Swineshead Institute have had a busy week playing catch-up in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, starting with a tough game at Freiston on the Tuesday followed by a home game against Kirton Town two days later – that’s before their final game of the season last weekend. Freiston gained revenge for the Sports Cup Final defeat when they beat Swineshead 3-1 thanks to goals from Lee Dakin, Scott Hutchinson and Jamie Khun. Swineshead got back to winning ways a couple of days later in their home game against Kirton Town. The home side held a 2-0 interval lead following goals from Nathan Stainfield (15 minutes) and Benn Houghton (45 minutes). The contest looked all over shortly after the break when Jack Hougton added a third but Kirton who never gave in, and pulled two goals back through Adrian Dobriansky and Richard Borrill to make the scores 3-2. Jack Houghton finally finished off Town’s challenge with two goals to complete his hat-trick. Final score 5-2. Swineshead were in action again 48 hours later when they visited North Sea United last weekend and although they only had 11 available players it was still enough to win the game. Benn Houghton opened the scoring after 17 minutes when he stabbed home a Jack Houghton cross and it was 2-0 three minutes later when jack Houghton finished off a great passing move. Jack Houghton made it 3-0 five minutes into the second half and he completed his hat-trick 15 minutes later. Richard Stukins completed the scoring when his shot from 25 yards out went through the keeper's legs and into the net to make the final score 5-0.

Freiston recorded their second win of the week when they entertained Westside Rangers last Saturday and both sides were forced to field weakened teams. With nothing much to play for except a little pride, the game was played in a very sporting manner, which was well refereed by Rod Crozier. Freiston found themselves 2-0 in front after just three minutes following goals from Lee Orrey and Jamie Skinner before Rangers replied to make the score 2-1. Freiston put the game out of Westside’s reach by half time when they struck four more times to lead 6-1 at the break. Orrey added three more to his tally while Dean Seiner grabbed another. Skinner and Seiner scored further goals to make it 8-1 before Rangers replied with two goals to make it 8-3. Freiston had the final say with a brace from Aston Chase and another from Orrey to bring his personal tally to five. Final score 11-3. In a physical encounter, Billinghay Athletic came out on top in their home clash against Skegness Town Reserves. Adam Weston was in top form scoring a fine hat-trick while Liam Kishere grabbed two goals in a 5-0 home win. There were also plenty of goals at Spilsby Town when they recovered from the previous weeks’ humiliation to hit Wrangle United for nine. Pete Sampson hit a hat-trick while Ed Hodgson struck twice in a 9-0 home win. John Butler, Chris Hollyoak, Matt Barker and Lathen Tuplin all made the most of the shooting practice. To be fair to Wrangle, they could only field ten players for their final outing of the season.

Champions, Swineshead Reserves fell to a 3-1 home Cropleys Suzuki Division One defeat at the hands of Fishtoft in a midweek match. Ady Almond, Leon Pycock and Grant Butler hit the match-winning goals for the visitors. Rikky Toyer replied for Swineshead. Woodhall Spa United took the runners-up spot following a 5-3 away win at Swineshead Reserves. Gareth Melia did most of the damage for the visitors with a hat-trick while Jamie Cooke scored twice, one from the penalty spot. Swineshead, who had led 2-0 during the first half, went close with goals from Rob Snaith, who grabbed two and Richard Barker. Pointon eventually overhauled Wainfleet United with a late four-goal flourish to run out 7-2 winners. Wainfleet had rocked their opponents with the opening goal when Rob Jackson scored following good work from Ashley Rasmussen. Pointon hit back with two goals to hold a narrow 2-1 lead at the interval. The home side went 3-1 ahead after the break before Wainfleet kept themselves in the game with a goal from Michael Parnham following good play from Wes Sutton. Pointon finished strongly, however, with that four-goal burst to finish off United’s brave challenge. Final score was 7-2. Fishtoft won 4-2 at Coningsby Reserves last Saturday to finsh in a creditable third position. Carl Wall had kept Coningsby in the game with a close range tap-in while Sam Miller also scored for the home side.

There was a dramatic final twist in the title race for the Cropleys Suzuki Division Two championship when Wyberton Reserves, who had stood on top spot all season long, could only sit and wait for the Spalding Harriers result. The Spalding side actually required eight goals in their final game against Tydd St Mary at home and they went goal crazy to clinch the title after thumping their opponents 10-0. Allan Lawrence and Sam Munton both finished with hat-tricks while James Smith struck with two goals. Steve Carn and Adam Fuller completed the rout. Boston Town Old Boys and Friskney enjoyed an open game to finish their seasons with a ten-goal bonanza. Town edged the game 6-4 with Alex Tilley and Aaron Hunt both scoring twice. Micky Nuttell and Tom Crozier also got on the scoresheet. Sutterton’s leading goalscorer, Andy Brown finished his season on a high note as he, once again, was amongst the goals scoring twice in a 4-3 home win against Spalding Town. Micky Hill was also on target for the home side while goalkeeper, Nigel Edison launched a massive goal kick to score a bizarre goal. Andy Brown struck first for the home side after just three minutes when he latched onto Sergio Roquetti’s defence-splitting pass before slotting past the advancing keeper. Town levelled midway through the first period with a stunning volley before Sutterton regained the lead on the half hour mark when Brown released Micky Hill who fired past the keeper from 10 yards. The same pair linked up again shortly afterwards only for Hill to be brought down in the box and Brown stepped up to convert the spot-kick. Sutterton should have added a fourth just seconds after the break but Paul Wright nodded Nathan Hubbert’s perfect cross wide of the post. Both sides continued to create and squander good openings but it was Town who eventually found the net on the hour to make the score 3-2. Then came the bizarre effort from Nigel Edison who restored Sutterton’s two-goal lead almost immediately when his long kick bounced over the flat-footed keeper before finding the net – this was a richly deserved goal for the striker who has reluctantly donned the keeper’s jersey since November. Spalding pulled a goal back late on but the home side held onto the three points. The Spalding goals came from Nathan Young (junior), Paul Slipper and Lawrence Price.

Referee, Mark Bruntlett enjoyed a fine game in the middle.

Cropleys Suzuki Division Three champions, Fishtoft Reserves brought their curtain down with a 4-2 home win against Freiston Reserves. Lewis O’Keefe struck twice for the home side while Tom Adams and John McGarel scored the others. Spalding Town Reserves ended their season with a 5-1 home win against Pointon Reserves. Simon Webb hit two goals for the Spalding side while Josh Faulkner, Aidan Doherty and Tom Cherry also got on the scoresheet.

Round-up for May 9

What a week for Swineshead Institute! They followed up their fantastic County Cup success with another piece of silverware when they lifted the Boston Saturday League’s Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup a few days later. Freiston were their opponents in the final last Thursday night and it was decided by a single first half strike from Matt Bates. Freiston engineered the first opening after 10 minutes but Aston Chase’s close range header lacked power before Bates popped up to score what proved to be the winning goal after twenty five minutes when he pounced on an unfortunate slip by central defender Scott Hutchinson who lost his balance at a vital moment and the speeding striker latched onto the loose ball before planting his shot inside the left hand post. Swineshead went close to adding to their lead five minutes before the break when Richard Stukins battled his way through down the right hand side of the penalty area but he opted to pass the ball inside for Matt Bates instead of shooting but he only succeeded in finding his strike partner lurking in an offside position. Freiston had a golden chance to level the scores right on the stroke of half time but Scott Hutchinson blazed over from close range. Swineshead started well after the break with Stukins crossing from the left and Bates going close with a glancing header. Freiston were still in the game though and Scott Hutchinson had a header from a right wing corner, which was tipped over the bar by Andrew Stukins in The Swineshead goal. The County Champions could have sewn up the match ten minutes from time when Bates latched onto Stukins’ through ball but the striker hit the side netting but they held out for a 1-0 victory. League president Tony Appleby presented the trophies once again with central defender Nathan Stainfield receiving the man of the match award.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, Swineshead and Skegness Town Reserves produced a hard fought encounter, which ended up with the honours shared after a 2-2 draw. A strong Skegness side caught Swineshead napping as early as the fifth minute when a short corner found the lurking John Jeffery who buried his header past the stranded keeper. Swineshead levelled the scores seven minutes before the break when Paul Clarke's long ball found striker Matt Bates who ran through before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball into the net. Skegness regained the lead 20 minutes into the second half when the unfortunate Chris Shipley headed past his own keeper following a difficult cross. Swineshead put their opponents under pressure and were finally rewarded with a late equaliser when Benn Houghton scored with a left foot shot from the edge of the area with just three minutes remaining. Billinghay Athletic went goal-crazy at Spilsby Town hitting seven goals without reply. Adam Burrows plundered four of his side’s goals while Adam Weston struck twice. The other goal came from Mark Wheatley in an impressive 7-0 away win.

Two goals apiece from Danny Cottingham and Phil Atkinson helped Coningsby Reserves take maximum Cropleys Suzuki Division One points in a 5-2 home win against Pointon. Sam Miller grabbed the other home goal. Champions Swineshead Reserves bounced back from their midweek defeat to record a 4-3 home win against Park Road Old Boys. The game saw two contrasting halves with Swineshead dominating the first period by storming into a 3-0 half-time lead before Park Road recovered after the break to make a game of it. Harry Houghton did most of the damage with a fine hat-trick while Ashley Brighton also got on the scoresheet. Two goals from Ben Jacques helped Old Leake to a 2-1 away win at Old Doningtonians. David Slaughter replied for The Dons.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, a brace of goals from Jimmy Britton helped leaders, Wyberton Reserves finish on a high note when they defeated Spalding Town at The Causeway. Steve Kemp, Ben Parkinson and Danny Mindham were also on target in a 5-0 home win. Wyberton must now sit back and wait to see if Spalding Harriers can win their last game by a five-goal margin to snatch the title away from them. A hat-trick from Andy Verhaul helped Skegness Working Men’s Club to a 4-3 home win against Mareham United. A Joe Errington penalty completed the scoring. Boston Town’s Scott Palmer scored for the second week running as The Old Boys defeated Westside Rangers Reserves at Tattershall Road. Alex Tilley also scored in a 2-0 home win. Fosdyke were hoping to finish their difficult season on a high note when they hosted title-chasers, Spalding Harriers. The lowly home side gave their high-flying opponents a real fright before succumbing to a 5-1 defeat – a scoreline which somewhat flattered the visitors. Although facing a strong wind, Ben Charlton gave Fosdyke the lead after 15 minutes when he dispossessed the full back before slotting the ball home. The early boost saw Fosdyke grow in confidence and they could have added to their score with Charlton, Thorpe and Sansam all going close. Chris Bell at the heart of the Fosdyke defence was instrumental in snuffing out any threat from the Spalding attack. However, the second half typified Fosdyke’s season when The Harriers levelled from a corner and that signalled a collapse from the home side. The home side visibly tired and the visitors took full advantage scoring four more times to run out 5-1 winners. Allan Lawrence (2), Steve Carn, Adama Fuller and Marcin Minczinsky scored the match-winning goals for the Spalding side to keep them on course for promotion and possibly the title.

Cropleys Suzuki Division Three champions, Fishtoft Reserves, carried out their usual end of season ritual by playing their outfield players out of position with the defence playing in attack and visa-versa. The experiment on this occasion, however, didn’t do them any favours at home to Woodhall Spa United Reserves as they fell to a 3-1 home defeat. Adam Vinters scored their only goal from the penalty spot on the half hour mark but it turned out to be a bad day for the goalscorer as he received a kick in the face shortly afterwards and had to be sent to hospital for treatment. Andy Barnett played through the pain barrier as his hamstring injury still continued to trouble the versatile talisman. It didn’t stop him from getting among the goals however, as he struck twice in an 8-4 home win against Spalding Town Reserves. Barnett’s first was a thumping header while his second was a searing long range drive which flew into the net. The Dons’ other goals came from Josh Wilson (2), Jamie Fovargue, Lloyd Oglivie and Tom Wilkerson.

