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

Eliot Williams

The race for the Second Division title is still very much alive and will probably be decided on goal difference.

The teams battling it out for the number one spot are Crown Cosmos and Cooper-Avon who are locked together on 36 points at the summit, but Will Kibby's Devizes-based presstoprint Knockout Cup winners, who have a plus two better goal difference, are slight favourites to deny the tyremen the title.

Crown Cosmos will need to score as many goals as possible when they host FC Bradford at Green Lane, but having only won the reverse fixture 1-0 in April, thanks to an Eliot Williams goal, they won't be banking on striking gold in front of goal.

Having said that Crown Cosmos have scored 35 goals in the five games since the Bradford match so they will be hoping the likes of Nick Taylor, Stuart Skinner, Brad Newman, Dean Potter and Nathan Sheridan still have a few more goals in them to fire them to glory.

For Crown Cosmos it will be their third game in six days, having beaten Chippenham Police on Tuesday and Hullavington last night, so all they can do is hope for another win and hope that they can out score Cooper-Avon.

Pete Collier's FC Bradford side have not won in five matches and have been hit with a late injury crisis and a suspension to Charlie Powell means that they will be without another key player for the important game.

FC Bradford would love to win the game but they should lose as their hosts are on a roll at the moment. But it remains to be seen if Crown Cosmos can score enough goals to keep them ahead of Cooper-Avon.

Cooper-Avon v Hullavington

COOPER-AVON will visit Hullavington knowing they must win if they are to have any chance of beating Crown Cosmos to the number one spot.

Like Crown Cosmos, Cooper-Avon's task won't be an easy one, but they will have to approach the game at Buckley Barracks believing that Cosmos are going to beat Bradford. Should they lose or draw it would be a huge bonus for Gary Newman's side as long as they defeat Hullavington on their own patch, which they will be confident of doing as they beat them 4-0 at the Conigre, thanks to goals from James Ponsford (2), Tom Robinson and Josh Robinson.

Hullavington go into the game on the back of a defeat again Crown Cosmos, whose experienced players gave them the runaround so if the youngsters of Cooper-Avon are on song they could match the seven goals that Cosmos put on the villagers.

Cooper-Avon have been prolific in front of goal and are just one goal away from hitting the 100 goal mark for the campaign, so the likes of James Ponsford, who is on 21 goals, Simon Gillatt (20), Josh Robinson (16) and James Worsley, who returned to action last weekend with a hat trick in Cooper-Avon's 5-0 success, over The Crown Devizes, will be falling over themselves to bag a few more goals in their bid to beat Cosmos to pole position.

Cooper-Avon also have one of the meanest defences in the division and have conceded just 22 goals to date, however they may wish the match was at the Conigre where in 11 matches they have shipped just three goals which is down to goal keeper Alex Shaftoe, Jamie Oliver and 17-year-old Ethan Cox, who returns to the side this Sunday.

Cox has been a revelation partnering Oliver in his first season and has contributed greatly to Cooper-Avon's good defensive record.

Both players would love to cap a great season by opening their accounts and if Oliver can cook up something in front of goal, it will see hit net for the first time since he rejoined the club in September 2006.

Cooper-Avon manager Gary Newman believes that his team have had a fantastic season in both the league and the cup. Results in the cup especially point towards a successful return to the second tier of league.

Newman added it would be no disgrace to again finish runners-up to Knockout Cup holders Crown Cosmos, but Cooper-Avon will endeavour to finish the season with a win against a very good Hullavington side who despite having only won one of their four games are still a very dangerous team on their day, especially if Ben Wright and Ed Wilkins are firing on all cylinders.

Cooper-Avon should take the spoils but they will have an anxious wait to see if they have done enough to finish in the gold medal position.

Pig and Whistle United v White Hart Combe

PIG and Whistle United, who suffered a 4-2 home loss against Horse and Groom last night, welcome White Hart Combe to their Awdry Avenue pitch.

White Hart, who are guaranteed third place in what has been a fantastic campaign for Trevor Rawlings men, have netted 94 goals in their 21 matches to date, including 25 goals in their last five league outings.

They already boast a 6-1 win over their Melksham-based hosts and will be hoping to hit the goal trail one more time.

James Stone might be White Hart Combe's top scorer with 20, but the rest of their goals have been shared around the team, with Lee Fernandez, Sean Rushmore, Shane Bell and Craig Fullham all scoring their fair share.

White Hart Combe will be expected to take the spoils for a second time unless United, who have won only one of their previous five matches, can bounce back to form, which is very unlikely.

Maximum points should be heading back to north Wiltshire with White Hart unless United can somehow pull out all the stops to claim what would be a surprise win against a team who have been beaten only twice all term.

The Crown Devizes v Horse and Groom

HAVING secured their place in the Second Division for next term after when they defeated Pig and Whistle United 4-2 last night, Horse and Groom travel to Sands Lane, Rowde, for their final match of the season against The Crown Devizes.

Having been given the last rites a few weeks ago, Horse and Groom woke from their slumber and five points from six has seen them defy the odds to beat the drop at the expense of Chippenham Police. They will go into their match against the Crown in a relaxed mood and might even finish the season with another victory, considering they beat their hosts 2-1 back in November when goals from Alex Clarke and James Francis saw them pick up their first win in eight games.

Horse and Groom's upturn in form seems to have coincided with the return of Richard Hunt, who has scored in his last two games, and if Hunt can score for a third successive match he will start believing that it is his goals that have fired Horse and Groom to safety, But a lot of the credit has to go to forwards Tom Moore and Dan Cox who have been outstanding in recent games as they have produced the goods at the right time to keep their side in the division.

1:50pm Friday 9th May 2008

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