Forget Super Sunday – it’s Terrific Thursday

5:45am Thursday 24th April 2008

FORGET your Super Sundays - tonight could be the night that the Premier Division title is won or lost and a relegation place could be decided.

Of the four scheduled fixtures, three of them are pivotal, with the top four and the bottom two teams in action.

There is likely to be a heavyweight battle at Meadow Lane, where leaders Biddestone Social are welcomed by losing Knockout Cup finalists Westbury Rangers A, who are currently third and who having missed out on cup glory will be trying extra hard to keep alive their chances of collecting a piece of silverware.

This will be the first time the sides have met this term.

Biddestone Social go into the game on the back of a 14-0 win over Miller Sports, but they will be well aware that Westbury Rangers will keep going for 90 minutes, unlike Miller Sports, who gave up the fight.

Over the seasons the teams have met six times, with Rangers having the slight edge in head-to-heads, having won three and lost two with one ending all square.

Rangers will put their 100 per cent home record on the line when they face Biddestone Social, whose own excellent unbeaten run of 15 matches is also at stake.

While Rangers have won all nine games on their own patch, Biddestone Social have won all nine of their matches on the road so something has to give tonight.

The match should be a nail-biting one for both teams and could even end in a draw.

Biddestone Social will hope that player-manager Dan Lardner can strike again to add to his 16 goals this season, while Rangers top marksman Marc Lanfear will hope to score ahead of his 30th birthday on Friday night.

With such a good crop of youngsters on display in both camps the result might just hinge on which team adapts best to the pressure.

Biddestone Social are one of the best teams in the league and have been so for many seasons, but this term they could go from being the bridesmaids to becoming the bride as the title is there for the taking.

If they beat Rangers then it will be a two-horse race between them and defending champions Corsham Centre, but should Rangers win then they will put themselves back in the mix for glory.

Box Rovers v Corsham Centre A

SECOND-placed Corsham Centre A make the short trip to the Recreation Ground in Box where they will be greeted by Box Rovers who promise to have at least 14 or more players on hand to take on Peter Ralph's side.

Rovers could field only eight players for their match against Winsley at the weekend but surprisingly they only suffered a 1-0 defeat. If Rovers can show the same fighting spirit with a full squad and can repeat the form of November when they claimed a 2-2 draw then the Centre could drop another point as they bid for a hat-trick of Premier Division titles.

Tom Smith, who scored for the Rovers in that game, should be fit for the return match and if the likes of Liam Fullam, Jason Walsh, Adam Taylor, Pete Tye and goalkeeper Luke McFarlane are on form then Rovers could become the second team this season to beat the Centre.

Having said that it all depends on how many players turn up for Rovers. The guess is that with local pride at stake they will have more than enough available for what will be seen by the Centre as a crunch match, which if they lose would give Biddestone Social the edge in the race for the title.

The Centre will hope that Corsham Town players like Craig and Nick Gingell, James Lye and Simon Gray will now concentrate on the remainder of what has been a very long campaign and as the seasons reaches it climax they will start to show their real class that has been missing for a long time but returned in their 5-1 success over the Dog and Fox Ashley.

Ralph might have to make do with what he has on hand and although he is a master in getting the best out of players he might have to work his magic a little more this season than he has had to in the past.

The match will be as keenly contested as all the others featuring the sides have been in the past and for a second time this term honours might end up being shared.

Dog and Fox Ashley v Miller Sports

DOG and Fox host Miller Sports who will be looking to bounce back after their dreadful showing against Biddestone Social who routed them 14-0 on Sunday.

When the sides met a fortnight ago honours were shared as the teams battled out a 2-2 draw. Ashley Groves and Nick Ridout scored for Miller Sports, with Steve Roddy and Steve Wickings scoring for the Dog.

Prior to that Dog and Fox defeated Miller Sports 8-3 in the knockout cup, but for the sake of themselves and the Premier Division, Miller Sports will be hoping they can take the game seriously and return to winning ways having lost just two of their previous nine matches, which makes Sunday's result against Biddestone even more outrageous.

Miller Sports will hope to have Nick Ridout, Ashley Groves and co available while the Dog and Fox should have top striker Steve Roddy available from the start and should that be the case then the Dog are tipped to take the spoils.

