BIDDESTONE Social bounced back from their surprise Knockout Cup final defeat at the weekend to beat Westbury Rangers A 4-0 in Thursday night's top of the table clash in the Premier Divison.

The victory leaves Biddestone Social as the only team that can now possibly deny leaders Corsham Centre the title. Biddestone were so short of players that they had to play their manager John O'Meara for the full 90 minutes and it was his cross that led to Steve Healy heading home Social's opening goal after five minutes.

Midway through the first half Biddestone doubled their lead when Kevin Banks connected with a Dan Lardner cross. Biddestone's third goal came early in the second period when a cross by Danny Jones sailed into the net. Andy Wileman finished things off five minutes from time when he tucked away a penalty after Lardner had been bought down.

DIVISION TWO

Parsons Nose continued their amazing run in Division Two as they showed no signs of a Knockout Cup final win hangover by defeating Kingfisher FC 4-2. Parsons Nose have won 11 matches on the trot to emerge as serious contenders for the top spot along with long time leaders Kings Arms (Trowbridge).

Should they claim a victory in the reverse match on Sunday then they will be guaranteed one of the automatic promotion places into Division One, but whether it is as champions or runners-up is still to be seen. Rick Noonan put the Nose in front after 21 minutes only for Kingfisher to level through Marcus Young.

Steve Pegler sent the Nose in 2-1 at half-time but once again Kingfisher hit back to level with Marcus Young scoring from the penalty spot to take his goal tally for the season to 37. Craig Townsend, hero of Parsons Nose's cup final victory, regained the lead for the hosts on 70 minutes and Alan Varnish wrapped things up when he put through his own goal five minutes from time to complete the scoring.

FC Bradford look as if they will join Chippenham United ROAB in Division Three next season after Bradford failed to beat their already relegated opponents on Tuesday night.

Bradford's brave fight to avoid the drop looks destined to end in disappointment after they could only manage a 3-3 home draw with United which leaves them two points behind White Horse FC, who also have a better goal difference than Wayne Duggan's team. With one game left to play, against Southwick, Bradford are odds-on to go down.

The night began badly for Bradford as they fell behind to a goal from Steve Jenkins. George Palmer drew Bradford level with a long-range effort, but Nick Blake was on target for United as they regained the lead. Another long-range strike from Palmer brought the scores level before Stuart Harris gave United the advantage for the third time.

Phil Radwell drew Bradford level once again to make it 3-3 but although Bradford pushed for a fourth goal they could not fashion a winner. They fell aggrieved though as they had a good shout for a last minute penalty denied.

DIVISION THREE

Blue Circle have thrown the title race wide open by beating leaders Fascia Graphics 3-1. Fascia, who looked odds on to finish top of the pile a few weeks ago, have seen their season fall apart in recent weeks and have picked up just five points from a possible 12.

That has left the door open for the chasing pack, led by Rowde Dynamos, Bar OC, who meet Fascia on Sunday, and AFC Calne, who have to travel to Corsham on Thursday May 11 for what will be both teams' most important game of the season.

In recent weeks Fascia have been hit by injuries and against the cement boys they were forced into playing a number of part -time players. Circle led 2-0 at the break, with goals from James Rygor and Russell Dyer, and Dan Cox hit Circle's third before Gary Knowles replied late on. Fascia had many chances to score but they found both of Circle's keepers in fine form.

Cain Scott, who played the first 45 minutes between the sticks, did well on a number of occasions to keep Fascia at bay but his second half replacement Ryan Marks was even better as he denied both Steve Allison and Mark Smith chances to get Fascia back into the game.

AFC Calne moved up to third place with a 4-0 win away at Westbury Rangers B. Simon Dance scored a double for Calne with Shaun Ward and Dave Herron scoring one apiece. Calne's 15th victory of the campaign leaves them just one point behind Rowde, who occupy second berth, and two points adrift of leaders Fascia.

But with one game in hand on each of the teams above them it could come down to their meeting with Rowde on the final day of the season as to who takes second place or even the title if Fascia fail to win either of their two remaining games.

North Star B's 2-0 defeat away to local rivals Wheatsheaf FC condemned them to relegation. A workmanlike performance from both teams in the first half saw the scoreline remain 0-0, with the only incident coming in the 42nd minute when Wheatsheaf's Terry Cox was dismissed for a dreadful tackle on a Star player.

The sending off seemed to fire Wheatsheaf into action and they took the lead after 50 minutes when Graeme Neale latched onto a loose ball to score. The hosts' second goal came in the 63rd minute when after good play around the Star's 18 yard line Jason O'Sullivan stabbed home his first goal of the season.

DIVISION FOUR

The battle for the Division Four championship is hotting up. Victory for The Southgate Inn on Thursday night clinched them an automatic promotion spot and took them to within one point of leaders Plough. If they beat AFC Pilot on Sunday they will return to the top of the table for the first time since the start of 2006.

Southgate visited AFC Springfield aware that the youngsters had already taken a surprise point from Plough when the teams met back in March. Southgate had to call on all their experience before securing their 11th successive with a 6-3 success. Elliot Williams cancelled out Scott Fleming's opener for Springfield and when David Lloyd put Southgate ahead it looked as if the Devizes-based team would run away with the game.

However that was not to be the case as Springfield hit back with Tamlyn Goodrich tying the scores to give Southgate a few nervy moments. Southgate got their noses in front again thanks to the evergreen Tony Greenidge and when Williams added a fourth for Southgate the game was all but over. Nick Taylor made it 5-2 in favour of Southgate and Williams completed his hat-trick, albeit with the help of a deflection. Springfield had the final say with Goodrich scoring his second of the game.

Result For Tuesday April 25 Auto Business Solutions Ltd, Chippenham Sunday League: Division Two, FC Bradford 3, Chippenham United RAOB 3.

RESULTS FOR THURSDAY APRIL 27

Auto Business Solutions Ltd, Chippenham Sunday League:

Premier Division,

  • Biddestone Social 4, Westbury Rangers A 0
  • Dog & Fox Ashley v Corsham Centre postponed
  • Trowbridge Harriers v Winsley played 20/4/06

Division Two:

  • Parsons Nose 4, Kingfisher FC 2

Division Three:

  • Fascia Graphics 1, Blue Circle (Sunday) 3
  • Westbury Rangers B 0, AFC Calne 4
  • Wheatsheaf FC 2, North Star B 0

Division Four:

  • AFC Springfield 3, The Southgate Inn 6.