Round-up for May 2

Swineshead were victorious last Saturday at Brigg Town’s ground as they brought the Mason Bros Lincolnshire Junior Cup home to Boston when they defeated AFC Brumby 3-1 in the final. It was a tremendous victory for the Boston League side and their performance, especially in the first half, deservedly took the honours. Swineshead stormed into a 2-0 half time lead with two goals from their striker, Jack Houghton – his first came early on when he scored a trademark goal beating his defender before slipping the ball past the advancing keeper. A significant moment midway through the first half then gave Swineshead the impetus to grow in confidence when Brumby were made to pay for their over-physical tactics when one of their players was dismissed for a lunging tackle on Max Slater. As Brumby kept the referee busy with his notebook, Swineshead went about their business and they went further ahead with Houghton’s second goal just before half time when he received a slick back-heel from Matt Bates before slotting the ball home from six yards out. With nothing to lose, Brumby applied the pressure after the break and keeper, Andrew Stukins kept his side in the game with some crucial saves – the keeper’s performance earned him the man of the match award. Swineshead recovered from the early onslaught and they rocked their opponents with a third goal on the hour when Jack Houghton burst clear and although his shot was saved, Benn Harris snapped up the rebound. Unfortunately for the Brumby goalkeeper he sustained a suspected broken ankle attempting to prevent the goal and there was a delay while the ambulance service arrived. Brumby gave themselves a brief glimmer of hope when they reduced the arrears with fifteen minutes left from a free-kick 25 yards out and Swineshead had to endure some anxious moments before the referee finally blew the whistle and signal the start of wild celebrations from the Swineshead camp.

In the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Cup, after Billinghay Athletic’s Reserve Cup success a few weeks ago, another Third Division side faced Division One champions, Swineshead Reserves. This time Swineshead came out on top against Old Doningtonians Reserves but not before a few scares along the way as the underdogs gave a good account of themselves. After a cautious start, Old Dons threatened first when Mark Sharman’s mazy dribble presented Tom Wilkerson with a chance on the edge of the box but unfortunately for the youngster he dragged his shot wide. The Dons went close again three minutes later when Frazer Hallam dived low to his left to keep out a free-kick. At the other end, Harry Houghton broke clean through after twenty minutes but blazed his shot wide and then central defender, Ricky Toyer headed across the face of the goal with the ball just missing the far post. Swineshead opened the scoring five minutes before the break when Harry Houghton delivered a superb cross for Richard Barker to head home. Old Doningtonians drew level five minutes into the second half with the best goal of the game when Mark Sharman controlled a through ball superbly, deceiving his marker in the process before clipping a sublime lob over the advancing keeper. Dons keeper James Dalby produced a fine save on the hour mark to keep his side in the game when he dived to keep out a close range header and ten minutes later Swineshead’s Rob Snaith went close when he weaved his way through before shooting just over the bar. The game was swinging from end to end and Reece Chapman almost put The Dons in front when his header from a Giles Favell’s cross was saved at the foot of the post by Frazer Hallam. The winning goal came with ten minutes remaining when Harry Houghton muscled his way through a tiring defence before blasting his shot into the roof of the net. There was still time for Old Dons to go desperately close to forcing extra time when substitute, Andy Barnett forced his way through before lifting his shot over the keeper but to Swineshead’s relief, the ball bounced just wide of the left hand upright. Guest of honour, Tony Appleby, League President presented the trophies including the man of the match award, to young Mark Sharman who had produced some deft touches during the game, including his excellent goal before he was forced to leave the action with a dead leg.

Final score 2-1.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division spheres Freiston somehow turned a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 victory when they travelled to Wrangle United last Saturday but it took two late penalties to secure the win. Dean Seiner put Freiston ahead after ten minutes before Wrangle equalised two minutes later. Wrangle then stunned their opponents with a three-goal blitz to leave Freiston staring their heaviest defeat of the season. Freiston reshuffled their ranks and started to create some chances at least culminating in Lee Orrey pulling a goal back on the hour mark. Jack Smith added a third before two penalties in the final 15 minutes sealed brave Wrangle’s fate. Aston Chase converted both spot kicks following fouls on Lee Orrey and Nicky Syndercombe to give Freiston three very fortunate points. Wrangle had gone so close to causing an upset with goals from Gavin Bell and Wayne Keal who both struck two goals apiece. Final score was 5-4. Wyberton Reserves went down 3-2 at home to Billinghay Athletic Reserves. Miachael Swain and Jimmy Britton grabbed the Wyberton goals.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Wainfleet United came from behind to snatch a 2-1 away win at Coningsby Reserves. The home side opened the scoring before leading goalscorer, Lee Johnson levelled the scores at the break from a free-kick. The winning goal came ten minutes into the second half when man of the match, Alex Clarke netted following good work from Rob Jackson. Woodhall Spa United took another step towards promotion with a 1-0 away win at Pointon. Andy Money grabbed the all important winning goal.

Boston Town Old Boys appear to be finishing on a high note when they recorded another Cropleys Suzuki Division Two victory, this time against Mareham United. Goals from Rob Himsworth, Micky Nuttell and Scott Palmer secured a 3-2 home win. The division’s form-team at the moment, Spalding Harriers are really firing on all cylinders as they attempt to topple Wyberton Reserves from the top spot. The Spalding side hit eight goals at Friskney without reply with Sam Munton, Marcin Minczinsky and substitute Adam Craig each scoring twice. The other two goals came from Adam Fuller and Matt Paul. Friskney competed well enough during the first half and could have scored two or three goals themselves with striker Perrie Dale squandering some good chances when clean through on goal but by half time The Harriers were out of sight leading 4-0. Tydd St Mary held leaders, Wyberton Reserves to a 2-2 draw at home. Leading goalscorer, Ash Godfrey, did the damage for Tydd scoring both of his side’s goals while Danny Mindham and Jason Allen replied for the visitors.

Lee Hoff scored for Freiston Reserves in their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Three game against Billinghay Athletic Reserves but the visitors struck back with six goals to run out comfortable 6-1 winners. Basement side, Mareham United Reserves were comprehensively beaten at home against Pointon Reserves. Micky Johnson returned to Mareham’s line-up but couldn’t prevent his side from ending up empty-handed although he did manage to grab their only goal in a 4-1 defeat. Old Doningtonians Reserves continue to push for a promotion place with another victory, this time against Woodhall Spa United Reserves at home. An own goal got Dons off the mark before Jonathan Butler, George Skafidas and Giles Favell from a rebound off his own penalty kick secured a 4-2 victory. Stand-in goalkeeper, Mick Holstead deputised for hamstring-victim, Andy Barnett and he kept his side in the game with some good saves.

Round-up for April 25

Freiston lifted the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Cup last Wednesday night after an impressive second half performance in the final against Skegness Town Reserves on a glorious evening at Tattershall Road. Skegness competed well enough in a first half of limited chances but once Freiston had broken the deadlock there was only going to be one winner. Arron North fired over early on as the underdogs threatened a shock opening while at the other end Ty Fravigar jinked his way through on the left before failing to make the chance count in the box. The only other real opportunity came five minutes before the break when Freiston were awarded a free-kick just outside the box and Aston Chase’s effort was gathered in by keeper, Simon Wise. Freiston introduced Jamie Khun to the action after the break and they started well with Fravigar chipping an effort just over the bar. Skegness keeper was injured shortly after when he bravely dived at the feet of Chris Spiller who had also come on as a substitute – the loose ball was tapped into the goal but the referee had already blown for a free-kick. The goalkeeper was allowed to continue after some treatment. John Jeffrey went close at the other end for Skegness on the hour mark but it was Freiston, with Jamie Khun threatening down the right flank who were now well in control. It was the lively Khun who opened the scoring after sixty five minutes when Dean Seiner lofted a superb pass into his path and the scampering right-midfielder had two blocked efforts before finally firing home at the third attempt. Spiller added a second goal ten minutes later with a powerful header from a Seiner cross and the game was over as a contest. Freiston wrapped up the match with a third goal from a Jack Smith free-kick to deservedly lift the trophy – Guest of honour, President Tony Appleby presented the trophies including the man of the match award to Skegness central defender, Sam Sleight who fought doggedly all night to keep his side in the game.

Coningsby sealed the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division championship with a 2-1 home win against Freiston thanks to first half goals from Pete Dickinson and Craig Gordon Freiston were forced to place top goalscorer, Dean Seiner between the sticks after their regular goalkeeper elected to play cricket and the stand-in keeper was picking the ball out of the net after ten minutes when Coningsby opened the scoring through Pete Dickinson’s header. Freiston stormed back to level the scores on twenty five minutes when Jamie Khun weaved his way through the home defence before firing into the roof of the net. Coningsby scored what proved to the winning goal just before the break with another header, this time from Gordon. There were no further goals in the second half so Coningsby took the title for the first time since the 1996/97 season. Swineshead Institute and Wyberton provided a closely fought encounter last Wednesday before two goals from Jack Houghton decided the eventual outcome. The Swineshead striker opened his account after eighteen minutes with a fine individual effort when he beat two defenders before scoring but Wyberton bounced back eight minutes before the break when Swineshead failed to clear a corner and Paul Vaughan pounced to level the scores at half time. The all important winning goal came with just five minutes remaining when Houghton used his pace to get to a loose ball to knock the ball past the keeper. Final score was 2-1. Westside Rangers suffered another mauling when they ravelled to Wyberton last Saturday. Goals from John Reeson (2), Chris Rutt, Steve Fulcher, Ben Parkinson, Sam Louth and Paul Vaughan secured a convincing 7-1 victory for the home side. A single John Butler goal was enough to earn Spilsby Town maximum points following their 1-0 away win at Wrangle United. Swineshead produced an impressive display of attacking football last Saturday at Skegness Town Reserves and they were out of sight by half time after storming into a 3-0 lead. Richard Stukins opened the scoring after eight minutes and Matt Bates added another twelve minutes later. The visitors were awarded a penalty just after the half hour mark and Ben Harris slotted home the spot-kick to make it 3-0 at the break. Skegness gave themselves a faint glimmer of hope with a goal from Jamie Lyall after 57 minutes before Nathan Stainfield extended Swineshead’s lead with a fourth goal three minutes later. Paul Clarke sealed victory with a fifth goal in the final minute. Final score was 5-1. Kirton Town scored three goals away from home at Billinghay Athletic but still ended up empty-handed. Chris Hilton, Lukasz Gierskiewicz and Kyle Bates hit the goals for the visitors but it wasn’t enough as Billinghay replied four times to run out 4-3 winners.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, two goals from Mark Smith secured a 2-0 home win for Pointon in their home game against Park Road Old Boys. It was a sad week for the Old Boys who reluctantly declared that they would not be re-applying to join The Boston League next season. Things weren’t much better on the pitch for the Old Boys after striker Paul Colton was dismissed by referee Sid Ault following a head butting incident. Wainfleet United unfortunately had to withdraw from their away fixture at Old Doningtonians due to a lack of players and the likely outcome will be a walk-over for the Dons and three easy points. Old Doningtonians had managed to get a game during the midweek period when they entertained Pointon. The game, however, didn’t actually get completed as an injury to one of the visiting players required the ambulance service and by the time it arrived the light had deteriorated enough for the referee to abandon the game. The result at the time (12 minutes to go) saw the Dons leading 3-0 thanks to two bullet-like headers from Chris Wing – the other was an own goal. The common sense decision will hopefully be for the scores to stand and Old Dons to receive the three points, but the matter will have to be ratified at next month’s management committee meeting.

