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Manager O’Meara lays down challenge
From the Wiltshire Times, first published Friday 2nd Feb 2007.
BIDDESTONE Social manager John O'Meara has challenged his players to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season in the Auto Business Solutions Ltd Chippenham Sunday League Premier Division.
Social, who have nine games remaining, host Box Rovers this Sunday and O'Meara has reason to be optimistic of a good run of results as his Social side have found some form at last due to players returning from injury and suspension.
Rovers, who hammered nine past a hapless Trowbridge Harriers in their last game, would love to halt Social's mini-revival and gain revenge for their earlier 3-2 defeat but all the signs point to another win for the Social as they look to put together their best run of the season with a third successive win.
Leaders Winsley make the short trip to St Laurence School, Bradford, where they face a tricky match against Dog and Fox Ashley, who won the corresponding fixture last season 2-1.
Winsley dropped their first point of the campaign last weekend when they drew 3-3 with Westbury Rangers A, however the villagers' manager Paul Ranger was satisfied with the point especially as his side had trailed 3-1 at one stage.
Ranger will line-up against many of the players he is in charge of at Bradford Town on Saturdays, so will be aware of the problems that can be caused by players like Steve Roddy, Mark Gerrish and Ricky Trott. With the Bradford side keen to claim the bragging rights until the sides meet again, Ranger's Winsley side will need all their big stars available otherwise their dreams of beating Corsham Centre to the title could be over for another season.
After suffering their biggest loss of the season last weekend, Sherston Town will be hoping to have a few of their injured players back for the visit of Maud Heath Sports.
If not they could be on the receiving end of another defeat to the Sports to match the 3-0 loss they were dealt when the sides met back in early September.
Maud Heath should return to Calne with two more points in the bag as they look to better last year's seventh place finish in the top flight, but should they slip up it would prove once again that inconsistency has cost them dear and that the tag of under-achievers will remain with them for a while longer.
Bottom of the table Trowbridge Harriers are due to welcome Bradford News and it is hard to see anything other than a win for the newsmen, who beat the Harriers 2-0 on their own patch, thanks to goals from Russell Francis and Jason Povey. Bradford have lost three games on the bounce and if that becomes four it would mean the Harriers would have won for the first time this season.
It is hard to see that happening and with matches slowly running out for Sacha Morgan's team to chalk up a victory they may well go the whole season without winning a game that would see them lose their top flight status and which could also lead to the end of a once successful Harriers side.
After taking a point from leaders Winsley last Sunday, Westbury Rangers A will be more than confident of beating Holt for a second time this season.
Rangers won the away fixture 5-3 and even though they will be without Marc Lanfear, who scored one of the five goals in that win, they look to found a ready made replacement in Tim Summerfield who scored on his first team debut last Sunday, having scored four the previous week when he was with the Rangers B team.
Holt will be hoping that Tom Pang returns to the side soon. Pang, who was the league's top scorer in 2003 and 2004, has not featured in many of Holt's games this season and his goals have been missed.
But having scored two against Rangers in September, Pang will certainly know how to beat Lewis Porter again.
Division One
WITH pacesetters Semington Rovers in cup action, second placed Potterne have the opportunity to move level on points at the top of the pile.
Hoping to stop them from doing that is an in-form North Bradley side who have already beaten their fellow villagers twice this campaign.
If Bradley can extend their winning run to four matches and complete a league and cup treble over Potterne they will leapfrog both their opponents and FC Colerne, who are involved in the cup, and take second spot.
While Potterne will look to star striker Jonathan Emm for the goals that will see them return to winning ways after last week's first defeat in six games, Bradley will want their unlikely goal scoring hero Stuart Powell to continue his rich run of form in front of goal which has seen the normally unpredictable player strike 12 times this term.
Basement side Hullavington host North Star A, with the visitors favourites to return to Calne with another high scoring victory to their name.
The Star hammered Colerne 6-2 last Sunday and they should at least repeat that scoreline against Hullavington who look set to drop out of the division unless they can stun their rivals with their first victory since the start of October.
Gary Elliott's North Star side have played only nine games to date but are serious contenders for a top two finish and a return to the top flight which they last graced in the 1999/2000 season. Elliott has rebuilt the Star team and if he can keep midfield maestro Ronnie Kallmeier fit the Calne-based outfit are certain to be up near the top come May.
Another team struggling at the wrong end of the table are Chippenham Sports and Social Club, whose better goal difference is keeping them off the foot of the table.
Bob Monteith's team face Foresters Arms who won the reverse clash 5-1.
Monteith's side ended a run of 11 matches without a win when they beat Hullavington in the middle of January, but since then the poor weather has denied them the chance of claiming another success. They have a realistic chance of moving out of the bottom two as the Foresters have been far from impressive of late despite their narrow 3-2 triumph over Chippenham Police last weekend. Come Sunday afternoon, it should be the Sports that have collected another two points on their way to First Division survival.
