The top two in the BetVictor Southern League Division One South opened up a 10-point gap between them and third-placed Paulton Rovers after Saturday`s round of matches.
Leaders Frome Town pushed Winchester City down to fourth after beating them 2-0 at The Special Effect Stadium with goals from Kane Simpson after 15 minutes and then Matt Smith 10 minutes from time. Second-placed Thatcham Town, with three games in hand on Frome, edged a 1-0 win at eighth-placed Highworth Town, courtesy of a George Jeacock effort on the half-hour mark.
Paulton lead the chasing pack after winning 4-2 at home to mid-table Bristol Manor Farm. But they had to come back from being a 24th minute Steve Kingdon goal behind. A Marcus Day brace on 37 and 45 minutes took Rovers into the break in front and then Ben Withey put them 3-1 up on 66 minutes, with Jordan Metters replying 4 minutes from time.
Fifth-placed Evesham United lost ground when they went down to a 3-1 defeat at Moneyfields As Jimmy Greaves once famously said, “It`s a funny old game”, and so this proved as Moneys were hammered 7-0 at Willand Rovers the previous Saturday! It was a special day for two of the home side`s players. Conor-Paul Bailey was making his 400th appearance for the club, having come through their own youth ranks, while Steve Hutchings netted a hat-trick with goals in the 2nd, 8th and, eventually, 87th minutes, with Adam Page replying for Evesham after 37 minutes.
Larkhall Athletic pulled level on points with Evesham in sixth after a 2-1 win at Sholing. And they had to recover from being a 7th minute Brad Targett goal down to win, thanks to Lewis Powell on the half-hour mark and Tom Hillman immediately after the break.
At the other end of the table, second-bottom Basingstoke Town ended a run of five straight defeats to edge out Bideford AFC by the odd goal in five at Winchester. But the `Stoke fans were made to sweat as, after leading 3-0 by the half-hour mark with a brace from Ben Wright after 20 and 29 minutes after a 12th minute Bradley Wilson effort, the Devonians pulled two back right at the end of the game through Ben Palmer on 85 minutes and then Alex Byrne 3 minutes into stoppage time.
Bottom-markers Barnstaple Town are beginning to fall adrift of the rest as their 3-1 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Melksham Town leaves them six points behind Basingstoke. Joe Romanski`s 15th-minute opener for Melksham was cancelled out by Manny Omrore on 34 minutes. But a brace from Luke Ballinger in the 68th and 73rd minutes condemned Barum to a sixth home defeat in seven games.
Third-bottom AFC Totton picked up a useful point from a 3-3 draw at ninth-placed Mangotsfield United. And the Stags produced a fine comeback after taking an early 5th-minute lead through Adam McWilliam. A Daniel Demkiv hat-trick in the 16th, 36th and 43rd minutes gave the Mangos a 3-1 interval lead. Pat Nolan pulled a second back for the visitors just shy of the hour-mark but it looked as though the hosts would hang on – until Oli Bradley popped up with an equaliser 3 minutes into stoppage time.
Cirencester Town`s new boss John Brough saw his charges end a four-game league win-less run in emphatic fashion, 3-0 at mid-table Slimbridge. The visitors got off to a great start when Toumani Sidibe opened their account after just 4 minutes. Eight minutes into the second half, Levi Irving doubled Ciren`s lead and Tom Anderson added a third on 69 minutes.
Cinderford Town`s hopes of making it into the top five were dashed by a Willand Rovers outfit who made it four successive wins. It was a case of hit `em early and late, as Rovers scored within 15 seconds of the kick-off through Craig Veal and, after James Harding had pulled the Foresters level 4 minutes after half-time, Dean Stamp won it for the hosts a minute into time added on at the end of the game.