Sportsman produced a lack lustre performance in their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Two game against Spalding Town and deservedly went down 5-0. Michael Cartlidge proved a real menace for his opponents scoring three of his side’s goals while Mark Sampson and Thomas Rabiega completed the scoring. Town could have won by a bigger margin but for a fine performance from keeper, Scott Williams

Two goals from James Todd secured the three points for Mareham United in their home game against Westside Rangers Reserves. The local derby game between Sutterton and Fosdyke finished all square at 1-1. Fosdyke struck first with a goal from Andy Thorpe after 20 minutes and despite chances being created at both ends, it remained that way until just before half time when Sergio Roquetti scored with a well taken free kick. The second half remained end to end with Fosdyke keeper, Andy Chambers denying ex-Fosdyke talisman, Andy Brown with a superb save while at the other end Aaron Bradshaw almost snatched victory in the dying moments when his shot was brilliantly tipped round the post by The Sutterton keeper. Final score was 1-1

Goals from Steve Kemp and Jamie Button kept Wyberton on course for the title when they defeated Friskney at home 2-1. Tydd St Mary hit three goals at home against Spalding Harriers but the in-form visitors maintained their impressive form replying eight times with Steve Carn grabbing four of his side’s goals. Rafal Hebda struck twice while Allan Lawrence and Sam Munton completed the scoring in an 8-3 victory.

Fishtoft Reserves were presented with the Cropleys Suzuki Division Three championship trophy before their home game against Spalding Town Reserves and they celebrated in style winning 4-2. Fishtoft were kicking into a brisk breeze during the first half but they still held the upper hand and took the lead just before the break when Grant Butler fired in a tremendous shot on the volley from 25 yards out and he almost grabbed another a minute later but his free kick was brilliantly turned round the upright by the Spalding keeper. Paul Ryan was a threat for the visitors and he probably had their best chance of the first half but he blazed just over when the ball dropped invitingly for him the box. Second half goals from Sam Wright, Simon Hyland and Diogo Garcia ensured Fishtoft celebrated in style. Final score was 4-2. In a midweek match leading goalscorer, Rick Harrod hit a hat-trick for Billinghay Athletic Reserves in their home match against Woodhall Spa United Reserves. Adam Weston was also on target for Billinghay. Two goals apiece from Luke Wilson and Ashley Hughes earned Kirton Town Reserves a 5-1 home win against Spalding Harriers Reserves. Matt Lee also got on the scoresheet for Town. The Spalding consolation goal came from Dilip Tamang. Freiston Reserves and Park United produced a real goal feast at the Danny Flear Centre where the home side edged victory in a ten goal thriller. Alex Limb was Park’s danger-man hitting all four of his side’s goal while Troy Ayton and Nicky Syndercombe both struck double strikes for Freiston. Daniel Rowe and Dave Robinson were also on target for the home side. Final score was 6-4.

In the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Shield semi final Swineshead Reserves gained sweet revenge for their Reserve Cup final defeat when they edged out Billinghay Athletic Reserves but it was still a mighty close encounter. The tie saw the scores level at all the breaks – 1-1 at half time, 2-2 at full time and 3-3 after extra time. So a penalty shoot-out was required which incidentally settled the Reserve Cup final. On this occasion, however, it was Swineshead who proved the more clinical in their execution of spot-kicks winning 3-0 on penalties. Goals from Richard Barker, Harry Houghton and Robert Snaith (penalty) had earned Swineshead their right at the shoot-out while Adam Weston scored all three Billinghay goals. Swineshead Reserves will now take on Old Doningtonians Reserves, from Division Three tomorrow night (Thursday April 30) at Tattershall Road, kick-off 7pm.

Mareham United handed out a real drubbing to Swineshead in the Swineshead Cup by hitting five goals in a surprise victory. Craig Newstead (2), Lee Rylett, Stuart Bunn and an own goal secured a 5-1 home win.

Round-up for April 18

Freiston endured an unproductive mid-week period starting with a defeat at lowly Kirton Town on the Tuesday night and they followed that setback with another defeat in the Fishtoft Cup final when Swineshead Institute were triumphant in a single-goal victory. At Graves Park, Kirton in Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division action, Freiston appeared to be in control during the first half without achieving a breakthrough whereas the home side showed them how it should be done with the opening goal within a few minutes of the restart when a shot from Ashley Hughes was deflected past a stranded keeper. Kirton increased their lead on the hour mark when they were awarded a penalty for handball and Chris Hilton converted the spot-kick. Freiston continued to play good football and they were eventually rewarded with a goal from Dean Seiner fifteen minutes from time. The visitors sensing they could probably grab a point pushed forward at every opportunity but they got caught out when Town sealed victory with a third goal from Aiden Moore. A seemingly confident Kirton side then travelled to Wyberton on the Saturday but they only proceeded to totally frustrate manager Paul Fossitt in the first half by conceding four goals in the process. After the break Kirton finally woke up and scored two quick-fire goals through Chris Hilton and Martin Durrant. Kirton then hit the post which would have made it more of a contest but Wyberton managed two further goals to seal victory and end up 6-2 winners. Steve Melady hit a hat-trick for Wyberton while Ben Parkinson grabbed two and Sam Louth completed the scoring. With Freiston slipping up and North Sea United without a game, Coningsby took advantage to take pole position with a 3-0 home win against Spilsby Town last Saturday. Leading goalscorer Pete Dickinson was again amongst the goals with a double strike while Robin Holderness was also on target in a 3-0 victory. Jordan Wood and Troy Lonslow hit the match-winning goals for Skegness Town Reserves in their 2-0 home win against Wrangle United. Westside Rangers can’t wait for the season to end – languishing at the bottom, they suffered another heavy defeat, this time 8-0 at home against Swineshead. The visitors held a 3-0 lead at the break through goals from Benn Houghton, who scored twice and Anthony Slater. Goals then went in at regular intervals during the second half as substitute, Jack Houghton grabbed two goals and Benn Houghton claimed one more to complete his hat-trick. The remainder of the deluge came from Martin North and Richard Stukins,

In Cropleys Suzuki Divison One, Old Doningtonians looked to be heading for their fourth successive victory when Holbeach Bank were the visitors. But a late penalty robbed them of victory and they had to be content with a 1-1 draw. A fine individual effort form Liam Pitts had put The Dons in the driving seat but that late blow spoilt their party. There was another 1-1 draw at Park Road Old Boys where Fishtoft’s Nathan Skayley scored a thunderous 25-yard free-kick to earn Fishtoft a deserved point in the dying minutes of their away match. Pointon turned up for their away match at Swineshead Reserves with a kit resembling the same colour and the home side made them pay for the enforced delay by thumping six goals pat their opponents in a 6-2 home win. Harry Houghton (2), Robert Snaith, Andy Thompsom, Richard Barker and James Andrew were all on target as Swineshead got their title bid back on course after last week’s shock defeat. Goals from Jason Cooke (penalty) and Rick Jackson gave Woodhall Spa United three valuable points against Spilsby Town Reserves in a 2-0 home win. The match was closely contested with both defences on top but the turning point came in the last half hour when Woodhall were awarded a controversial penalty – converted by Cooke. Spislby pushed forward in search of an equaliser but were caught out with ten minutes left when Jackson put the result beyond doubt..

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Wyberton Reserves still appear to have the title jitters as they slipped up once again when Boston Town Old Boys came away with the three points following a 2-1 away victory. Jason Vaughan and Scott Palmer did the damage for Town while Jamie Button replied for the home side. Sutterton’s hastily re-arranged visit to Tydd St Mary turned out to be a nine-goal thriller with both sides contributing to an entertaining match. It was Sutterton who struck first after seventeen minutes when Ben Smalley broke through with pace before squaring the ball for Andy Brown to tuck away. Tydd levelled the scores five minutes later but Sutterton regained their lead when Sergio Roquetti’s 25-yard free-kick gave the goalkeeper no chance. The visitors increased their lead after 35 minutes when man of the match Jess Povey fired home from the edge of the box. Tydd responded immediately by pulling a goal back to make the half time score 3-2. A change of personnel and formation saw Mark Blissett’s side take control in the second half and they made it 4-2 after fifty eight minutes when Jess Povey’s cross from the right flank was headed home by Andy Brown. It was Povey again seven minutes later who set up Carl Appleyard this time for a close range finish and although Tydd pulled a goal back Sutterton continued in command and Andy Brown missed three gilt-edged chances. Brown was not to be denied however, and he completed his hat-trick after eighty three minutes when he burst clear before lobbing the ball neatly over the advancing keeper to make the final score 6-3. Tydd’s original home game with Sportsman had been called off because of the visitors being unable to raise a side for their lengthy journey. Luckily Sutterton agreed to step in and provide The Saints with a game. Spalding Harriers kept their promotion hopes alive with a 4-1 away win against Mareham United. Marcin Minczynski scored twice while Sam Munton and Dawid Kantak completed the scoring. Mareham’s reply came from Stuart Bunn.

Spalding Town also kept up the pressure at the top with a thumping 9-1 home win against Skegness Working Mens Club. Mark Sampson hit four of his side’s goals while Andy Neal, Paul Slipper, John Turner, David Simpson and Ashley Johnson completed the rout.

Fishtoft Reserves were celebrating as Cropleys Suzuki Division Three champions last Saturday following their 3-0 home win against Spalding Harriers Reserves. Lewis O’Keefe struck twice for the home side while Chris Brocklesby was also on target. After last week’s anti-climax at Carrington, Park United made up for their disappointment with an impressive 5-3 away win at Pointon Reserves. The all-important goals came from Joshua Stanley, Thomas Flatters, Adam Gallimore, Alex Limb and goalkeeper, Darren Hunt. Billinghay Athletic Reserves and Holbeach St. Marks served a feisty affair where a five goal thriller was soured by a sending-off. Billinghay took maximum points in a 3-2 home win but goalkeeper, Steve Scott took offence to remarks from an opponents and was red-carded by the referee for his reaction. The incident meant the home side had to place Martin Turner between the sticks for the remainder of the second half but luckily for Billinghay, the setback didn’t deter them and they recovered form being 2-1 down to strike back with two goals in the last 10 minutes to take the points. Joe Carr scored twice for Billinghay while Rick Harrod was also on the scoresheet. Kirton Town Reserves produced an impressive performance at Graves park where Old Doningtonians were the the visitors. Goals from Lukasz Gierejkiewicz and Matt Lee secured a 2-1 victory. Freiston Reserves were fortunate to have the services of first team striker, Dean Seiner in their ranks for their home match against Mareham United Reserves. Seiner hit five of his side’s seven goals while Troy Ayton weighed in with the other two in a 7-4 victory.

Round-up for April 11

Another decent crowd turned up at Boston Town’s Tattershall Road ground last Thursday night to witness another shock result as Division Three side Billinghay Athletic Reserves lifted the Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup and at the same time, inflicted another painful experience on Division One outfit Swineshead Reserves. The favourites went into the final boasting a 100 percent league record as they look almost certain winners of the Division One title. But unfortunately they hold the voodoo sign when it comes to the Reserve Cup – they have now been runner-up five times in the last six seasons. There were very few clear cut chances in the opening stages of the first half with the first real chance coming after 20 minutes when Harry Houghton shot straight at Billinghay keeper Steve Scott before referee Ray Larcombe issued his first yellow card of the night – Ed Creasey being the culprit for a late tackle. Swineshead continued to push forward and they squandered a gilt-edged chance ten minutes before the break when Scott’s punch under pressure fell to central defender Ricky Toyer but he blasted the ball over from close range. Another great save from Steve Scott kept his side on level terms at the interval when he again thwarted Harry Houghton right on the stroke of half time. Billinghay gained in confidence in the second half and they went close immediately after the break when Paul Baxter’s shot was saved by Frazer Hallam. And a minute later they carved out another chance when Daniel Long scampered through but his shot was saved again by Hallam. Billinghay’s best chance came after 55 minutes when Adam Weston burst clean through onto a bouncing ball but instead of heading over the advancing keeper, elected to take the ball wide before turning inside and blasting the ball over. At the other end Swineshead created a couple of openings but Houghton’s efforts were always aimed straight at the keeper. Glen Long’s corner almost put Billinghay ahead but the header at the far post was scrambled clear by some desperate defending. Towards the end Swineshead’s frustration began to tell as Andy Thompson received a yellow card for a reckless challenge. Extra time produced no goals although Weston went close in the second period when his header from a long throw was tipped over. The penalty shoot-out saw Billinghay convert some excellent spot-kicks while Scott proved to be Billinghay’s saviour with a good stop from Harry Houghton’s effort. Guest of honour, Derek Hodgson, Coningsby FC stalwart and league representative presented the trophies which included a man of the match award to Swineshead defender, Richard Barker who toiled relentlessly at the heart of the Swineshead defence.

Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division leaders, North Sea United, currently under investigation over irregularities relating to a player’s recent registration, were clearly affected by the upheaval and in-form Coningsby took advantage by taking three crucial points following a 4-0 victory. Tom Dickinson got Coningsby off to a flying start with a belter of a goal when he thumped home a fierce shot from twenty yards into the top corner to give the visitors a 1-0 interval lead. Leading goalscorer, Pete Dickinson sealed victory after the break with two goals and Robin Holderness also got on the scoresheet. Freiston kept in touch at the top with a 3-2 away win at Swineshead and their crucial league match at Coningsby on April 25 could prove to be a huge title-deciding game. Freiston, themselves, have not been without their fair share of controversy, following their fracas at Skegness Town two weeks earlier and they got off to a poor start at Swineshead conceding a penalty after just two minutes – Ben Harris netting. Freiston were forced on the defensive and keeper, Rick Lovelace was called into action on several occasions to keep his side in the game. The visitors finally got their game together and they drew level on the half hour mark when they too were awarded a penalty and Aston Chase made no mistake from the spot. Freiston took the game to their opponents after the break and they went in front on the hour when Scott Hutchinson headed in a free kick. The home side equalised with fifteen minutes remaining when a back pass was intercepted by Benn Houghton who scored before another penalty award settled the match. This time Freiston midfielder, Jack Smith stepped up to score to give his side victory. Final score was 3-2. Skegness Town Reserves took the three points following their 3-1 home win against Kirton Town. Ben Etches, Ryan Whittle and Arron North were all on target for the home side. Wyberton and Spilsby Town Reserves shared the points in a 1-1 draw at The Causeway. Jordan Dixon struck the Wyberton goal but substitute, Michael Lomax didn’t have a happy day after he was red carded.

Lowly Cropleys Suzuki Division One side Old Doningtonians are suddenly producing real championship form which although is a little too late in the season will surely see them survive the drop. Last Saturday’s 7-0 mauling of Nortoft United at home has now seen them win three consecutive league games since their Challenge Cup success scoring an amazing 20 goals in the process. Chris Wing and Mark Sharman scored all seven goals between them as Wing struck a first half hat-trick before he was substituted allowing Sharman to take over with a tremendous four-goal blast. Fishtoft went down 2-1 at home to Spilsby Town Reserves. The home side’s only goal came courtesy of an own goal. Swineshead Reserves 100 percent record fell last Saturday when their weary limbs took them to Old Leake. The visitors were never really at the races following their Reserve Cup Final disappointment and they went down 3-0 to goals from Karl Shackleton, Ben Jacques and Adam Tempest.

Sutterton’s eratic form of late saw them bounce back from last week’s defeat at Friskney with a 4-2 home Cropleys Suzuki Division Two win against Skegness Working Men’s Club. Sutterton started slowly against their well organised opponents and two costly defensive slip-ups presented Skegness with a two-goal lead inside the first twenty five minutes. The home side gradually forced their way back into the game and their ever reliable striker, Andy Brown pulled a goal back with a 25-yarder ten minutes before the break. The second half was a real end-to-end affair with both defences performing well but a dramatic substitution on 65 minutes proved to be the turning point as Sutterton introduced Jess Povey into the action. Within a minute the lively super-sub found space in the box before turning to smash home a shot from 15 yards. Povey’s pace continued to cause problem for the Skegness defence and his introduction allowed ‘Bomber’ Brown to find more space and when Sergio Roquetti threaded a pass through Brown fastened onto the ball to fire home. Sutterton were now playing some delightful football and Brown and Povey went close to extending their lead but they had to wait until the 88th minute to seal victory when Povey fed Brown on the edge of the box and Sutterton’s ace goalscorer fired home to complete his hat-trick. Final score was 4-2. The Spalding derby game ended with an away win for the Harriers as goals from Allan Lawrence, Steve Carn and Marcin Minczinsky secured a fine 3-1 victory. Town’s goal was also scored by their opponents when an own goal gave them their only reward. Ashley Godfrey and substitute, Pablo Da Silva struck for Tydd St Mary in their 2-1 away win at Boston Town Old Boys. The Town’s reply came via an own goal. Sportsman gained three valuable points in a 4-2 home win against leaders, Wyberton Reserves. It was a bad day for Wyberton with Jason Allen receiving a red card. The visitor’s only highlights were goals from Danny Mindham and Jamie Button.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Old Doningtonians Reserves produced a brave performance at Freiston Reserves to take maximum points in a 2-1 victory which was even more impressive considering the visitors had to play the second half with just 10 men after goalkeeper James Dalby was taken to hospital with a rib injury. The first half ended goal-less but then the Dons were forced to install their very own “Mr Versatility,” Andy Barnett, between the sticks which reduced them to 10 men as no substitutes were available. Dons’ striker, Andy Dear then proceeded to take centre stage as he put an own goal past Andy Barnett before winning the match with a two-goal salvo of his own. Final score was 2-1. Woodhall Spa United Reserves fell behind to a first half goal from Eastville’s Michael Head who scored midway through the first period before the visitors recovered to take the three points with two goals to run out deserved 2-1 winners. Woodhall could have added another towards the end but Eastville keeper, Daniel Bowers clawed out an effort which was heading for the top left hand corner. Fishtoft Reserves’ 100 percent record was ended at Pointon Reserves following a 2-1 defeat. Dane Hardy hit both goals for Pointon. Park United couldn’t celebrate their final game at Carrington with a win after Holbeach St Marks proved to be real party-poopers. The visitors were in no mood to join in the party as they turned on the power to run out 8-1 winners. Their was one brief highlight for Park when Adam Gallimore put them in front but once St. Marks edged in front they never looked back. Billinghay Athletic Reserves continued where they left off on Thursday night with another victory – this time at Spalding Harriers Reserves. Jason Chilvers grabbed the Spalding goal but Billinghay hit back with four goals to run out 4-1 winners.

Round-up for April 4

After last week’s debacle at Skegness Town, Freiston got back to the business of playing football and they couldn’t have asked for a sterner test than a visit to North Sea United in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division. The visitors acquitted themselves well, however, and will be kicking themselves for throwing away a two-goal lead before conceding a goal in added time to finish up empty handed. Freiston stunned the prison side with two first half goals from Jamie Khun and Ty Fravigar and probably could have added more but the woodwork came to North Sea’s rescue accompanied by some poor finishing also. The Camp reduced the arrears following a poor clearance on the hour mark while at the other end Freiston again struck the upright. North Sea levelled the scores late on with an easy finish and then came that late cruel blow to take the points. Although the game was competitive, referee Terry Knott was well in control in the middle. North Sea’s match-winners were Steve Beeny who struck twice and Rob Masters. Final score was 3-2. Skegness Town Reserves were also pleased to get back to some sort of normality when they entertained Wyberton. Goals from Steve Melady and Sam Louth spoilt their day, however, with the match-winning goals in a 2-1 victory. Skegness replied through Arron North. Coningsby had what looked like to be a difficult away match at Billinghay Athletic which saw the return of ex-players, Pete and Tom Dickinson amongst others. It was Pete Dickinson who proved pivotal in the visitors’ 3-2 away win with two goals. Tom Oliver grabbed the other strike in an important victory. Billinghay went close with goals from Steve Wilcox and Adam Weston. Two rare Jason Cade goals earned Spilsby Town a 2-1 away win against Kirton Town at Graves Park. An own goal put Swineshead in front after just seven minutes during their home encounter with Wrangle United before a second goal followed two minutes from the interval when Benn Houghton ran onto an inch perfect through ball from Scott Hempsall. Full back Anthony Slater made it 3-0 early in the second half with a shot from just inside the area which went in off the underside of the crossbar. Wrangle finally pulled a goal back after 73 minutes when Wayne Keal was on target with a shot from fifteen yards. Final score was 3-1.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Coningsby Reserves fielded a young side when they entertained Old Doningtonians and the visitors proved very ruthless in their 9-2 demolition. The Dons stormed into a 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes and the game was as good as over as a contest. Coningsby’s only reward for their efforts were goals from Sam Brader and Danny Cottingham. Fishtoft continued their recent good run with a 3-1 home win against Wainfleet United. Nathan Skayley was again on target for his side while Paul Hide and Declan Wilson also got on the scoresheet. Adam Carter replied for Wainfleet. Mark Smith scored twice for Pointon in their 3-2 home win against Holbeach Bank. Nathan Wilson grabbed the other goal for the home side. Andy Money and Jason Cooke scored the all-important goals for Woodhall Spa United in their 2-0 home win over Old Leake. Spilsby Town Reserves and Park Road Old Boys finished all square at 2-2 in a game of two contrasting halves. Spilsby dominated the first half and stormed into a 2-0 lead thanks to both goals from Glenn Hislop, with left foot finishes created by Rhys Fitzgerald. The second half was likewise dominated by the Old Boys with David Dalrymple, in his first start in attack, growing in confidence as the match wore on. They were soon back in the game with the first goal a crisp shot from the angle by Ash Allen, and the equaliser a header from Paul Colton, both courtesy of weaving runs from Dalrymple. With 20 minutes to go it looked like Old Boys were the only team likely to win, but despite some near misses Spilsby held firm. The match was excellently refereed by Tony Taupin.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Friskney produced their best performance of the season when they played hosts to Sutterton. A superb first half display saw the home side storm into a 3-0 interval lead with Jamie Lawson getting them off to a tremendous start with a fourth minute opener. Perrie Dale made it 2-0 before Lawson added another 10 minutes before the break. Sutterton fought back after the break and they went close to earning a point with two goals from Jess Povey. Sportsman and Fosdyke shared the points in an eight-goal thriller at Rosebery Avenue. Sportsman took the lead through Mitchell Johns who chested the ball down before volleying home before Fosdyke were awarded a controversial penalty to level the scores – Craig Bell converting the spot-kick. Fosdyke then went in front shortly afterwards through Danny Sansam’s header – his first goal for the club to edge in front at the interval and then they made it 3-1 five minutes into the second half when Ben Charlton netted. Dion Roberts reduced the arrears when he slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner before Fosdyke restored their two-goal advantage through Andy Thorpe with just five minutes remaining. The visitors have a habit of throwing away comfortable leads but with the clock ticking away it looked as if Sportsman would end up empty-handed but two goals in the final minutes earned them a draw. Stefan Furnell grabbed his seventh goal of the season to make it 4-3 and then Nicky De Vries levelled the scores at 4-4. Jamie Cox and Jamie Button hit the goals for Wyberton Reserves in their 2-0 home win against Skegness Working Men’s Club. Both Marcin Minczinsky and Steve Carn scored two goals apiece in Spalding Harriers 4-1 away win at Westside Rangers Reserves. Michael Langley replied for Rangers.