Chippenham Police, who are just above the relegation trap door, entertain Atworth United and both teams will be desperate to return to winning ways after a poor run of results which have seen the Police fail to win in three and Atworth fail to win or score in their last two games.
That would have come as a shock to the system for Atworth as previous to a loss against Semington Rovers they had won five from seven and were looking good to finish in the top half of the table. Jason Roberts and his police side know that they need at least another four or five victories to be safe for another season and they will see Atworth as one of the teams they can take points off as they prepare for what will be a nail-biting conclusion to the season.
Coyote FC (formerly Kings Arms, Trowbridge) travel to Seagry to face Christian Malford who are just eight matches away from completing their season.
Malford were thumped 7-0 by their rivals earlier in the season and on that occasion Scott Askew helped himself to four of the goals.
Despite hitting 17 goals to date the normally prolific Askew has not been anywhere near his best for Chris Carr's team this season, and he has a long way to go if he is to feature in the race for the golden boot award, which he jointly won with Corsham Centre's Simon Gray last season with 50 goals.
With 14 games still to play Askew could come good and all of a sudden he could start climbing the charts again and with Coyote tipped to win this match it may well be the time for Askew to strike.
Division Two
AFC CALNE will want to make the most of British Lion OC's cup involvement and a victory at home to Biddestone Arms would see them as outright leaders of the division.
However, it could be a case of de-ja-vu for Calne as they were in the same situation when the teams met in December and that time a Chris Mochan goal give the Arms a 1-0 success to deny Calne top spot.
Both teams go into the contest in fine form and whatever the outcome of the match it should be a closely contested one. With home advantage and the prize of top spot up for grabs Calne may just edge the game with a narrow win.
Kevin Whitbread's Rowde side have not played since early December, when they beat The Horse and Groom, but they should at last get to kick a ball in 2007 when they host Southwick Sports at Sands Lane.
Both Rowde and their opponents have started only eight matches this campaign and both will almost certainly have to play a couple of midweek matches as the season reaches its conclusion.
Rowde have by far the better record, having dropped just one point from a possible 16, and they are odds on to increase their tally on Sunday as they look to close the gap on British Lion and Calne. Southwick will just be happy to get another match out of the way after missing out on football for two months until they lost to Calne last Sunday.
White Horse stunned The Crown Devizes and everyone else when they won for the first time in eight matches last weekend and if they can follow that success with another win at home against Sutton Benger then the Westbury-based side, who were written off as certainties for relegation a few weeks ago, could move away from the danger zone.
The White Horse hope to welcome back Paul Phelps and Julian Putt to their squad in the near future and with a couple of relegation four pointers on the horizon their return to action could aid the their fight for survival.
Benger destroyed The Horse 13-0 in November and even though they will be expected to take another two points the margin of victory will not be as great.
Pig and Whistle United are another team who are behind with their fixtures, but if they can continue with their recent run of good results they can expect to finish with a top five placing.
United welcome The Crown Devizes to Awdrey Avenue and if they can stretch their unbeaten record to five matches, then Wesley Frith's team will swap places with the Crown who have not won in four attempts. United took the honours last term with one win and a draw and, despite the recent loss of striker Gareth Evans to AFC Melksham, they should still have enough fire power to send the Crown home empty handed.
Division Three
DUE to cup matches leaders The Southgate Inn have not played a league match since the end of December, but they have remained top of the pile due to their closest rivals also missing out due to various reasons.
Cooper-Avon, who were second, have fallen behind with their games and they have also fallen down the ratings to fifth spot, but with as many as six games in hand on the clubs above them the tyre men should start to climb back up the table. Cooper-Avon are due to be at home through February beginning with what should be relativity easy match against Blue Circle (Sunday), who they have already beaten 5-2, but having suffered a surprise cup defeat last Sunday they will be cautious of falling to what would be another shock defeat if they were to lose.
With Cooper-Avon being dormant for so long, their local rivals AFC Pilot have taken advantage of their hibernation and crept up the table to second place after back-to-back victories and if they can beat Corsham Park Rangers for a second time in a month then they will close the gap on Southgate to just two points.
Pilot's manager Tony Couch had high hopes of his team doing well this season but the wheels fell off the Pilot bandwagon through November and December when they suffered four defeats that all but ended their dreams of glory for another season.
Inconsistency has been the biggest problem for Corsham Park to date and although they should be safe from relegation they could well pay the price for that later on, especially if they cannot record any more wins from now until May.
