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

The Ship with their Division One trophy

Having thought they secured the Division One title last weekend after their 2-1 success over Foresters Arms, Lee Hayward's Ship side had to wait a few days before it was confirmed as there was some doubt about the future of North Bradley.

With Bradley continuing, Trowbridge-based Ship knew the title was as good as theirs and this was confirmed on Thursday night when their closest rivals Potterne suffered a 5-4 defeat away at British Lion, so even if Bradley had withdrawn at this at this late stage there was no way that the Ship could have been caught.

The final match of the season brought Potterne and The Ship together at Potterne's Northbrook ground and proved to be the high scoring game it was tipped to be as the champions defeated their hosts 7-5.

The first half started well with chances falling to both sides and it was the Ship who opened the scoring after nine minutes when they were awarded a penalty, which Craig Brown placed beyond Stuart Taylor to give the visitors the lead.

Potterne were almost back on level terms from the restart when Myles Hickton's 15 yard shot hit the bar, but two minutes later Potterne were back on level terms and it was Hickton who hit the target by deflecting Steven House's 25 yard shot into the net in the 11th minute.

Potterne took the lead midway through the half when Jamie Bayes's through found Hickton who drove home a brilliant left footed effort.

Potterne started to gain the ascendancy and they took a 3-1 lead on 26 minutes when Hickton lobbed Ship's stand-in goalkeeper Shaun Percival to complete his hat-trick.

The Ship came back strongly and would have bagged a few more goals but for the athletic saves from Potterne's 53-year-old goalkeeper Stuart Taylor.

But Taylor was beaten in the 44th minute when Craig Brown's strike hit the underside of the crossbar and the ball bounced the right side of the line for them.

Potterne started the second half with a one goal advantage, but The Ship then showed why they are the division winners and pushed Potterne on the retreat with two great goals from Lewis Porter, the first after 53 minutes, to level the scores and his second a minute later when he drilled home a beauty from 12 yards.

Dave Percival then stretched The Ship's lead to 5-3 on 59 minutes when he took the ball the length of the field and conjured up a fantastic finish.

The Ship's sixth goal came in the 71st minute when Ashley Bennison's deep cross into the box picked out Lee Hayward whose side footed volley beat Taylor's dive and nestled neatly into the top corner.

Myles Hickton then grabbed his and the villagers' fourth goal 12 minutes from time when he rolled his shot into an empty net after rounding keeper Shaun Percival.

A Potterne comeback was on the cards when Nick Holmes drove home in the 85th minute to reduce the gap to the odd goal, but any hopes they had of sharing the spoils were ended by Craig Brown who fired home after beating Potterne's defence.

With 12 goals and some great football, this game finished with a league double win for the Ship and showed that both these teams are ready for top flight football next season.

North Bradley 0, British Lion 7

NORTH Bradley completed their season with their second game of the weekend against British Lion, and, having suffered a 3-0 defeat away at AFC Calne on Saturday, they were beaten 7-0 on their home patch by the Lion yesterday.

The hosts could muster only ten players while the visitors had a somewhat hung-over 11 in a true end of season fixture.

The Lion should have scored within nine seconds when Paul Riley stood on the ball but Andrew Webster snatched at the opportunity and shot wide. After two minutes Nathan West's cross was headed over by Webster at the back post.

However, within a minute the Lion took the lead. Mikey O'Donnell's composed through ball found Rob Drown who outpaced Tim Richards before slotting his shot under Mark Binns' dive.

The Devizes side made it 2-0 after seven minutes. Drown's cross found Luke Enderby who beautifully controlled and teed up the ball before volleying home from eight yards. It was 3-0 three minutes later. Drown's deft pass released West whose cross was headed home by Webster.

With the Lion comfortably controlling the game further chances were aplenty.

On 23 minutes Webster laid off Mark Stonestreet's long pass and West's volley fizzed wide. However, Bradley nearly pulled a goal back on the half hour when Binn's long kick was knocked down and Riley's drive skimmed past the post.

The Lion's fourth and killer goal came after 35 minutes, again with Drown playing a key part. This time his measured chip found Webster who calmly lobbed the ball over the advancing Binns from 18 yards. Webster then nearly turned provider when he showed surprising speed to get past Andy Brown but his cross was skewed wide by strike partner Enderby.

Enderby did get the ball into the net five minutes before the break but he was ruled offside when he received Darren Brown's pass.

In the intense heat, Bradley's ten men showed great character in the second half and it was a further 11 minutes before the Lion added their fifth.

Drown intercepted a clearance and burst through the defence to leave Dave Crawford a simple tap in from his cross.

Two minutes later Bradley's tireless Matty Coles rasped a vicious 25 yard drive that Stonestreet was glad to see fly straight at him.

On the hour, another piece of Drown magic ended with Enderby's header hitting the side netting and a minute later Crawford's deep cross was powerfully headed by Webster but over Binns' crossbar.

Bradley's ten men started to wilt in the heat and the Lion added two further goals to their tally. On 64 minutes, Webster acted smartly to hook a bobbling ball past Binns from 20 yards to make it 6-0 and three minutes later O'Donnell's guided pass found Drown who rounded the Bradley goalkeeper before unselfishly letting Enderby thump the ball in from close range.

The Lion's 7-0 win was enough to give them 30 points and leapfrog rivals Rowde into third place at the end of what they will see as a frustrating season.

1:44pm Monday 12th May 2008

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