North Star B v Bradford News

AT the foot of the table North Star B and Bradford News meet for the second time in five days.

Gary Elliott's Calne-based North Star side have home advantage for the return match tonight and will be looking to do as they did in the first fixture and claim a victory.

Goals from Dan Allison and Darren Legg earned the Star only their fourth victory of the season but that was could enough to see them swap places with the newsmen at the foot of the table. If they can collect maximum points for a second time it would see them move out of the bottom two for the first time since the end of October and would boost their hopes of beating the drop.

The Star might have won on 2-0 on Sunday but they won't be taking anything for granted as they know their opponents are determined to stay in the top flight and will put up one hell of a fight to stay up.

The match is the proverbial relegation four-pointer and with home advantage the Star will start the game as favourites to take the spoils and reach safety. But just like the race for the title, the battle to beat the drop could go down to the wire as Bradford News, North Star and Maud Heath Sports, who are the third team in the danger zone, all have daunting matches ahead of them.

The outcome of the match will be very important because it is really hard to see where either team will get another victory from in their remaining fixtures. The Star should win tonight by another narrow margin.

Biddestone Arms v Potterne

POTTERNE will play their first match since losing out to Coyote in the final of the WG Parr Trophy and they can make up for the disappointment of losing out on one piece of silverware this term if they beat Biddestone Arms at Cuttle Lane.

If Potterne can beat Biddestone Arms they will move to within one point of leaders The Ship who they are set to meet on the final day of the season.

By then it is likely that the current pacesetters will have already wrapped up the title, but Potterne won't give up hope of finishing top of the pile until it is mathematically impossible for them to do so.

Potterne will also be aware that should they beat Biddestone Arms and Rowde lose away at North Bradley then they will be on their way to the top flight for the first time in their short history since they joined the league in 2002. It would mean promotion for the Ship.

Potterne could be without top scorer Myles Hickton, Luke Chant and Jamie Bayes, who will all probably miss the game in favour of playing for their Trowbridge League side Lavington who still have seven league matches remaining.

It will be a big call for all three players as a win or a draw tonight will take them to the edge of promotion. But should they lose their remaining two fixtures are against The Ship and British Lion and will be a lot harder to win.

The sides met on the opening day of the season, when Potterne won 5-0, with Hickton scoring three and Bayes and Doug Dickson the others. And even without their star striker they should have enough firepower to beat Biddestone Arms for a second time this term.

Coyote v Chippenham Sports and Social Club

WG PARR Trophy winners Coyote, who followed up their cup success by hammering local rivals The Ship 6-0 at the weekend, entertain Chippenham Sports and Social Club.

Manager Chris Carr will be hoping that it won't be a case of after the Lord Mayor's Show for his side, but it could well be the case as Jason Bull's Chippenham Sports side have seen a big turnaround in form in the last two months when they used their get out of jail card for a second season running to perform another great escape act that has seen them beat the drop for a second successive season, thanks to three wins and a draw in their last five games.

The Sports might have lost 1-0 in their previous game against Rowde but they will go into the battle with Coyote knowing that their hosts will still be on a high after Sunday's amazing win over the leaders.

Chris Carr won't know what players he will have available from the weekend's victorious side as work commitments might rule out a few players but he could welcome back top scorer Scott Askew, Darren Jones, Dan Shanley, Carl Davies and Sam McQueen for this evening's contest.

Carr will hope to have a good side out and he will be confident that whoever he puts out will be capable of claiming a league double over the visitors to Southwick who they beat 3-1 back in October when Nathan Flower, Mark Gerrish and Dan Mercer scored for the Trowbridge-based side.

For Jason Bull's Chippenham Sports and Social Club side it will be their penultimate game of the season and if Andy Flynn and Karl Sharratt can continue their good form in front of goal and veteran goalkeeper Graham Jones can keep rolling back the years between the sticks then the visitors to west Wiltshire could return home a happy side.

The game should be another keenly fought one and might even end all square as both sides might just go through the motions as they await the conclusion of the campaign.

The Crown Devizes v Bremhill View Social Club

WHEN Bremhill View Social Club were due to meet The Crown Devizes back in January they were sitting on top of the Division Two table, but since then they have slipped down the rankings to fourth place and that is probably where they will finish the campaign.