Mareham United Reserves put up a brave fight at home to Cropleys Suzuki Division Three leaders, Fishtoft Reserves before going down 3-2. Ryan Benson grabbed both of the Mareham goals but they weren’t enough to deny Fishtoft although the winning goal had a suspicion of offside about it. It will be the end of an era this Saturday when Park United play their last game at their Carrington Ground when Holbeach St Marks will be the visitors. The picturesque little ground has been the home of Park United for the past 60 years and young and old players from the local football scene will have fond memories of their games there. The club are currently exploring options for their new home in readiness for next season. Freiston Reserves continued their good run of form with a 6-3 away win at Spalding Town Reserves with Scott Elleray grabbing a hat-trick. Robertas Silagevas, Troy Ayton and Jamie Skinner completed the scoring. Town replied through Tom Cherry who scored twice and Richard Thorold. Old Doningtonians Reserves defeated Park United 4-2 at home thanks to goals from Giles Favell 2, Josh Wilson and Shaun Scott. Park replied through Craig Spiller and Joshua Stanley. Kevin Nottingham scored The Spalding Harriers Reserves goal in a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Pointon Reserves.

Round-up for March 28

Old Doningtonians gained sweet revenge for a 5-0 mauling only four days earlier when they competed in Target Newspapers Challenge Cup final against Woodhall Spa United last Wednesday at Boston Town's Tattershall Road ground in the Boston Saturday League’s first major final of the season. A bumper crowd witnessed a game of two contrasting halves with Old Doningtonians producing a storming second 45 minutes to take the trophy. Woodhall started the brighter and they created the first real opening after just 11 minutes when Gareth Melia threaded a pass through to James Melia who skipped through a couple of challenges but the rampaging striker delayed his shot and goalkeeper, Jake Asher got down to his left to smother the effort. At the other end Chris Wing almost broke clean through but James Turner was quick off his line to snatch the ball off the striker's toes. There was a similar chance in the Old Dons’ area when Jake Asher had to be alert to save bravely at the feet of Jason Cooke. Dons’ midfielder, Liam Pitts headed straight at Turner after 15 minutes before Woodhall stepped up the pace and Jason Cooke, in particular was beginning to prove a dangerous threat. Asher again saved well from Cooke a minute later before Old Dons' central defender, Mark Stanhope almost headed past his own keeper – the ball flashing just wide of the post on 25 minutes. Woodhall struck first 10 minutes later and it was Dangerman Cooke who struck when he burst through with lightning speed before finishing superbly in the top right hand corner. Cooke then set up James Melia who clipped his shot just wide before referee Paul Revell produced his first yellow card of the night when Nick Wing clattered through the back of an opponent. James Melia then crashed a shot into the side netting before the Dons stunned Woodhall with an equaliser right on the stroke of half-time. Carl Appleyard and Chris Wing linked up to cause panic in the Woodhall defence which resulted in the ball being hacked out for a corner and when the dead ball came over Appleyard took advantage of a hesitant defence to poke the ball home at the second attempt. This late boost set up Old Dons for an impressive second half display as the young Woodhall side suddenly lost their way. Liam Pitts set the scene with a superb shot inside the opening two minutes - the ball flying inches over the crossbar. Although Andy Money sent a free-kick just over the bar at the other end, it was Old Dons who were now taking control. Again Pitts broke clear but the keeper got down to smother the ball on the hour mark before Chris Wing grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal five minutes later. The striker received a ball from the right before making room for himself and slamming the ball past the keeper. Jason Cooke showed the odd glimpse of danger when he cut in along the left by-line before clipping the ball over the keeper but fortunately for the Dons a covering defender hooked the ball off the line. The referee produced his second yellow card of the night when Liam Pitts brought down Cooke when in full flight. Fellow defender Mark Stanhope then produced a terrific tackle on Cooke as he burst into the box before James Melia fluffed a good chance when clean through. Old Dons could have wrapped up the scoring late on when 16-year old substitute Jonathan Butler scampered clear down the right but after dribbling round the keeper he lacked power on his shot and the ball was cleared off the line. Target Newspaper's area sales executive Charlie Ingamells presented the trophies which included a man of the match award to Old Doningtonians’ midfielder Martin Fox, who worked tirelessly in the centre of the park all night.

There were mixed fortunes for the top sides in Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division as North Sea United and Coningsby had contrasting victories while Freiston were involved in a highly controversial encounter at Skegness Town Reserves. North Sea United needed a late winner against Wyberton to keep them clear at the top of the table. After a goalless first half Dave Noel put the prison side ahead before Wyberton levelled through a Joe Hallam penalty with just 10 minutes remaining. The visitors looked to be heading for a share of the points when a bizarre own goal secured the three points for the Camp when a Dave Noel free-kick was headed into his own net by an unfortunate defender. The strong winds on the coast, as expected, meant constructive football was limited but both sides battled well against the elements and referee, Dave Bent had a fine match in the middle. North Sea will now be focussing on their next crucial game when the visit of Freiston will prove a stern test for the prison side. A Lincolnshire FA. enquiry will be required to sort out the confusing debacle at Skegness Town Reserves where Freiston saw their half time lead of 2-0 count for nothing as the referee called a halt to proceedings and abandoned the game. There had been several controversial incidents during the first half which resulted in several players being cautioned and/or dismissed and the match official decided that the game could not continue and his report could have serious repercussions.

Coningsby, on the other hand, enjoyed a much better day at the office by winning 9-1 at lowly Wrangle United. The title-chasers were stunned into action, however, by Wrangle’s early opener but it wasn’t long before they got their big guns firing on all cylinders. Pete Dickinson and Tom Dickinson edged them in front before the break before a powerful second half performance put them well out of reach. Pete Dickinson went on to grab another four goals to bring his personal tally to five for the match while Tom Dickinson added another. The other goals came from Ben Brown and Robin Holderness. Swineshead also hit nine in their home match against Spilsby Town but at half-time the outcome looked to be heading for a much closer scoreline. In a closely contested first period, Swineshead stormed into a 4-1 lead before the visitors recovered to reduce the arrears at the interval to 4-3. The second half was all one-way traffic, however, with Swineshead hitting five more goals without reply. Jack Houghton and Matt bates each scored twice during the first half and they both struck early in the second half to complete their personal hat-tricks. The other goals came from Anthony Slater, Richard Stukins and Ben Harris. Spilsby’s goals came from Graham Blades who scored twice and Matt Barker. Kirton Town scored a goal in each half in a 2-0 away win against Westside Rangers. Both goals were scored by Chris Hilton as Town took three valuable points. The visitors proved too strong for the home team who were unable to penetrate an impressive Kirton defence.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Coningsby Reserves had the wind advantage during the first half of their game at Spilsby Town Reserves and they managed to get their noses in front with a deflected shot to give them a narrow 1-0 half-time lead. Coningsby were forced to change their goalkeeper at the interval and this proved crucial in the eventual outcome. Spilsby drew level through a powerful Eddie Rich header and Neil Allen put the home side in front when he got on the end of Glen Hislop’s curling cross to volley the ball home. Rhys Fitzgerald claimed the third goal when his cross was dummied by Hislop deceiving the keeper on its way into the net at the far post. Allen made it 4-1 when he poked home a rebound after the keeper had parried out a Dan Fox effort. Fitzgerald curled in a long range shot to make it 5-1 before Spilsby were awarded a penalty in added time. However, the stand-in keeper from Coningsby produced a fine save to prevent any further score. Both side produced a good sporting game which was well refereed by John Hercock. Final score was 5-1. Old Doningtonians carried on their fabulous cup final form to their league programme as the basement side produced another excellent performance to record a 4-2 away win at Wainfleet United. Wainfleet took the lead when a Matt Broome cross was turned into his own net by a Dons defender before the visitors levelled the scores before half time. Old Dons then rocked Wainfleet with two quick-fire goals early in the second half as they stormed into a 3-1 lead. Royston Wilkinson got Wainfleet back in the game when he was on hand to score after Alex Clarke’s shot was saved. Old Dons secured victory with a fourth goal to run out deserved winners. The Dons’ goals came from Mark Stanhope, Martin Fox, Chris Wing and an own goal. Two goals from Nathan Skayley helped Fishtoft secure a 3-2 away win at Pointon. Chris Marshall was also on target for an improving Fishtoft side. Holbeach Bank were unable to raise a side for their trip to Old Leake so it is likely that the home side will be awarded the points at the league management committee’s April meeting.

Tydd St Mary and Mareham United had to battle the elements as well as each other on Saturday with rain, hail and 50 mph winds to contend with in their Cropleys Suzuki Division Two encounter. Mareham, with the wind at their backs, started the game well but it was The Saints that took the lead after 20 minutes when some determined build up play saw Ash Godfrey poke the ball home from close range to make it 1-0. Tydd doubled their lead five minutes later after a good ball through from Matt Bowers provided Godfrey with a one-on-one with the Mareham keeper before the striker coolly slotted home. Mareham got back into the game on 35 minutes after a first-class cross from the right was firmly headed home for a 2-1 scoreline. Tydd started the second half poorly and Mareham scored straight from the kick off to level the match at 2-2. The Saints battled and finally got the goal they deserved after fifty six minutes when Aaron Parker lofted a great ball in from the left that found Andrew Bennett who head home in style to make it 3-2. Tydd keeper Martin Cherry was man of the match for the Saints making some fine saves to keep his side in the game and the Mareham keeper did the same at the other end, tipping two goal-bound shots over the bar. Mareham made a late charge in an effort to grab a late equaliser but Tydd deservedly held on to take all three points. Final score was 3-2. Sutterton got back to winning ways after last week’s heavy defeat with a 3-1 home win against Westside Rangers Reserves. The home started brightly with a strong wind at their backs and they had Rangers camped inside their own half for long periods. It took twenty minutes before Sutterton opened the scoring when a quick throw-in was helped on by Sergio Roquetti and striker Andy Brown snapped up the chance. The lead was doubled on 35 minutes when the lively Nathan Hubbert slotted home aloose ball from 30 yards out after the keeper had failed to deal with a Sutterton attack. Andy Brown made it 3-0 five minutes before the break when a defender was caught in possession by Sutterton’s leading goalscorer and he smashed the ball home from 18 yards out. The second half was a different story as Rangers enjoyed the wind advantage and they created a couple of early chances which they failed to take and with Appleyard and Newark in the home defence working hard to thwart the Rangers’ forwards they didn’t reduce the arrears until three minutes from time to make the final score 3-1. Strong winds and heavy showers hampered both Sportsman and Friskney as the two sides battled for valuable points in a relegation encounter. Friskney opened the scoring with a header from Daniel Fletcher and they could have gone further ahead but defender Josh Eldred produced a great block to save his side. The visitors also hit the bar twice before Sportsman took control after the break with Luke Fappiano having a good game on the left flank causing problems with some rpobing runs into the box. Nicky De Vries had a couple of good chances before he finally grabbed a deserved equaliser. Friskney did have chances in the second half at the other end but Scott Williams pulled off some great saves to deny the visitors from snatching victory. Final score was 1-1. Boston Town Old Boys were another side who were unable to fulfil their fixture at Spalding Harriers because of a lack of players.

In Cropley Suzuki Division Three, Kevin Nottingham and Stevon Williamson got on the scoresheet for Spalding Harriers Reserves in their home game against Holbeach St Marks but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from going down to a 3-2 defeat. Martin Gordon had levelled for St Marks after they had fallen behind before the Harriers regained the lead. Lewis Forman then set up Gary Chappell to bring the scores level once more before the break. The crucial winning goal came in the second half from Ryan Wheeler following a fine pass from Chappell. Referee J Ullyatt kept the game flowing throughout. Spalding Town Reserves bounced back from last week’s shock home defeat when they entertained Mareham United Reserves although it took two own goals to help them to maximum points. Aidan Doherty grabbed two goals while Simon Webb completed the scoring in a 5-2 scoreline.

