Hellenic: Fairford Town, looking for a good result to take them to the top of the Premier Division table, were surprisingly held to a goal-less draw by visitors Wantage Town.
The dropped points meant that the Cinder Lane outfit slipped back to fourth spot in the table, although just three points still separate the top five sides.
Despite their failure to score, Fairford played well and dominated the game for long spells, but a combination of missed chances and some good stops by Wantage keeper Paul Belcher made sure the game remained goalless.
Fairford boss Mark Webb said he wasn't too disappointed with his side. "We missed some glorious chances and the boys were queueing up to miss them. Lee Clark put one over the bar from a couple of yards out, Justin Stevens had two good chances, Richard Watkins and Lee Stoddart also missed, I could go on and on.
"For their part Wantage put everyone behind the ball and defended well, but when we did get through we seemed to either hit the keeper or miss the target."
Gloucester United, after their 3-0 win over Henley Town, lead the table, with North Leigh in second, Bishops Cleeve third and Yate Town, 2-1 conquerors of Highworth, in fifth spot.
Highworth's defeat at Yate relegated them to bottom but one in the table, and they badly need to start picking up a few points in the weeks to come or they could find themselves in dire trouble.
To be fair to them, they had a difficult task at Yate and caused the home side some problems at times. Two goals in a five-minute spell by the home side from Dempsey and Bennett gave them an interval lead and the league top scorers looked poised to add to their total. However, after the break Highworth came out battling and Dave Webb pulled a goal back from the penalty spot five minutes into the half. They then proceeded to push forward looking for an equaliser and gave the home side an uncomfortable second period.
Wootton Bassett pleased their supporters with a 2-0 win over Almondsbury Town, the three points moving them a couple of places up the table.
Almondsbury started well and had Bassett in trouble for the first ten minutes, but the home side soon got their act together and midway through the half both sides missed a good chance to open the scoring.
A good ball by Mark Vaughan set Jack Dodds free, but his shot struck the keeper and at the other end, Almondsbury's Sean Curtis also found himself with the keeper to beat but shot wide.
On the stroke of half time, Bassett got the goal they were looking for when an excellent cross-field ball from Vaughan found Richard Merchant, who unleashed a powerful shot past visitors' keeper Lee Mason.
Almondsbury again started well, forcing three corners in quick succession at the start of the second half. Bassett weathered the storm and on 67 minutes added a second following a good move out of defence involving several players and ending with Mark Simpkins sending over a superb cross for Tony Macek to head into the net and make sure of victory.
Purton, who were without top striker Steve Tucker and central defender Lee Marshall, both suspended, moved into second place in Division 1, after beating Witney Academy 5-1 at the Red House. Steve Avenall was the Purton hero, chalking up a hat-trick.
Avenall headed in a cross on 12 minutes to give Purton the lead and had a hand in the second scored by Craig Alexander.
After the break a shot by Allan Webb hit the post and fell to Avenall, who rifled in the rebound. Two minutes later a long clearance from Purton keeper Luke Alford was picked up by Alexander who netted a fourth, and Avenall shrugged off a couple of defenders to complete the scoring by adding a fifth in the 75th minute.
The Academy scored a consolation in the closing stages when a cross from the right was deflected past his own keeper by Paul Blanchard.
In a good all-round performance Purton's Craig Alexander had a great game in midfield, ably supported by Chris Green, and Paul Davis, making his debut for the club, did well in the back four.
Pewsey Vale's successful run came to an end when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Easington Sports, Marsh scoring mid-way through the second half.
Shrivenham's good run was also halted, going down 3-0 to Old Woodstock Town, and Malmesbury Vics shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Letcombe.
Matthew Goodwin and Dave Webb from Highworth Town, together with Fairford's Lee Stoddart and Purton's Martin Thomson, are included in a strong-looking Hellenic League squad to entertain the Screwfix Direct Western League in a representative fixture at Yate Town on Tuesday,
November 20, kick off 7.30pm.
The remainder of the squad is:
Jon Skeen, Ashley McKiness, Kevin Slack, all from Bishops Cleeve, Scott Taylor (Carterton Town), Matt Casey and Ross Casey (Gloucester United), Kevin Alder and Gary Murphy (North Leigh), John Embling (Shortwood United), Richard Thompson, Martin Boyle, Anthony Bennett (Yate Town), and manager John Fisher.
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