Sir Audley's Arms will have the welcome mat out for Westbury Rangers B at Stanley Park, and the Arms should hang onto third place with win number eight of the campaign. Rangers lost 8-1 at home to the Arms in December and, while the chief tormentor on that day Luke Gullick can no longer play for the Chippenham side since his move from Calne Town to Swindon Supermarine, the Arms should have few problems in wrapping up another victory over the Westbury side, who they lost to only once in their previous seven encounters.
January may have been a bad month for Wheatsheaf as they were knocked out of both cup competitions, but it may also turn out to be a blessing in disguise as they can now concentrate fully on their remaining league fixtures, which begin away to White Hart Combe.
Wheatsheaf are unbeaten in five games and with Combe back on form after a run of four defeats the game is likely to be a high scoring affair which will probably go Wheatsheaf's way.
Two wins on the trot for Combe seem to have brought their season back to life and if they can pull off an unexpected victory over the Wheatsheaf they will be nicely set up to finish their first season in the division in the top half of the table which would be a great achievement for Trevor Rawlings' side.
Somerford and Pack Horse Rangers should have few worries about completing their season without having to play evening matches.
Somerford's meeting with Rangers will be their 17th game to date, leaving them with just seven left to play, while for Rangers it will be fixture number 15. If everything goes to form it should be Rangers who collect the points on offer as they look forward to completing a league double over the villagers who they beat 4-2 on home soil.
Division Four
AFTER a week's rest leaders, Bromham (Sunday) return to action with what promises to be tough home game with The Crown FC who, in spite of having four losses on their record, have a good chance of finishing in the top four, especially if they can maintain they good form of late which has seen them lose just once in nine matches.
The Crown will be without the suspended Nick Buckle for the game while Bromham hope to be at full strength as they look to open up a three point lead on second placed AFC Bell, who are without a game.
Whatever happens from now until the end of the campaign Bromham have had an excellent first season back in the league and even though they are unlikely to finish in an automatic promotion spot they can be well pleased with their efforts so far.
Little George have not featured in a league game since before Christmas and they will be overjoyed that they are facing one of the bottom clubs rather than one of those who, along with the George, are chasing promotion.
Matt Scoble's side have dropped just one point from a possible 20 and that was on the opening day of the season when they drew 4-4 with AFC Melksham.
Since then the George have got better and better and are living up their billing as possible title winners.
George entertain Corsham United, who they have previously beaten 8-2, and you have to fear for Corsham second time around as the home team's strike force of Nat Aukland, Ben Husband and Tom Jones were scoring at will prior to their extended break through December and January due to the weather. No doubt normal service will resume on Sunday.
It is hard to believe but The Rising Sun FC visit Wanderers at the weekend dreaming of a third win on the trot.
Having taken 11 matches to break this season's duck they managed back-to-back wins which is already better than what they achieved in the whole of last season as they finished with just one win to their name.
Wanderers defeated the Riser 6-3 when the teams met in November so the hosts know their opponents know how to find the net. But now they have tightened things up at the back they could well avenge that earlier lose but the more likely outcome will be that Rising Sun will be a setting one as Wanderers ought to coast to an easy win.
If results go for them this Sunday and Chippenham West End Club can beat AFC Melksham for a second time, then Tam Laidlaw's side could move up to fourth spot which would have been unthinkable prior to the start of the season.
Melksham, who know what to expect from the West End, should welcome back top scorer Luke Ballinger from suspension and with their chances of a top two finish slipping away from them they will want nothing other than a win from their meeting with one of the division's vastly improved sides.
Melksham's Gareth Evans did not feature in the previous meeting of the sides and the West End will have to keep a tight rein on him otherwise is certain to add to the four goals he has scored in his two appearances since his move from the Pig and Whistle.
Trowbridge Town Supporters' Club travel to North Star B and having never beaten the Star they will be anticipating the worst. But the Star have not won in four so this could be the right time for the Town to face them as they look to break the hoodoo the Star seem to have over them.
Having lost their main striker Steve Munday this season the Town have found goals have to come by and although they have added Marc Sheppard to their forward line he has yet to have much success in front of goal. Munday's replacement Peter Barby started well but since November his goals have dried up and the Town need all their target men to start firing again otherwise the Star will claim maximum points against Kevin Williams' side once again.
Old Road Tavern look destined to take the wooden spoon come May,.
The Tavern started the campaign with a 4-2 success against fellow newcomers Corsham United, but have not won since then and go into their game away at Churchill Arms hoping to arrest a run of 12 straight defeats. Churchill Arms will be odds-on favourites to add to the Tavern's woes and make it an unlucky 13th loss for Bernie Court's side.
Should the unlikely happen and Tavern should collect the points on offer it would give them a massive boost ahead of next week's showdown with Chippenham West End Club who until December 2005 were playing under the Old Road Tavern name.
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