Swineshead Reserves and Billinghay Atheltic Reserves made it through to the semi-finals of the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Shield where both sides will compete for the right to play Old Doningtonians Reserves, who produced a bit of a cup shock against Fishtoft Reserves in the semi-final. Billinghay Athletic Reserves, from Division Three also claimed a scalp from a higher placed team when they recorded a 3-2 away win at Division Two table-toppers, Wyberton Reserves. The underdogs must now go one better by toppling the Division One leaders. Steve Kemp and Jason Allen scored the Wyberton goals. Cup favourites, Swineshead Reserves were never going to be on the wrong end of a cup upset when they entertained Kirton Town Reserves. The Division One leaders were 4-1 in front by half-time against their Division Three opponents and they scored twice more in a 6-2 victory. Kirton put up a valiant fight but Swineshead were too strong on all fronts but the minnows were rewarded for their efforts with two goals from Ashley Hughes. Swineshead’s match-winners were Ricky Toyer and Harry Houghton who both scored two goals apiece while a Robert Snaith penalty and another from Richard Barker completed the scoring. In the semi-final Old Doningtonians Reserves made it a glorious week for the club when they reached the final by disposing of unbeaten, Fishtoft Reserves in an all-division three clash. The first half finished all-square at 1-1 with Sam Wright netting the Fishtoft goal while Mark Sharman replied for The Dons. Sharman then put his side in front after the break before John McGarel levelled the scores. A late Reece Chapman goal proved to be the winner when he scored with an overhead kick from close range. Finals score was 3-2.

Round-up for March 21

A single Rob Masters goal was enough to earn North Sea United a slender 1-0 Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division victory over Spilsby Town and keep the prison side firmly on top of the table. Coningsby kept the pressure on at the top with another narrow victory when they entertained Swineshead. The two sides produced an excellent game as they both went all out for three crucial points and Lee Croft proved to be Coningsby’s match-winner with both of his side’s goals, one in each half to keep his side in the title chase. Ben Harris had put Swineshead ahead after just 10 minutes when his shot from the edge of the area took a deflection before striking the underside of the crossbar and dropping into the net. Lee Croft levelled eight minutes later following a raid down the left flank which resulted in a close range tap-in. Lee Croft’s winner came with 15 minutes remaining when he shrugged past two tackles before firing home. Swineshead pushed hard for an equaliser but came up against a resolute home defence. Coningsby’s victory was soured somewhat by an accidental injury to their goalkeeper who suffered a worrying leg injury and was taken to hospital. Head coach Carl Wall will be hoping that the injury turns out to be just bad bruising and not anything too serious.

Old Leake suffered a surprising Cropleys Suzuki Division One reverse at Fishtoft when they slumped to a 4-1 defeat. The visitors who have been stringing together some impressive results of late were humbled by goals from Martin Jolly, Nathan Skayley, Chris Marshall and an own goal. It was Skayley who got Fishtoft up and running with a towering header from a Chris Marshall corner only for Old Leake to reply through Shaun Geaghan. Fishtoft regained the lead before the break with an own goal after some fine work from Grant Butler. In the second half another bullet-like header from Martin Jolly put Fishtoft further ahead – Chris Marshall again supplied the opportunity from a free-kick. Marshall was rewarded for his hard work with the fourth and final goal. Both sides contributed to a competitive but sporting encounter which was well controlled by referee G Winwright. Nortoft United took three more valuable points when they narrowly defeated Pointon at home. A Craig Spooner strike separated the sides. Old Doningtonians didn’t enjoy the best preparation in readiness for their Challenge Cup final appearance tonight (Wednesday) against last Saturday’s opponents, Woodhall Spa United. Five goals found the Dons’ net without reply and the home side will be hoping for a turnaround in fortunes in this midweek’s final. Woodhall’s shooting practice proved successful for goalscorers James Melia (2), Jack Draper (penalty), Jason Cooke and Jonathan Kerry. Swineshead Reserves maintained their 100 percent record at the top of the table following a hard-fought 3-2 away win at Wainfleet United. Wainfleet had taken the lead in the first half when Lee Johnson scored following good work from Rob Jackson before the visitors replied to bring the scores level at the halfway stage. Swineshead then edged in front in the second half only for Lee Johnson, again, to score for his side after Tom Bone had created the opening. Wainfleet’s joy was shortlived, however, when Swineshead struck just two minutes later with the winning goal. The leaders’ goals came from Robert Snaith who grabbed two and Andy Thompson. A depleted Park Road Old Boys squad bounced back to winning ways after last weeks heavy defeat to Woodhall Spa, with a comfortable win over mid-table Coningsby in a match well refereed by David Tutty. Regular keeper Chris Battle was knocked unconscious playing rugby a few days earlier, so David Dalrymple offered to stand in and he kept a clean sheet with some confident handling. The home side started the game well but failed to take chances - Chris Gilbert and Paul Colton spurning the opportunities but they eventually took the lead when a defender scored an own goal from Gary Booth’s corner. Old Boys were now in total control of the game - the strength of Booth and Andrews in midfield and Gilbert and Dave’s command at the back, allowing right winger Ash Allen the freedom to cause a number of problems for the visitors. It was Allen who scored the other two goals with crisp finishes either side of half time. Allen had a further chance to complete his hat-trick, as did Jonny Britton to extend the lead, but good keeping denied both. Old Boys would like to wish defender Dave Parker-Meadows their best wishes for his imminent hip operation which is likely to end his playing career. Spilsby Town Reserves suffered a surprise 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Holbeach Bank although they did start the stronger scoring the only goal of the first half when Mark Ingram netted following good work from Glenn Hislop. Holbeach levelled 10 minutes into the second half but Town regained the lead when Neil Allen scored following a superb pass from Rhys Fitzgerald. The Bank equalised shortly afterwards when the home keeper failed to hold onto the ball and a grateful forward knocked home the loose ball. The visitors went in front for the first time with the best goal of the game – a searing long range drive. As Spilsby pushed forward for some reward The Bank caught them out with a last minute raid which resulted in a handball in the penalty area and the visitors converted the spot-kick to make the final score 4-2.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Friskney were held at by Westside Rangers Reserves following a 2-2 draw. After a goal-less first half, Rangers opened the scoring two minutes after the restart with a shot which found the top corner and things looked bleak for Friskney when the visitors added another on the hour mark. The home side bounced back, however, and pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after Perrie Dale had been fouled in the box - Jamie Lawson netting from 12 yards. Friskney then brought the scores level at 2-2 when Rangers allowed a long throw from Nathan Rawden to bounce in the box and Perrie Dale nipped in to poke the ball home at the far post. The home side had a chance to take all three points late on but Jamie Lawson’s effort went begging. Andy Verhaul struck two goals for Skegness Working Men’s Club at home against Spalding Harriers but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from going down to a heavy 5-2 defeat. Spalding’s match-winning goals came from Adam Thompson (2), Rafal Hebda, Steve Carn and Adam Fuller. Leaders, Wyberton Reserves hit five goals in their home match against Sutterton without reply. Jason Skinner hit two of the home goals while Chris Devlin, Jamie Button and Oliver Wareing completed the scoring. Fosdyke reverted to their early season habits when they surrended a lead to end up empty-handed when they entertained Tydd St Mary. Tydd, however, were looking to get back to winning ways after last week’s disappointment against Westside rangers Reserves. Tydd were slow to get a hold of the game early on and it was Fosdyke who took advantage on the half hour to score a scrappy goal when Scott Ekins netted the opener. Both sides threatened to add to the score leading up to the break but both defences stood firm. After some harsh words at half time, The Saints came out with a purpose and scored on 65 minutes when Rob Precey’s shot was blocked but luckily for Tydd the rebound fell nicely to Ash Godfrey to stab the ball home in true poacher-like style from three yards to level at 1-1. Tydd were in the ascendancy now and they doubled their advantage four minutes later when Godfrey scored again following a long ball over the top which saw him coolly slot home his 20th of the season to make it 1-2. The Saints were not finished there and on seventy two minutes skipper Luke Tordoff unleashed a fierce thunderbolt of a shot from twenty five which nestled into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make the final score 1-3. Fosdyke had their chances, as did Tydd in the later stages but neither could manage to add to the score.

Kirton Town Reserves took maximum Cropleys Suzuki Division Three points in their home encounter at Graves Park where Billinghay Athletic Reserves where the visitors. Richard Borrill struck the all-important goal for Town in a closely fought 1-0 victory. Woodhall Spa United Reserves had a worthwhile journey to Spalding Harriers Reserves winning 4-2 with goals from Leon Leaney, Alex Behan, Craig Bell and Charlie Stapleton. The home goalscorers were Jason Chilvers and Kevin Nottingham. Pointon Reserves and Eastville, Midville and New Leake shared the points in a 2-2 draw. John Mott and Ricky Jones hit the goals for Pointon while George Patman and Chris Dickens replied for Eastville. There was a slight delay during the match when Joe Adamic injured his shoulder and had to taken to hospital. Park United had a surprise 2-1 away win at high-flying Spalding Town Reserves. Park went 2-0 in front before Spalding finally managed to reduce the arrears through Tom Cherry’s 80th minute strike. Park’s match-winner was Alex Limb who struck both of his side’s goals. Old Doningtonians Reserves produced a lack lustre performance at home against basement side Mareham United Reserves. The home side probably thought they could just turn up to take the points but Mareham had other ideas and they shocked the complacent home side to take three precious points with a 3-2 away win. Andy Barnett, from the penalty spot and Shawn Scott scored the goals for the Dons as the match appeared to be heading for a 2-2 draw but Mareham conjured up a winner with 10 minutes remaining. Two goals from Troy Ayton helped Freiston Reserves to another victory when they defeated Holbeach St Marks 4-1 at Tattershall Road. Marcus Reeson and David Whalley were also on target for Freiston.

The Barclays Brokers Willoughby Cup final will be contested between Skegness Town Reserves and Freiston at Boston Town’s Tattershall Road ground on April 22, kick-off 7pm. It took a penalty to separate Skegness Town Reserves and Billinghay Athletic. Arron North kept his cool to convert the spot-kick and send Skegness through to the final. Freiston also scraped through to their third cup final of the season when they defeated Wyberton at home in a hard fought victory which needed extra time to decide the semi final tie. The home side should have been ahead in the first minute but Jamie Khun shot wide with the goal at his mercy. Wyberton bounced back to rock their opponents with the opening goal although there was an element of luck about it when a clearance struck a player before deflecting past a bewildered keeper. Wyberton kept the home side out until fifteen minutes from time when Jamie Khun made up for his early miss with a good finish from fifteen yards. Freiston looked to be heading out of the competition ten minutes later when Wyberton were awarded a penalty but Chris Spiller came to his side’s rescue with a vital save to take the tie into extra time. After a goal-less first period, Freiston took the lead a minute after the restart when the industrious Peter Lovelace squeezed between two defenders before clipping his shot over the keeper. Lee Dakin made the game safe with a third goal shortly afterwards to make the final score 3-1.

Round-up for March 14

Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division leaders, North Sea United remain in top spot after a 5-3 victory against Billinghay Athletic, who put up a spirited display against the prison side. The Camp appeared to be well out of sight at the halfway stage, leading 4-0. But the strong winds which always seem to blow more fiercely down at Freiston Shore played a major part in the eventual outcome. Billinghay certainly made a game of it in the second half but eventually ran out of time. Rob Masters scored twice for the prison side while Gary Hayes, David Noel and Shaun Carlisle completed the scoring. Coningsby also found themselves 4-0 in front at Kirton Town but that was with just 10 minutes remaining before the home side staged a mini-revival, scoring twice to bring some respectability to the scoreline. Coningsby had the last word, however, when they were awarded a debatable penalty which man of the match, Pete Dickinson tucked away to complete his hat-trick. The visitors’ other goals came from Tom Dickinson and Robin Holderness.

