richards, can build on their impressive displays in their last match when they beat Malford 6-4 then they will have a very good chance of making it two wins out of two since Berrelly and Richards took over from Steve Eade.

Berrelly expects the old guard of Tony Deacon and Andy Brown to keep their places in the heart of the defence and between them they have bags of experience and may well prove to be the players that keep Bradley in the division and more importantly in the league as before they signed on the villagers were struggling to field a team.

But Bradley seem to have turned the corner and although they have many tough games left they could shock a few of their opponents who would have been expecting an easy ride when they meet Bradley.

With the bite now back in the team Bradley will prove a lot harder to beat than they were a few weeks ago.

Berrelly might also give Ben Robson his first start this weekend. The manager has heard good things about the youngster and believes he is ready to be given his chance. The villagers are also boosted by the return Kieran Baggs who should return from injury and will hopefully add to the three goals he scored against the Ship on his debut.

Chippenham Sports just managed to beat the drop last term and until recently they looked odds-on to go down this term. But with three points from their last two matches they have given themselves hope of performing another great escape to match that of last season.

However manager Jason Bull can't afford any slip ups from now until the end of the season and they will be closely watched by the league who are looking into alleged reports that they have been using ineligible players in their last few matches.

If found guilty they will lose any points gained in those games.

With so much to play for Chippenham Sports might just avenge their earlier loss but with Bradley looking to be more organised than they were a little while ago the villagers are tipped to take the honours for a second time.

Atworth United v British Lion

BRITISH Lion travel to Atworth United and the Devizes-based visitors, who have won four games on the trot to move them up to fourth place, will be expected to stretch their fine run further with another victory over the Westernsport Trophies-sponsored WG Parr Trophy semi-finalists who have lost three games on the spin in the league and will put together a makeshift side for their encounter with the Lion as many of their regular players will be missing due to the Easter holidays.

The Lion roared to a 4-1 triumph over Atworth a fortnight ago, thanks to goals from Nathan West (2), Ashley Holt and Dave Crawford, and it would be bombshell if they didn't do the same again this Sunday.

Atworth manager Mark Jeffery will be happy to get the game out of the way regardless of the result just as long as none of his players pick up any injuries ahead of their possible semi-final date with Coyote the following weekend. But at the same time he will expect his players to be fully committed as they try to put in a performance that could win them a starting place against Coyote.

British Lion will also be missing a few key players but they should have enough in their armoury to takes all the points on offer.

Biddestone Arms v Coyote

THE last time Biddestone Arms were due to host Coyote, Chris Carr's Trowbridge-based side failed to turn up at Cuttle Lane, so this weekend Biddestone Arms will keep everything crossed that Coyote will make an appearance.

Carr expects to be without top scorer Scott Askew for the game along with a few other players, but like his opposite number at Atworth he will be happy to get the match played and will be hoping that none of his players pick up knocks ahead of their pending WG Parr Trophy semi-final match.

Even though the sides have not clashed for a couple of seasons, current form points to a victory for Coyote, and having defeated Biddestone Arms 8-0 and 5-3 in the 2005/06 campaign they will be confident of collecting another victory over Danny Box's side.

Biddestone Arms will hope that Jack Goodship will be fit enough to play and although last season's player of the season has failed to hit the heights that he reached last term he could be a huge addition to Box's side if he plays.

There is no doubt, that Coyote aren't as good as they were a few seasons ago, but they have a number of quality players who can turn on the style when they want too and if this is one those occasions then the points should return to West Wiltshire.

11:59am Thursday 20th March 2008

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