Pitching In Southern League Review

Limited action across the divisions this weekend

There was limited League action this weekend due to the Emirates FA Cup.

In the Pitching In Southern League Premier South, the big winners were Basingstoke Town who came home from Sholing with a 4-0 triumph to make it five League wins in a row.

The Dragons raced into a two-goal lead within the opening quarter-of-an-hour as Bradley Wilson and Luis Le Paih found the net before Daniel Rowe and Ashleigh Artwell added two more goals after the break.

Late drama came in the other Premier South game as Harrow Borough thought they had salvaged a point at Hanwell Town as Harlem Hale cancelled out Sam Evans’ opener in stoppage time. However, there was still time for Jacob Bancroft to fire home a winner for the home side.

With no action in the Pitching In Premier Central, we move into Division One South where Willand Rovers returned to top spot as a Owen Howe hat-trick gave them a 3-1 victory over Devon rivals, Exmouth Town, for whom Levi Landricombe had given them the lead.

There was first win of the campaign for Yate Town as they too came from behind to beat Westbury United 2-1. Callum Demkiv had opened the scoring for the visitors but the home side hit back through Aaron Parsons as half-time approached. The winning goal came 12 minutes from the end as Joe O’Loughlin turned the ball home.

Bemerton Heath Harlequins tasted defeat for the first time at this level as Bishops Cleeve went home with a good 2-1 success. Goals from Toby Holland and Ross Langworthy right on the stroke of half-time put Cleeve in the driving seat and although Charlie Cooper pulled a goal back deep into stoppage time, it was too little, too late.

At The Winterfield Stadium, Paulton Rovers celebrated their second win of the season as they beat Hamworthy United 2-1, whilst the day’s other game ended all square as Malvern Town came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Melksham Town. Alex Henshall and a goal right at the end of the opening period from Harvey Woods put the home side in control but quick-fire goals from Jack Watts and Levi Francis earned a share of the spoils for the Worcestershire outfit.

In Division One Central, another side who overturned a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 on their travels was Kings Langley who remain unbeaten after Jermaine Howe bagged a last-gasp leveller at Kidlington after Thomas Moore had given the home side an early lead and Sam Jenkins doubled the advantage on the hour. Sam Murphy opened the scoring for Kings Langley.

Four second half goals saw Cirencester Town home against winless Kempston Rovers. Luca Robinson set the ball rolling early in the second half before an own goal from Melvin Onu knocked the stuffing out of the visitors. Charlie McCrae and Daniel Grieve added further goals late on.

It was away day joy for Leighton Town who came home from Hadley with a 1-0 triumph thanks to Finlay Brennan’s first half strike, whilst a goal in either half gave AFC Dunstable a 2-0 victory over Stotfold.