Fishtoft got back to winning ways with a hard fought Cropleys Suzuki Division One victory against high flying Woodhall Spa United. Leading scorer, Nathan Skayley struck twice while Ady Almond and the evergreen Gareth Follows were also on target for the home side in a 4-2 scoreline — Follows’ effort was an opportunist diving header. Both sides contributed to providing a sporting encounter which was well controlled by referee Chris Reeson. Holbeach Bank stormed into a 2-0 lead when they played hosts to Wainfleet United before the visitors staged a fine comeback to level the scores and share the points. Ben Crane, after five minutes and Simon Hall, on 10 minutes got their side off to a flyer before Royston Wilkinson pulled a goal back before the break. Wainfleet levelled the scores in the second half when man of the match, Matthew Broome netted after good work from Rob Jackson. Final score was 2-2. Old Leake hit a magnificent seven in their home match against Pointon with Ben Jacques scoring twice for his side. The other match-winning effortss came from Simon Hippisley, Adam Tempest, Scott MacKay, Karl Shackleton and an own goal. The game between Nortoft United and Spilsby Town Reserves was called off during the week. Spilsby were unable to raise enough players for their trip to Nortoft owing to a university trip to Loughborough and injuries to several players. The expected outcome will be that Nortoft United be awarded a walk-over and the three points allocated to their league position.

Wyberton Reserves still head the Cropleys Suzuki Division Two table after a 3-1 home win against Mareham United. The all-important goals came from Jamie Cox, Jason Allen and new signing Oliver Wareing. Mareham’s reply came from Luke Shelbourne. Second placed, Spalding Town had a comfortable 4-0 home win against Friskney. Michael Cartlidge hit two of the Spalding goals while Jonathan Turner also got on the scoresheet. The opening goal came as a result of an own goal when an unfortunate Friskney player directed an Ainsley Johnson throw-in past his own keeper. D J Wright was on target for Westside Rangers Reserves in their 3-0 home win over Tydd St Mary. Chris Smith and Jon East grabbed the other two goals for Rangers. A game of two halves saw Sportsman go down by the odd goal in seven at the hands of Boston Town Old Boys. Sportsman took the lead when Luke Fappiano netted his first goal of the season slotting home a loose ball from close range. A penalty gave Sportsman a 2-0 lead, Nicky De Vries first scoring from the spot and then making it 3-0 following Steffan Furnell's through ball. Things could have been worse for Town as the home side also struck the crossbar. Sportsman were forced into making three changes at the interval and this seemed to affect their rhythm. The Old Boys also had the wind behind their backs and once they got the scoreboard rolling there was no stopping them. Micky Nuttell struck twice while Rob Himsworth and Alex Tilley completed a storming comeback. Final score was 4-3. Fosdyke didn’t enjoy their day out at the seaside when they travelled to Skegness Working Men’s Club. They struggled to gather up enough fit and able bodies so not surprisingly fell to a 4-0 defeat.

Mark Smith hit all three goals for Pointon Reserves in their 3-3 home Cropleys Suzuki Division Three draw against Woodhall Spa United Reserves. Charlie Stapleton struck twice for Woodhall while Richard Hall also got on the scoresheet. Another hat-trick hero was Park United’s Adam Gallimore who struck all of his side’s goals in a 3-2 home win against Eastville, Midville and New Leake. All five goals came during an exciting goal feast of a first half. Old Doningtonians Reserves’ Mr Versatility, Andy Barnett was needed between the sticks for his side last Saturday when they entertained Holbeach St Marks. The home side produced a solid performance scoring four goals in the process while St. Marks were finally rewarded for their efforts with a goal to make the final score 4-1. A Jamie Fovargue penalty got Old Dons off the mark and George Skafidas added another. Steven Burdall made it three before Giles Favell wrapped up the scoring for the home side. St Marks’ goal came as a result of a corner which somehow found its way into the net. Robetas Silagevas scored twice on his debut for Freiston Reserves in their home game against Spalding Harriers Reserves. Nicky Syndercombe and David Whalley also got on the scoresheet for the home side. Jason Chilvers replied for Spalding.

The two Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup favourites, Swineshead and Freiston both safely made it through to the final against lower opposition but not without a few scares along the way. Swineshead travelled to Division Two side Spalding Harriers in one of the semi-finals and the underdogs put up stubborn resistance against the Premier Division outfit before going down 2-0. Steve Graham gave the visitors the lead after 28 minutes when he was on the spot to tap home after the keeper failed to hold onto a Ben Harris free-kick. Swineshead didn’t grab their second goal until eight minutes from time when Richard Stukins pounced to knock home a loose ball after a Ben Harris shot rebounded off the crossbar. A depleted Freiston side still had just enough to reach the final of the Sports Cup following a 2-1 away win at Old Doningtonians. The Premier Division side took the lead on the half hour mark through Jamie Khun and a second goal followed on the hour when Chris Spiller found the net. Chris Wing entered the action as a substitute and he reduced the arrears 10 minutes from time to set up a tense finale. Old Dons pushed for an equaliser going close on a couple of occasions but Freiston held out to book their place in the final.

Swineshead Reserves’ superior fitness levels proved crucial in their Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup semi-final tie at Coningsby Reserves. The tie was nicely balanced after 90 minutes with the scores standing at 1-1 but the visitors managed to step up a gear in extra time to power their way through to the final. Danny Cottingham had given Coningsby some hope with a second half equaliser when he cancelled out Swineshead’s opener but there was no denying Swineshead in extra time. The favourites to lift the trophy eased through thanks to goals from Ryan Barker, Richard Barker, Harry Houghton and a John Prue penalty. Final score was 4-1.

Round-up for March 7

Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division leaders North Sea United remain in top spot after a 2-0 victory against Skegness Town Reserves, although they couldn’t start celebrating their win until the last minute when they scored the crucial second goal. Dave Noel had given The Camp a first half lead but a nervous second half meant Skegness were always in with a chance of getting some reward. Noel struck with his second decisive goal in the dying moments to seal victory and finally put an end to Town’s brave fight. Freiston travelled to Spilsby Town where they were dealt an immediate blow to their title hopes when the home side opened the scoring after about twenty seconds. Freiston thought they had levelled the scores after 15 minutes when Dean Seiner broke clear before being brought down by the keeper on the edge of the area. The referee gave the culprit a yellow card before Jack Smith fired home the free-kick but the visitor’s joy was cut short when the effort was ruled out because the official claimed the dead ball was an indirect free-kick. Seiner wasn’t to be denied for much longer however when he equalised on the half hour mark when he took advantage of a defensive error to make it 1-1 at the break. The wind, which had hampered decent flowing football, was now facing Spilsby in the second half and Freiston had their opponents pinned back in their own half for long periods. The home keeper made several excellent saves before he was finally beaten when Lee Dakin scored on the hour. That goal proved to be the winner and Freiston returned home with a welcome three points after a physical encounter. Coningsby’s coach, Carl Wall admitted his team hadn’t played well in their home game against Wyberton despite grabbing maximum points with a single goal victory. Stewart Smith scored the all-important winner but Coningsby failed to get into their usual rhythm. The basement clash at Wrangle United saw Kirton Town return home with three valuable points following a 3-0 away win. The first half could have gone either way with the best chances probably falling to the away side but they made sure of victory with an impressive second half display. Midway through the second period, Kirton went ahead with a superb header from a corner when Simon Collins ran to the near post and flicked the ball deftly into the net. Wrangle then piled on the pressure until Collins popped up again with another header to put Kirton 2-0 up. Kirton were well in control now and after a couple of missed chances they completed the scoring when Martin Durrant made it 3-0. The win meant that Kirton Town swapped places with Wrangle United at the foot of the table. Billinghay Athletic rescued a point at Swineshead with a late equaliser in a hard fought encounter, which finished 2-2. Billinghay had taken a first half lead when a shot from the edge of the box got a deflection to beat the keeper. Swineshead got back on level terms after 67 minutes when Richard Stukins scored with a well taken goal after receiving a quickly-taken free-kick from Ben Harris. Swineshead then went in front for the first time eight minutes later when Anthony Slater knocked the ball in at the far post following a slick move down the right flank. Billinghay were dealt a severe blow in the last five minutes when Mark Wheatley was sent off but the visitors somehow recovered to conjure up an equaliser in the dying moments. Final score was 2-2.

Nortoft United had a comfortable 3-0 Cropleys Suzuki Division One home win against Old Doningtonians thanks to goals from Chris Massingham, Paul Chester and Danny Clayton. A penalty after 55 minutes was enough to give Old Leake victory at Wainfleet United. Wainfleet are currently going through an indifferent patch and they finished up empty handed after the referee awarded a penalty for a foul in the area and Adam Sinclair calmly slotted home the spot kick. The three points gained by Old Leake saw them leapfrog their opponents and into third place. Two goals from James Melia helped Woodhall Spa United to a 5-1 home win against Park Road Old Boys. Jason Cooke, Gareth Melia and Andy Money were also on target for Woodhall in an impressive display. Old Boys probably had the better of the first half until the home side showed their class and took control. Ash Allen, Paul Colton and Liam Dave all squandered good chances before the home side scored the first goal from a breakaway after 15 minutes. Old Boys responded positively and equalised within two minutes when Dave’s left foot shot flew through a crowd of players following a corner. The visitors then had two good opportunities to take the lead when Mark Jesson’s long throw led to a header from Colton that was acrobatically tipped over the bar by the keeper and Allen sliced wide from a good position. This galvanised the home side into action, who then took control of the game with two late first half goals, both great strikes from distance, before the break. The second half was much different with the home side having the better chances. Despite plenty of possession Old Boys never looked like getting back into the game and it was no real surprise that Woodhall added two more goals to inflict a comprehensive defeat on a surprisingly lack lustre Old Boys display during the second period. At least Old Boys had some cheer by welcoming back Club Captain Craig Andrews into the team after a six month lay-off following a serious knee injury.

Fosdyke appear to have turned the corner after securing another Cropleys Suzuki Division Two victory when they defeated Friskney 2-0 at home. Andy Thorpe and Chris Bell gave Fosdyke a two-goal cushion at the break and this time the home side held onto victory to gain three valuable points. Spalding Harriers and Mareham United shared the points following a 1-1 draw. Adam Fuller was on target for Spalding. Boston Town Old Boys put in a spirited display at second placed Spalding Town before going down to a narrow 2-1 defeat. James Kingston and Jonathan Turner had given Spalding a 2-0 lead before The Old Boys got back into the game with ten minutes remaining when Alex Tilley scored. Boston Town pressed hard for an equaliser but Spalding held firm to take maximum points. Referee Ray Larcombe had an excellent game in the middle. David Wright, Kieran Gatenby and Jake Cawthorne scored the goals in Westside Rangers Reserves’ 3-1 home win against Skegness Working Men’s Club.

Two classy Carl Duncan goals proved to be enough to give Sutterton a 2-1 away win against Sportsman. The home side had the strong wind at the backs during first half and they started brightly, deservedly taking the lead after twenty minutes when Dion Roberts fired home a free kick from the edge of the box after Nicky De Vries had been brought down. Sutterton got back on level terms five minutes before the break when Sergio Roquetti released Carl Duncan and the striker capitalised on some hesitancy by home keeper, Scott Williams before slotting the ball home at the near post. Duncan almost grabbed a second goal after the break but his shot was well saved by Williams with his legs. The winning goal came as a result of the gusting wind which favoured Sutterton in the second half when a route-one goal turned out to be the crucial winner. The impressive Roquetti again supplied the long pass and Duncan galloped through before lobbing the ball over the advancing keeper from thirty yards out. The floodgates should have opened but Sportsman’s defence held firm to prevent any further goals and likewise at the other end, Sutterton’s back form was equally impressive. Final score 2-1.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Tom Brooks opened the scoring for Holbeach St Marks in their home match against Spalding Town Reserves and Ryan Wheeler added another during the first half before the visitors replied to make the half time score 2-1. St. Marks sealed victory with two second half goals to run out comfortable winners – Matthew Cawthorn and Chris Lambe grabbed the decisive goals. Spalding pulled a goal back to make the final score 4-2. Woodhall Spa United Reserves were held at home by Park United following a 2-2 draw. Craig Bell and Stuart Gomes were on target for Woodhall while Chris Wright and Thomas Limb replied for Park.

