THE ROUND UP | SATURDAY ACTION

Goals galore on pre-Christmas weekend

There were plenty of goals across all four of our divisions on this pre-Christmas weekend.

In the Premier South, the top two teams helped themselves to a sackful of goals with leaders, Walton & Hersham, hitting five without reply against Hanwell Town, whilst just behind them, Gloucester City were 6-1 winners over Hungerford Town as Elis Watts (pictured) hit a hat-trick against his former club.

Third-place Poole Town slipped to a 1-0 home set-back at the hands of Sholing and in the fourth against fifth encounter, it was Farnham Town who prospered by two goals to nil against Gosport Borough as Ogochukwu Obi bagged a brace.

Over in the Premier Central, leaders, Spalding United, were held at home in a 3-3 thriller against Real Bedford. The game swung one way then the other before the hosts levelled matters with ten minutes to go.

Second-place Harborough Town responded in the right way to their first defeat of the season as they came home from Needham Market 3-1 victors, although they did have to come from behind to do it having conceded within the opening five minutes.

There was a home reverse for Quorn as they went down 4-2 at the hands of Worcester City, for whom recent arrival, Charlie Lutz, was amongst the scorers. Redditch United suffered a surprise 2-1 home defeat at the hands of lowly AFC Sudbury, who came from behind to get a big three points in their quest to get out of the bottom four.

In Division One South, leaders, Frome Town, continued their march with a 3-1 victory over Exmouth Town. They are five points ahead of Portishead Town, who let a lead slip to lose 2-1 at home to Mousehole, and Malvern Town, who recovered from a 2-1 half-time deficit to beat Didcot Town 4-2.

The battle of high-flying Winchester City and Shaftesbury went the way of the home side as a goal in each half gave them a 2-0 success. Bishops Cleeve are just outside the top five having worked hard to overcome the challenge of Willand Rovers.

Finally, in Division One Central, leaders, Leighton Town, were 5-2 winners against Flackwell Heath. Their day was made even better when second-place Hertford Town dropped points in a 2-2 draw at Northwood, as their hosts equalised late on and third-place Hitchin Town also failed to make home advantage count as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Rayners Lane.

The rest of the top five saw Biggleswade Town and Barton Rovers share eight goals in a 4-4 draw that was packed full of drama, particularly late on when the home side grabbed a stoppage time leveller.

We’ll have plenty of reaction to the action over the course of the week ahead.

IMAGE: Jamie Brain