Martin Belcher's Bremhill View outfit have already trounced Mark Roberts's side once this season and they will be looking to complete a league double over the side they hammered 8-1 at the end of October, when Dale Smith scored a hat trick and the other goals were shared by Graham Neale (2), Mark Smith, Terry Cox and Karl Lovelock.

Bremhill's last outing was a fortnight ago tonight when they routed basement side The Horse and Groom 13-2, when Mark Smith scored a five timer, and they go into the game with just one defeat in five matches and will be odds on favourites to claim a third win on the spin.

The Crown will host the game at Sands Lane, Rowde and this will be their first match for over a month since they defeated Chippenham Police 3-1, thanks to goals from Paul Revening, Liam Young and player-manager Mark Roberts.

Roberts will be hoping that his side, who still have four games remaining, will finish the season on a high and begin with avenging their loss.

Bremhill View should take the spoils but there is an outside chance that if the home team can find the form that saw them beat Crown Cosmos 3-1 earlier in the season, then their guests could return to Calne empty handed.

Sutton Benger v FC Bradford

THE other match in the division sees under pressure Sutton Benger host an underperforming FC Bradford outfit who have been hit with injuries at the crucial time of the season.

Pete Collier's side are now in sixth spot but at one stage of proceedings just a few weeks ago they had visions of a top four finish. But after losing 1-0 against Crown Cosmos they have won just one game from three and to make matters worse they have lost key players like keeper Gary Brooks and Chase Johnson who are likely to miss the rest of the season and are also carrying a lot of walking wounded so will be patching players up in the hope of finishing the season with three victories as they look to build for next term.

Sutton Benger eased their relegation worries with a 3-1 win over basement side Horse and Groom last Sunday and if they can get anything from their match at Stanley Park against Bradford then they would almost certainly be safe from the drop - but it wouldn't be a certainty as both Chippenham Police and Horse and Groom could still catch them, although it would be highly unlikely as they both have tough matches ahead.

Sutton Benger will be hoping that top scorer Matt White can add to his 21 goals and that Rob Kent and Chris Miles can help Benger to back-to-back wins for the first time since February last year.

Corsham Park Rangers v AFC Bell

THERE are a couple of interesting games in Division Three this evening that affect both the top and bottom of the table.

Joint leaders AFC Bell will have sole occupancy of pole position if they defeat basement side Corsham Park Rangers at Leafy Lane.

When the sides met early in the season AFC Bell won 7-0, thanks to goals from Jon Scoffield (3) and doubles from Gareth Veitch and Ashton Turner, and it would be a huge surprise if Bell didn't collect maximum points for the 18th time this term as they bid to stretch their unbeaten run to 15 matches.

AFC Bell have faced two tough challenges in the past eight days and victories over Pheasant and AFC Melksham have seen them move within touching distance of claiming a second successive title after winning the Fourth Division title last term.

AFC Bell will be well aware that Corsham Park took a point off Pheasant on Sunday in a 2-2 draw and to give themselves a fighting chance of staying in the division they must take at least one point from their remaining three matches but even then it might not be enough to save them should other results go against them.

Corsham Park might not beat the Bell, but they believe that if they can turn in a second half performance as they did at the weekend then they will have a chance of getting a point from the game. But for that to happen AFC Bell must have a really bad day at the office as they are expected to win by four or five clear goals.

Pheasant v White Horse

CHIPPENHAM-Based Pheasant have dropped points in three of their last four games and, even though they are still in a good position to claim an automatic promotion spot, they are going to have to dig deep as they look to end their poor run of results.

Pheasant visit the cement works, Westbury, where they will be entertained by Clive Black's White Horse side who are one point clear of the drop zone and who will be giving everything in their final match of the season to secure a win that would boost their survival chances.

Pheasant beat White Horse 9-0 in October, with Ben Highmore and Jack Coathupe both scoring trebles, but since those early days the hosts have turned things around and they have beaten AFC Melksham and in their last match fought out a goalless draw with then leaders Biddestone White Horse.

So, if they can show that same fighting spirit they will have a good chance of denting Pheasant's promotion hopes while improving their own chances of beating the drop.

Despite Pheasant's dip in form it is really hard to see anything other than a win for Oli Selman's side but if they are without the likes of Ben Highmore, Nat Auckland, Jack Coathupe and a few more of their top players then the White Horse might just get something from the game.