WITH the Shoestrings-chargrill, Chippenham Sunday League set for a shorter than usual one week Christmas break, many teams found themselves with an additional free week as the atrocious weather conditions of the last week meant that a number of games were lost to waterlogged pitches.

The only league fixture that survived the rain was at Leafy Lane where hosts Chippenham Icons beat Royal Oak 4-2, to claim a fifth successive victory which move them above Lavis FC at the top of the Division One table thanks to their superior goal difference.

Icons opened the scoring through a Jacob Duckett own goal, but they were pegged back when Rich Tandy was on hand to restore parity. Dan Fowler regained the lead for Icons who gained the upper hands on the Oak men, with a further 2 goals from Fowler to complete a first half treble to give his team a 4-1 interval lead, his second being a sublime strike from distance

Royal Oak may have had the better of the second period, with Tandy scoring the only goal from the penalty spot, however that proved to be just a consolation as Icons remained on top to secure a crucial 3 points in their bid for the title.

Box land knockout blow on North Star

Five of the planned eight AM Print & Copy sponsored Knockout Cup fixtures somehow survived the elements, which in most cases was due to the efforts of clubs reversing of finding an alternative ground to get the matches played. From the matches played first division Sporting Box claimed the result of the morning with a 4-1 victory over top flight side North Star Club who had beaten them on the two occasions they met last term.

Goals from Nathan Baldwin and Josh Donkor gave Sporting Box a 2-1 half time lead. Alex Acklam netted for 3-0 before as second of the morning from Baldwin made it 4-0.

Joe Child came off the bench to score a late consolation for North Star.

Calne United 1 Spartak Rudloe 0

Calne United progressed to the quarter-final stages following their slender 1-0 victory over second division stablemates Spartak Rudloe.

In what was a very tight game that could have gone either way, United were thankful to their keeper Sam Peacock who produced a number of excellent saves before and after Dave Williams struck the first half winner for United.

FC Devizes United 7 Calne Athletic 0

Calne Athletic saw their knockout cup hopes ended with a 7-0 loss at home to fellow second division rivals FC Devizes United, both teams have to be applauded for getting the fixture played, as earlier it the week it had been void, before being reinstated and with United unable to use their Green Lane pitch the tie was switched to Goatacre.

Charlie Strickland, Luke Enderby, Jay Walters and a first goal from George Bettles gave United a 4-0 interval lead. Matt Swann, Kam Muhid and a second from Walters secured a safe passage into the quarter-finals for Oscar Webster’s team.

Pack Horse FC 8 FC Libby 1

Second division FC Libby may have taken the lead in their knockout cup clash away as First division Pack Horse, but any hopes of an upset soon disappeared as Gary Williamson’s side soon regained control to lead 3-1 at the break before going on to claim a convincing 8-1 success.

Libby opened the scoring through Nathan Drew, but a Josh Madle effort along with a Max Wyatt double turned things around for Pack Horse.

The second half saw the Horse get up a full head of steam as a double from Adam Shipman, a second for Madle and a goal each for Rob Willoughby and substitute Liam Wright saw them canter to victory.

Semington FC 6 Steeple Ashton 3

Second Division, Steeple Ashton played hosts to Semington after the latter’s pitch at Little Marsh was deemed unplayable. Ashton shocked their top flight rivals by taking a 3-2 half time lead, unfortunately for the underdogs they were unable to hang on as Semington bossed the second half to claim a 6-3 victory.

Alex Bates scored all 3 goals for Ashton in a first half that saw Jake Abbott scored both Semington’s goals. After the break Abbott scored a third to claim the second hat trick of the game, but Edd Leeson then got in on the act as he grabbed himself a 3-timer wrap up in the end what looked to be a comfortable win for Chris Dore’s side.

