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The story of this particular wet and windy Sunday took place at Chedzoy Lane where bottom-of-the-league Cannington put a miserable period behind them to register their first victory of the current Uxella League campaign over a shell-shocked Grasshoppers '05 side. The Hoppers had looked reasonably good value for the one-goal lead that they had established through Nigel Woodcock, midway through the first half, but the awarding of a Cannington penalty five minutes from the final whistle proved to be the turning point of the entire game. Cannington player-boss Ben Dyer had famously suffered his first spot-kick miss in six seasons the previous week but stepped up to convert successfully on this occasion before young Nathan Chillingworth capitalised on a sudden crisis of confidence in the Hoppers ranks to score the goal that not only secured three priceless points for Cannington but also made all those associated with the club feel a little bit better after the death of club sponsor Hazel Moore a couple of weeks previously. She will be laid to rest this coming Wednesday and the players dedicated this victory to her memory.
It was also a first positive result for top flight strugglers Bunch of Grapes who similarly started the day without a single point from the current campaign but ended it with one after battling back from 3-1 down to deservedly draw 4-4 with Flag Old Boys. A Jamie Stewart hat-trick and a further goal from Lee White had looked like being enough for Flag but Bunch responded well with goals from Dean Fury(2), Andrew Riley and Lee Fury.
For quite some time it also looked as if a further momentous result was about to be registered in the First Division of the Uxella League when a battling Ashcott outfit found themselves in the enviable position of leading the mighty Tiger Old Boys 1-0 at half-time through a Chris Murphy goal. However, the Tigers have shown many times before that they grow stronger as the game goes on and, predictably enough, equalised within a minute of the restart before going on to assume what looked to be a comfortable 4-1 advantage. Ashcott weren't finished yet though and bravely got the score back to 4-3 as Murphy went on to complete a memorable hat-trick but the Tigers then restored a comfortable two-goal cushion to make the final score 5-3. Steve Haste and Mark Pope both bagged a pair of goals each for the visitors while James Hamilton capped the victory with a goal of his own.
Squib Madrid raced into a three-goal lead away to Clearwater through Darren Hill, Mike Hart and Dave Baker but a penalty from Clearwater's Ian Spence and a 25-yard screamer from team-mate Colin Livingstone got the home side back in it before Vince Kennedy made the game safe for Squib at 4-2.
Blake Old Boys poor recent run of results continues as they went down 3-4 at home to Cross Rifles for whom Dean Gooding(2), Adam Kinsey and Jason Stephenson scored the winning goals in what proved to be a hard-fought but extremely satisfying victory for the Rifles.
The remaining First Division games, between Tiger Reserves and Huntspill Crowns and Woolavington versus Red Tile were postponed.
At the top of the Second Division Maltshovel Sports continue their unbeaten start to the season as they won 3-1 away to Glastonbury Town. The home side played the entire game with ten men so did well to keep the game scoreless until twenty minutes into the second half when Steve Davis calmly converted a penalty for Maltshovel. Then Dean Organ popped up with a headed goal before scoring his second of the game and his fifth in his last two outings with a tap-in after a fumble by the Glastonbury keeper. Joynal Ali was again on the scoresheet for Glastonbury by way of consolation.
Starting the day in second place in Division Two, Quantock Pride suffered only their second league defeat of the season as they lost 3-1 at Nether Stowey. Two goals from Dave Rowsell and one from James Scrivenger gave Stowey all three points while Lee Goss bagged Pride's consolation effort.
With Quantock Pride losing it proved to be an excellent day for Puriton United who now move back into second place in the table after running out comfortable 4-0 winners away to Commercial. Ryan Williams opened the scoring for United with a thirty yard cracker into the top corner after ten minutes and it wasn't until the second half that Puriton extended their lead with further strikes from Darryl Taylor, Dean Taylor and from super-veteran Pete Dean who struck a lovely low crossfield shot into the bottom corner.
A strong and determined Bridgwater Wanderers proved more than a match for the young Grasshoppers '04 side as they out-fought and out-thought them in a 4-1 home victory which saw Jamie Evans secure a hat-trick with Sam Puddy scoring the other goal. Midfield veteran John Kervell again struck for the Hoppers with a 40-yard free kick to make it four goals in his last three games but the day belonged to Wanderers who now climb above Hoppers '04 in the table.
With the game between Admirals and Countryman being postponed the only other game played in Division Two saw Tor Sports secure an impressive 3-0 home win over Woolavington Reserves.
(Story First Published: 30.10.05) |
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| | | | | | | | Div 1 Table Summary
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| Team |
Pts |
| Maltshovel | 30 | | Red Tile | 27 | | Tiger Old Boys | 19 | | Quantock Pride | 17 | | Cannington | 16 | | Abbey Moor | 15 | | Blake OB | 14 | | Flag Old Boys | 10 | | Middlezoy | 9 | | | | |
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| | | | | | Div 2 Table Summary
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| Team |
Pts |
| Highburn | 44 | | Grasshoppers | 41 | | New Foresters | 36 | | NM Sports | 34 | | R.O.F. | 34 | | Puriton | 33 | | Huntspill | 22 | | Knowle | 16 | | Admirals | 14 | | Q. Pride Res. | 10 | | Ramblers | 8 | | North Petherton | 4 | | | | |
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