WITH so little football over the past two months, teams from the Robson Taylor, Chippenham & District Sunday League Premier Division will be hoping that February will begin with a welcome return to action after the loss of last week's fixture programme.

Trevor Rawlings, manager of The Gladstone Arms, is desperate for his team to taste action at Holt, having who not kicked a ball in anger since the end of November. Basement side Holt won’t be looking forward to the visit, but they may take heart that their opponents may not be as good as they were when they won the reverse fixture 9-2 back in October.

Gladstone will arrive at Holt’s High Street ground very rusty, but Stuart Faint’s village side have only won two of their 14 matches to date.

On paper, Holt should stand no chance but having beaten Maud Heath Sports 4-0 a fortnight ago they could claim a shock, though unlikely, win.

Biddestone Social v Potterne A FC

A LACK of activity coupled with a recent defeat against Westbury Rangers A has seen long-time leaders Biddestone Social drop down the table to third place.

For Dan Lardner’s men, the 5-2 loss at Westbury came as something as a shock, but in fairness to the Biddy boys it was their first league outing since the end of October.

They have only played seven matches this term and are just four points behind Westbury, who have played four more games.

Biddestone welcome Potterne A to Yatton Road and, having beaten their guests 3-1 in their previous league match, the hosts will be looking to wrap up a double, just like Potterne did to them last term.

Defeats by 3-1 and 6-3 proved to be costly and allowed Corsham Centre to claim a fourth successive title.

Biddestone have again been impressive so far this season and will see their loss against Westbury as a blip.

Potterne have played four games since they were beaten by their hosts back in October, three of which have ended in defeat so they will have to play a lot better if they are going to have any chance of avenging their earlier defeat.

But for a second time this term the Biddy boys ought to claim the points.

Box Rovers v Cooper Avon

WITH victories over Corsham Centre (Knockout Cup) and Winsley in January, Cooper Avon’s manager Gary Newman will be pleased with the way his team have started the new year.

And he will be hoping that they can continue their good start with a victory away at Box Rovers. This will the first time the teams have met in the League but, as Melksham Motor Spares manager, Newman has never beaten Box.

He has faced them four times before and suffered defeat in all four.

The match has all the ingredients to be a good one and with the tyremen wanting to put together a winning run before they take on Westbury Rangers A in the Knockout Cup semi-final in March, this is one they will want to win.

Their hosts will be bidding to return to winning ways after suffering a 2-1 loss against Dog & Fox Ashley in their previous match.

The result is likely to be a close one but the game itself may just produce lots of goals and, if Box are on form, they may just edge a high scoring contest by the odd goal.

Semington Rovers v Dog & Fox Ashley

SEMINGTON Rovers and Dog & Fox Ashley have already met once this season and on that occasion the Dog & Fox claimed a 5-2 victory.

The formbook suggests that Mark Gerrish and Gary Williamson's side should pick up another two points that will keep them in second place at least.

And if leaders Westbury Rangers were to lose against Maud Heath Sports or miss out on a game then the Dog would top the table with a win.

Semington, who are unbeaten in four matches, should give their guests a good game and if Stuart Barber has his scoring boots on then the home team will have a very good chance of upsetting the odds.

But that will also depend on what sort of side manager Allan Clarke can field against a Dog side who, if they could field a full strength team each week, would have a very good chance of winning the title.

On paper, Dog & Fox ought to complete a league double but with players starting to return from injury the hosts may get a draw.

,strong>Westbury Rangers A v Maud Heath Sports

SHAUN Gardiner will be a happy man as Westbury Rangers A side sit pretty at the top of the table.

And come Sunday afternoon he should still be smiling as the leaders should have picked another two points with a victory at home to Maud Heath Sports, providing the match scheduled for Meadow Lane can beat the weather.

Westbury have already beaten Maud Heath 3-1 away from home this term and they will be red-hot favourites to beat Dave Beal’s side for a second time.

But in the past the Calne-based side have had a reasonably good record against their hosts and they would love to claim a shock win which would go some way to easing their relegation fears.

Maud Heath are currently in the bottom two and they have only picked up five points from a possible 22 thanks to two wins against fellow strugglers Winsley and a shock 1-1 draw with Dog & Fox Ashley.

If they could repeat that form, they may just have it in them to upset the odds once again.