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

DIVISION TWO: There are a number of intriguing fixtures in Division Two on Sunday that could lead to movement at the top and bottom end of the table.

What would have been one of the match of the days was the scheduled for Poulton, Bradford where Pete Collier's in form FC Bradford side, who are unbeaten in eight matches, were due to take on second placed Hullavington, who were bidding to set a new club record of eight successive victories, but with Ed and Matt Wilkins away, Phil Garland and Anthony Brown missing due to family commitments and Gavin Thompson, James Nation, Nick Cole, Adam Reeves and Pete O'Neil all injured, Hullavington have been forced to postpone the eagerly awaited rematch between the sides which would have seen FC Bradford out to avenge their 5-2 defeat from earlier in the season.

Cooper-Avon v Pig and Whistle

LEADERS Cooper-Avon have the opportunity to open up a five-point lead over the chasing pack who are headed by Hullavington and closely followed by Crown Cosmos.

Weather permitting, Cooper-Avon will entertain local rivals Pig and Whistle United at the Conigre and although Gary Newman's Cooper-Avon side are predicted to march to their 13th victory of the season as they bid to extend their unbeaten run to 15 matches they could come unstuck against a United side who would love to win the Melksham derby.

When the teams met on the opening day of the season Cooper-Avon won 3-2, thanks to goals from James Worsley, Dave Macey and Simon Gillatt, but the reverse fixture could see Wesley Frith's United side shock their hosts.

Frith will hope that goalkeeper Jason Grubb and striker Nathan Mantle will be available and he might be even tempted to get Dave Clayton to put his boots on for the game, or he could call on Leigh Stevenson to make a rare appearance in what is expected to be a very competitive match that could be won by United as they look to claim the bragging rites over their hosts.

This season only Bremhill View Social Club have beaten Cooper-Avon, who have lost just seven of their last 62 matches, which has seen the tyremen go from whipping boys to potential champions in the space of four seasons. It is a credit to manager Newman and his backroom staff who will only have themselves to blame should they miss out on a top two finish. Cooper-Avon should take the spoils but United have a good chance of nicking a point from the game.

Crown Cosmos v Sutton Benger

DEVIZES-based Crown Cosmos have the opportunity to move above the inactive Hullavington if, as expected, they beat Sutton Benger who they defeated 4-2 back in October.

On that occasion goals from Dean Potter (2), Eliot Williams and David Lloyd took them to victory and Chris Miles scored both goals for Benger.

Will Kibby's Crown Cosmos side have played just three league matches in 2008, but their last match saw them beat AFC Bell to reach the final of the presstoprint-sponsored Eric Hughes Memorial Knockout cup, and although they are lagging behind with their league fixtures, having played only 14 matches to date, they still have the possibility of a league and cup double in their hands.

Crown Cosmos, who are aiming for a third successive promotion since they joined the league in 2005 under the name of Southgate Inn, should coast to victory number 11 of the season when they entertain Sutton Benger at the Green Lane base.

Relegation threatened Benger's only hope of upsetting the odds is to hope that the Cosmos have an off day and that striker Matt White is on song and can add to his 19 goals to date that would give his team what would be one of the upsets of the season.

Horse and Groom v Bremhill View Social Club

AT the foot of the table, the Horse and Groom go into their match at Leighton Sports Ground, Westbury, against fifth place Bremhill View Social Club knowing that if they can build on their recent 6-2 victory over Audley FC they are in with a chance of beating the drop.

Horse and Groom have played just 12 matches to date, which is six games fewer than both Audley FC and Chippenham Police, who look set to be involved in a four way relegation dogfight with the Horse and Groom and Sutton Benger, who have played three more matches than Tim Beecham's side.

At the moment the cards are stacked in the favour of the Horse and Groom, but results are what they are after and, although they won't be expecting to get anything from their game against Bremhill View, they could surprise themselves as the visitors to Westbury have gone off the boil in recent months and have not won since the start of January.

Martin Belcher will be hoping that his Bremhill View side can get their season back on track and that the one-time leaders can claim their first victory in five matches, but he will be well aware of the threat from their hosts and in particular striker James Sweetman, who scored a hat-trick in their victory over the Audley and will fancy his chances of adding to his tally against a Bremhill side who once had the meanest defence in the division but 11 goals in their last four matches is just one less than they conceded in the previous 12, so if the Calne based side can iron out the problems they seem to have in defence they could return to winning ways and start to climb back up the rankings and they should take the spoils against the Horse and Groom.

The Crown Devizes v Chippenham Police

CHIPPENHAM Police are set to lose their home base at the police headquarters in Devizes but they are determined to maintain their Second Division status and a trip to Sands Lane, Rowde, will give them the chances to grab another two points in their efforts to avoid relegation.

The boys in blue will be entertained by Mark Roberts's

Crown Devizes side and if the game is as entertaining as the one earlier in the season when the sides drew 2-2 then it promises to be another closely fought affair that could again end with honours being shared.

The visitors to Sands Lane go into the encounter on the back of a 6-1 victory over Pig and Whistle United that saw them end a seven match losing run and if Neil Parsons, who scored four of the six goals, can reproduce that form again then the police have a realistic chance of claiming back-to-back victories for the first time since December 2006, Parsons also scored for the police against the Crown in their 2-2 draw so he will be hopeful that he can do it again, Darren Thorpe and Mark Roberts replied for the Crown and manager Roberts will be hoping that just like last Sunday, when their match against Bremhill View was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, he will have a near full strength side to pick from and should that be the case then the hosts will probably claim their first win in five attempts.

Audley FC v White Hart Combe

WHEN Steve Mallard's Audley FC side met Trevor Rawlings's White Hart Combe outfit at the start of February the friendly rivals fought out an amazing 4-4 draw, that saw Combe overturn a four-goal deficit to earn a deserved point.

The chances of the return match at Stanley Park being as exciting or as close are very slim and it would be a surprise if White Hart didn't demolish their opponents as the Audley go into the game on the back of a 13-3 loss away at FC Bradford and that came after a 6-2 defeat by basement side The Horse and Groom.

In total Audley have conceded 42 goals in their last five matches and are in free-fall and manager Mallard can't wait for the season to reach its conclusion. If the fixture programme goes to plan they will complete what as been a torrid campaign some when in April.

Kieren Smith scored three of the Audley's goal in their thrilling stalemate, with Mallard netting the other. Mallard has been forced to hang up his boots through injury, but he still hopes to guide his team from the sidelines but he will have his work cut out to lead them to anything other than defeat against Combe whose scorers in the 4-4 draw were Craig Fullam (2), Lee Fernandez and Ben Munns.

Only a shock that would measure more than eight on the Richter scale would deny Combe their 10th win of the season.

11:55am Friday 21st March 2008

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