Chippenham Sunday League

Premier Division All Cannings could have been hit for double figures had it not been for some poor finishing from the Star's strike force and some excellent goalkeeping from their shot stopper Mark Colton.

Cannings were first on the score sheet, thanks to Nick Oram, but any hopes they had of making another final appearance soon evaporated as Tommy Ludford equalised before Victor Long gave them a 2-1 half-time advantage.

After the break Ronnie Kallmeier, Ludford and Dale Smith added further goals to give the Star a famous win which keeps their interest alive in both cup competitions and the league.

Division Two leaders Corsham Centre also maintained their hopes of success on three fronts after they defeated Premier Division Bradford News 3-1.

A competitive game was played in good spirits but appalling weather as both teams struggled to come to terms with the worsening conditions.

Corsham had the better of the early chances with captain Craig Gingell being guilty of putting two gilt-edged opportunities wide of the target before team-mate Nigel Evans broke the deadlock after 20 minutes.

Ten minutes later the Centre doubled their lead when Scott Lye netted direct from a corner.

Although the Centre faced the elements in the second half sound defensive work from Kevin Brown and goalkeeper James Whitehead kept Bradford at bay.

A goal from in-form Simon Grey 10 minutes from time sealed the win for the Centre before Bradford's Charlie Powell hit their consolation in the last five minutes.

The battle of last season's losing semi-finalists, Dog and Fox Ashley and Biddestone Social went the way of the top flight Dog side, who avoided what was expected to be a potential banana skin as they put one over the First Division leaders, courtesy of goals in the fifth and sixth minutes from Mark Gerrish and Steve Roddy which was enough to see the Bradford side to a 2-0 win.

Cup favourites Sherston Town remain on course for a league and cup double after they came out on top of the all-Premier Division clash against Westbury Rangers A.

Although the game never quite lived up to its billing of the tie of the round Sherston did just enough to win 2-1. Sherston left it late before Wayne Kibble hit the winner 10 minutes from time, this after Andy Wicks' opener for Sherston had been erased by Marc Lanfear.

Division Two

ROADRUNNERS FC look certain to face the drop to Division Three after fellow strugglers Somerford FC completed a league double over the Trowbridge-based side which extended their run of defeats to 11 matches.

When the sides met in October Somerford triumphed 5-1, with Gavin Klukowski being Roadrunners' main tormentor with a hat trick. Klukowski was again among the goals as he started the scoring that saw the villagers record a 6-1 victory.

Klukowski went on to score four times, with Richard Chandler and Phil Johnson adding the others. Lee Kelty scored Roadrunners' consolation.

Premier Division

BOX Rovers, who until a few weeks ago were among the teams chasing silverware, are on a downward slide.

Against a Hullavington team whose current form mirrored that of Box with five defeats on the trot both teams needed a win for different reasons and it was Hullavington who emerged victorious with a 1-0 scoreline which boosted their own hopes of pulling away from the drop zone and from getting dragged into the relegation dogfight along with Winsley and Calne Town.

Craig Samuels scored the winner after 30 minutes.

West Lavington, who had lost their last two games, needed a win against struggling Winsley to get their own hopes of finishing in the top two back on track. Up against a new look Winsley outfit Lavington found themselves trailing 2-0 with just 20 minutes remaining before an inspired triple substitution from Lavington manager Neil Hillier turned the game on its head as the villagers hit back to win 4-2.

One of the substitutes, Darren Thorpe, started the comeback before Simon Drewitt (2) and Michael O'Donnell added the other goals to cancel out Dan Lardner's earlier brace for Winsley.

Division One

BOTTOM of the table Chippenham Police were up against their bitter rivals, The George Lacock, whose star is former Police hotshot Tim Culling who has hit the target eight times so far this season.

Unlike previous meetings between the sides the police were able to keep a tight hold on Culling and despite the forward having a few chances in front of goal he was unable to find the net against his former team-mates which allowed the police to claim their first victory in four attempts over The George. Goals from Steve Davis, who hit the first from 20 yards, Gordie Hardie and Jason Roberts earned them the two points in a 3-0 win.

Atworth United slipped back into the bottom two after losing 7-2 to a Colerne side who claimed their first away win of the season. Jamie Bowler and Dave Graham both notched first half doubles for Colerne. Although Atworth were trailing 4-0 at the break they never gave up and had chances of their own to get back into the game with Dan Adams and Stuart Holland both guilty of missing chances.

Even though Atworth did find the net from Holland and a rarity from Glen Young further goals from Jake Jefferies, Andy Harker and another from Dave Graham, which completed his first hat-trick of the season, saw Colerne to a result which was not a fair reflection on the game.

Division Three

PARSONS Nose dropped a valuable point in their bid for promotion, but having fought back from 3-1 down to claim a 3-3 draw against Old Lane United they will see it as a point gained rather than one lost.

Old Lane welcomed back Ben Husband from injury and he fired Old Lane ahead before Mark James levelled just before the interval.

A second half double from the returning Husband saw him complete his third treble of the season to take his tally to 19. Parsons Nose came back into the game through substitute Wayne Bailey, who converted from the penalty spot, but it was left to Bailey to get his side out of jail with the equaliser 10 minutes from time.

Parsons Nose were hoping that fellow Melksham side Pig and Whistle United would do them a favour at home to leaders Four Seasons and with the scoreline locked at 0-0 after 45 minutes a shock was on the cards.

In the second period Four Seasons showed why they are streets ahead of the rest of the division as they extended their unbeaten run to 14 games with a comfortable 5-0 win. Gary Banks helped himself to three of the five, with Paul Maddox's netting the other two to move onto 14 for the season.

Hare and Hounds and Potterne FC shared the goals and the points in a 2-2 stalemate. The hounds drew first blood when Leigh Wells' cross was converted by Niall McLean. Ben Giles squared things up only for Wells to restore the Hounds' lead when his cross was taken into the net by a gust of wind. Matthew Munday was the Hounds' hero as his first goal of the season allowed him to tie the scores.

Corsham Park Rangers bounced back after last week's 7-0 mauling to defeat Westbury Rangers B 2-1. Gordon Willshire's 13th minute opener for Corsham Park gave them the advantage for 37 minutes until Shane Rendell struck to drag his Westbury team back into the contest.

Westbury then had Darren Salter dismissed in the 71st minute before Kelvin Stewart struck Corsham's winner two minutes from time.

Division Four

FORMER Old Road Tavern player Ian Ball came back to haunt his former club on his debut for Fascia Graphics. He scored two second half goals that were to prove to be the winners against the side who he played for until midway through last season.

Tavern's caused was not helped when they lost their experienced keeper Bernie Court through injury. Although replacement keeper Tam Laidlaw tried his best he was unable to keep out Mark Smith's 20 yard free kick that put Fascia in front.

A spectacular volley from Simon Palmer, his first goal for the Tavern, made it 1-1 but it was then that Tavern old boy Ball took over. He made it 2-1 and when he scored from a tight angle to move the scoreline onto 3-1 he was more than pleased with his morning's work.

Tavern's second goal came two minutes from time and it was an unbelievable solo effort from Gavin Aplin which saw him take the ball from his on 18 yard box before rounding Fascia's keeper to slot the ball home.

The top two games in Division Four were called off early in the week with FC Bradford being unable to field a side for their match with Virgin Mobile. Second in the table Kings Arms missed out on the opportunity to take over at the top after fourth placed Classic FC postponed their match.