Round Up Saturday 3 December 2016

It’s not hard to work out where to look for the shock result of the weekend in the Combined Counties League, with Hartley Wintney finally going down after an incredible 18 game unbeaten streak was ended by Walton & Hersham, with Elliott Simpson scoring the only goal. The result made the title race a bit more interesting, especially as Westfield won 2-1 at Horley to close the gap to 12 points, with the Woking based side having 2 games in hand.

The battle to avoid the drop continues to intrigue with all three of the bottom sides picking up 2-2 draws. Bedfont & Feltham are likely to be happiest after holding high-flying Guildford City, especially after coming from 2-0 down. Chertsey got their point away to Farnham in an entertaining game, whilst Badshot Lea drew with AFC Hayes. Raynes Park Vale were sucked towards the relegation zone after defeat in a thrilling game at North Greenford, the Middlesex side twice coming from behind to win 5-3. Windsor have faced an upturn in form recently and gained their second consecutive win with a 3-0 victory at Camberley who are now without a win in 5. Colliers Wood United had their recent strong run of form ended at home to Spelthorne, who won 3-0 with Flatman arguably the key performer for the Spelly.

The weekend also saw FA Vase action, but it was on the whole not a great set of results for Combined Counties sides. The excellently supported Eastbourne Town were 2-1 victors at Abbey Rangers whilst Southall claimed another Combined Counties victim, beating Knaphill 2-1. Knaphill made a game of it but ultimately a 2 goal half time deficit was too much to claw back. Sutton Common Rovers exited the Vase on Sunday, losing 4-1 at home to Kent side Corinthian. It might have been worse for SCR with keeper Bradshaw saving 2 penalties. There was better news for Bedfont Sports who drew away to Crowborough 2-2: the replay for that game will be on Wednesday night. Particularly impressive was the fact that Bedfont ended Crowborough’s insane 17 game winning streak.

Division One’s big game was between the two top sides, and saw a surprisingly one-sided result as Banstead hammered Bagshot 4-0 away from home. The result puts Athletic top of the league, with a game in hand over closest rivals Bagshot. Redhill are still in the hunt after yet another win, this time 3-1 against Staines Lammas. The game was in truth as good as over after just 25 minutes with the Lobsters cruising into a 3-0 lead early on. Chessington & Hook remain in 4th place after being held to a 1-1 draw by Cobham, but AC London are poised to overtake them after a 3-2 win at Eversley & California – the Combined Counties newcomers are just 1 point behind Chessy with 3 games in hand. Dorking picked up their first league win since October in some style, hammering Epsom Athletic 6-0, Jimmy Brazil hitting a first half hattrick. Epsom have accumulated just 6 points all season but Cove still sit below them with 4 – they were beaten 2-1 by Farleigh Rovers on Saturday. Elsewhere in the Combined Counties Division One Sheerwater and Ash played out a 0-0 draw and South Park Reserves drew 1-1 with Frimley Green.