Bremhill put Benger to the sword

Sutton Benger who had decent runs in both of the cups on offer in CDSFL last term, suffered from a slow start against Bremhill View which ensured no progression in the RP Clarke Sheds and Fencing -sponsored WG Parr Trophy this season as Bremhill ran out 5-0 winners at Beversbrook.

Bremhill took the lead within five minutes, Jake Taylor latching on to through ball and slotting home past Dan Hughes and that shortly became 2-0 when the Benger defence backed off of Taylor to allow him to shoot and score from all of 25 yards. Tom Sigee then added a third when through one on one to make it 3-0 with just 25 minutes played.

Benger did come into the game and will be disappointed not to have clawed their way back in the game when James Hernandez rounded Craig Edwards but was thwarted by some last ditch defending and when a header from Player Manager Kai Flack was saved it seemed it was not looking like Benger’s day.

Despite another effort being saved by Edwards, a James Weston free kick, it was Bremhill who scored again when they were awarded a penalty that Rory Worthington converted for 4-0.

The second half was a much tighter affair although Hughes did make a couple of vital saves to keep the score at 4-0 it was Benger who had the best opportunity to get a goal back when they were awarded a penalty of their own when Matt Bartlett was tripped in the area but Weston saw his effort saved.

There was still enough time before the final whistle for Jake Taylor to claim his hat-trick to make final score 5-0.

Fox & Hounds (Warminster) FC 1 Beeches FC 1 (Fox & Hounds won 4-3 on penalties)

First division, Beeches FC made the short trip to Warminster for their WG Parr Trophy, First round clash with Fox & Hounds who came through a penalty shoot out to beat their guests 4-3, who finished the game with 9 players, having lost Steve Ball to injury and Drew Adams who was given his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card.

Jake Packer was on target for Beeches, but his first half effort was wiped out by Alan Hitchcock whose corner was helped in by the Beeches keep to level things up. Successful penalties from Beau Blakeman, Rob Christopher, Reece Collyer and Ikye Ichiebuka won the tie for Fox & Hounds.

Kingfisher 1 Biddestone 5

A 5-1 victory for Biddestone away at Kingfisher saw them come out on top in the all-first division WG Parr Trophy encounter, that wasn’t as one-sided as the result may suggest it was.

Kingfisher dominated the opening 35 minutes and Todd Richardson saw two headers brilliantly kept out by the Biddestone keeper, befor and after Keenan Burnell had given the visitors the lead. Burnell doubled Biddestone’s lead before Ed Baldwin headed home a Andy Rose corner to halve the deficit, Baldwin then hit the post at 2-1 to leave the Fishermen trailing 2-1 at the break.

Kingfisher were twice caught out early in the second half as Burnell completed his hat trick with a first time finish after some neat play involving Adam Loveridge. Keenan kept his cool with a calm one-on-one finish to make it 4-1 and it was left to Louis Harriss to complete the scoring with a 35 yard effort that saw him lob the keeper for 5-1

Warminster Athletic FC 2 Lavis FC 3

First division table toppers Lavis FC were on the road at Warminster Athletic for their WG Parr Trophy encounter and although the result went to form, two late goals from Warminster caused a few anxious moments for Aaron Latchem’s side.

Levi Wood, Darren Jones and Jamie Hancock who followed up to tap home from a saved Jack Booth penalty, looked to have Lavis on course for an expected comfortable win. Things got a little concerning for Lavis as late goals from Grady Dufosee and Bradley Edwards gave the hosts a glimmer of hope, however, it turned out to be a matter of too little, too late as Lavis saw the tie out to book their spot in the final eight.

Athletico beat Forest in Sunday Cup

With their own ground unplayable, Swindon League outfit Marlborough Town Athletico are to be applauded for switching their Wiltshire Sunday Cup tie to Forest Community Centre where they were rewarded with a 6-0 success.

AFC Melksham suffered a second postponement with FC Walcot and did Corsham Wildcats and Old Road FC while Semington FC and Misfits gave up their matches against respective opponents FC Devizes United and FC Pilot.