There were two first round ties and two quarter final games in the Barclays Broker Willoughby Shield last Saturday. In the round one games, Billinghay Athletic Reserves comfortably breezed through to the next round at the expense of Freiston Reserves. Daniel Long struck twice for Billinghay while Glen Long, Rick Harrod and Alex Gammon also got on the scoresheet. Swineshead Reserves squeezed through to the next round following goals from Richard Barker and Harry Houghton in their home tie against Coningsby Reserves. Daniel Daubney scored the visitors’ goal to keep them in the match but, in the end it wasn’t enough and Coningsby went out 2-1. Old Doningtonians Reserves eased through to the semi-finals following a 5-1 home win against Mareham United Reserves. Amazingly, Mareham struck first with one of the fastest goals of the season when they scored inside ten seconds. The Dons bounced back and George Skafidas levelled for the home side before Giles Favell put them ahead at the break. Mr. Versatility, Andy Barnett then grabbed the third goal when the stand-in left back ventured forward to take a corner kick. A vicious swerving dead-ball beat the keeper all ends up as the ball sailed into the top corner. Jonathan Butler then took centre stage hitting the final two goals – the fifth and final goal five minutes from time was a superb finish. Spilsby Town Reserves played hosts to Fishtoft Reserves and both sides found themselves all square at 1-1 after ninety minutes but a dramatic extra time collapse saw Spilsby crash out 5-1 when Fishtoft ran riot late on. Top scorer, Simon Hyland grabbed two goals while Grant Butler, Michael Smith and Diego Garcia made sure of a semi final place. After a goal-less first half the deadlock was broken a minute after the restart when Spilsby’s Michael Twigg unfortunately headed the ball into his own net. Glenn Hislop grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the last couple of minutes to send the tie into extra time but the home side’s hopes were soon quickly dashed by Fishtoft’s whirlwind finish. Referee, Paul Revell had a fine match in the middle.

The draw for the Willoughby Cup semi-finals is: Freiston v Wyberton; Skegness Town Reserves v Billinghay Athletic. The ties are scheduled for Saturday March 21, kick-off 2pm.

Round-up for February 28

With Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division leaders North Sea United having a day off last Saturday, Coningsby and Freiston took full advantage of putting the pressure on at the top. Coningsby hit six in their home game against Skegness Town Reserves with Pete Dickinson boosting his goal tally with five of his side’s goals. The game was all but over by half time with Coningsby 4-0 ahead. Ben Brown grabbed the other Coningsby goal. Billinghay Athletic enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 home win against lowly, Wrangle United with new signing Liam Kishere marking his debut with a goal. Matthew Phillips and Mark Wheatley hit the other goals for Billinghay. Swineshead also won comfortably at Graves Park where Kirton Town’s recent inactivity didn’t do them any favours. Swineshead stormed into a 4-0 lead by half time before the home side got warmed up. Richard Stukins opened the scoring after just eight minutes following good work from Jack Houghton and Houghton himself made it 2-0 on twenty minutes when he burst clear before beating the advancing keeper. Paul Clarke scored goal number after thirty eight minutes following a solo effort beating three defenders in the process. Jack Houghton completed the first half scoring with a header from a Ben Harris free-kick. Kirton finally pulled a goal back after 70 minutes before Jack Houghton completed his hat-trick with a shot from twenty yards with four minutes remaining. There was still time for Swineshead to complete the scoring with a sixth goal in the dying moments when Richard Stukins netted from close range to make the final score 6-1. Freiston’s single-goal victory came courtesy of a Lee Dakin fluke as the third placed side narrowly defeated Wyberton at home. Both sides produced a pretty dour affair with chances few and far between at both ends. Both defences were impressive throughout although the crucial goal resulted from a misplaced back pass towards the Wyberton keeper. Despite getting to the ball first he could only blast the ball at the advancing Lee Dakin who steered the ball home after thirty minutes.

Goals from Sean Geaghan and Ben Jacques secured a 2-0 home Cropleys Suzuki Division One win for Old Leake against Coningsby Reserves. There was another 2-0 home win at Wainfleet United where Spilsby Town Reserves were the visitors. Wainfleet will be pleased to get back to winning ways after an indifferent spell of late. Lee Johnson gave his side a one-goal lead at the interval after Sean Drury had provided him with the opportunity. Spilsby had a golden chance to have levelled the scores during the first period but Eddie Rich missed from the penalty spot. Man of the match, Sean Drury sealed victory in the second half with a clinching second goal when he scored direct from a corner. Leaders Swineshead Reserves retained top spot and their 100 percent record following a 4-1 home win against Nortoft United. Ryan Barker and Harry Houghton scored two goals apiece to sink the visitors.

Two towering headers from striker Micky Nuttell got Boston Town Old Boys back on track after last week’s huge disappointment. In the battle of the strikers, Andy Brown did also manage to get on the scoresheet but it wasn’t enough to prevent Sutterton from going down to a 2-1 home Cropleys Suzuki Division Two defeat. Mareham United finally turned their superiority into goals when they thumped title-chasers, Spalding Town 6-2 at home. Mark Hodgson and Kyle Stainton both hit two goals apiece as second-placed Spalding were put to the sword. Luke Shelbourn and Stuart Bunn were also on target for a jubilant Mareham side. Spalding Town replied through Paulo Junior and Ainsley Johnson. Wyberton will be grateful to Mareham for dealing that crushing blow to their rivals and they celebrated in style with a 7-2 home win against Westside Rangers Reserves. Chris Devlin hit a hat-trick for Wyberton while Jason Allen grabbed two goals. Scott Lea and Simon Westwood also got on the scoresheet for the home side. Rangers replied through Kieran Gatenby and Andy McGuire. Spalding Harriers recorded a 5-1 home win against Sportsman. Marcin Minczyinski, Matt Paul, Allan Lawrence, Lewis Field and Steve Carn were all on target for The Harriers while Nicky De Vries replied for the visitors. With the momentum of last week’s win behind them, Fosdyke took the game to Tydd early on with some slick one-touch football they went ahead after sixteen minutes with a well taken goal from Andy Thorpe. Tydd were visibly shocked and Fosdyke doubled their tally three minutes later to make it 2 – 0 when a loose ball was not dealt with in the Tydd defence and Thorpe was on hand again to lash the ball home. Tydd finally settled and came into the game after the early setback and deservedly pulled a goal back just before half time when Ash Godfrey sent over a deep cross from the left for Matt Bowers to head back across goal and Andrew Bennett nodded home for close range to make it 2-1. The second half saw the Saints step up the pressure on the Fosdyke defence and they drew level on forty nine minutes when, Man of The Match, Richard Smith floated over a corner, Bennett headed goalwards and Godfrey flicked the ball into the net for 2-2. Tydd took the lead with 20 minutes to go after Smith fed a delightful ball through for Godfrey to score to make it 3-2. Fosdyke had a great chance to level the scores with just a few minutes left on the clock but Tydd keeper Martin Cherry pulled off the save of the season to ensure his side clung onto the three points. Final score was 3-2.

Cropleys Suzuki Division Three leaders, Fishtoft Reserves still boast a 100 percent record following a 4-1 home win against Old Doningtonians Reserves. Liam Shim hit two of the Fishtoft goals while top scorer, Simon Hyland added another goal to his tally. Tim Billingham completed the scoring. Spalding Town Reserves remain in second place following a 3-2 home win against Billinghay Athletic Reserves. Mark Henderson, Aiden Doherty and Michael Cartlidge hit the all-important goals for Spalding. Eastville, Midville and New Leake recorded another draw when they were held at home by Freiston Reserves. Daniel Thompson got Eastville off to a perfect start with the opening goal midway through the first half and the home side could have gone in at half time with a greater advantage but Chris Holland had two goals disallowed. Jamie Appleby was penalised for a push in the second half and the referee awarded Freiston Reserves a penalty which they converted to bring the scores level. Eastville then fell behind with fifteen minutes remaining before Jamie Appleby redeemed himself with an equaliser five minutes later to salvage a point - Appleby’s fierce shot from 25 yards flying into the net to give his side some deserved reward. Freiston’s goals came from Scott Elleray and Troy Ayton. Ryan Wheeler was on target for Holbeach St Marks once more but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from falling to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of a strong Pointon Reserves side. A Jason Chilvers hat-trick helped Spalding Harriers Reserves to the exact same score-line as their first team. This time, a 5-1 home win came at the expense of Mareham United Reserves. Spalding’s other scorers were Matt Smith and Kyle Stainton.

The final of the Target Newspapers Challenge Cup will be contested by Woodhall Spa United and Old Doningtonians. Both sides won by two-goal margins as Friskney and Fishtoft fell at the last hurdle. First Division side, Woodhall were always in control of their semi-final tie at Friskney, and they stormed into a three goal lead in the first half before Jamie Lawrence gave Friskney, from Division Two a faint glimmer of hope when he reduced the arrears on the stroke of half time. Any hopes Friskney had of getting back into the game were quickly removed by two further goals from the visitors. With nothing to lose, Friskney threw caution to the wind late on and they brought some respectability to the score-line when Lawrence scored his second goal of the game before Perrie Dale made it 5-3 with a goal in the dying seconds. Andy Money hit two goals for Woodhall while Jason Cooke, Jason Kerry and Jack Draper were also on target for the visitors. The all Division One clash at Fishtoft saw Old Doningtonians triumph 3-1 in an evenly contested tie. Pete Coonan struck for Fishtoft in a first half, which finished all square at 1-1 before two second half goals saw the Dons through to the final. Liam Pitts and Dan Fox struck the first two goals before Andrew Dear came off the bench to seal victory. The super-sub’s speculative cross-shot beat the keeper to ensure Dons’ place in the final.

Round-up for February 21

In the only Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division match last Saturday, Coningsby hit six goals at Westside Rangers with Robin Holderness grabbing a hat-trick. The visitors’ other goals came from Matt Lucas, Pete Dickinson and Ben Brown

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, two goals from Craig Spooner helped Nortoft United to a welcome home win when they played hosts to Fishtoft. Paul Chester and Chris Massingham were also on target for Nortoft in a 4-2 victory. Cymon Lambe experienced some ups and downs during Holbeach Bank’s narrow 2-1 defeat at Park Road Old Boys. After Lambe had given the Bank a first half lead, Jack Smith levelled for Park Road. Paul Colton then put Old Boys in front for the first time before the luckless Lambe had a golden chance to earn his side a share of the points when the referee awarded the visitors a penalty. Sadly for Holbeach Bank, Lambe missed the spot-kick. Despite the spring-like condition last Saturday, Pointon still managed to declare their pitch unfit on the night before their home encounter with Woodhall Spa United. Woodhall, keen to maintain their recent good run, did offer their opponents the opportunity to play on their excellent home surface but sadly the offer was declined.

The top of the Cropleys Suzuki Division Two table clash between Spalding Town and Wyberton Reserves proved to be a bit of a let-down as both sides produced a very scrappy affair. With expectations high the outcome very often turns out to be an anti-climax and so it turned out to be as both sides slugged it out for the top of the table spot. Very little was created at both ends although the visitors will be more than pleased with their three-point haul which was achieved with a match-winning goal a few minutes into the second half — Jason Allen being on target for the visitors. At the other end of the table, Fosdyke recorded their first victory of the season – only three weeks after picking up their first point of the season. Fosdyke’s victims last Saturday were Boston Town Old Boys who paraded Micky Nuttell in their line-up. Chris Bell opened the scoring for the basement side when he finished off a fine flowing move involving Scott Ekins and Wayne Ash. Town got back on level terms when Ash was harshly adjudged to have committed a foul in his own penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot leaving Nuttell to duly despatch the spot kick. Another great piece of enterprising football saw Fosdyke regain the lead before the break when Ashleigh English broke through down the right flank before cutting in and beating the advancing keeper. The Colts stepped up the pace after the break and the home defence was tested to the full but Adam Poole was in inspired form marshalling his fellow defenders superbly. However, Fosdyke’s talisman was forced to leave the action due to a hamstring injury and this blow coincided with Boston Town levelling the scores – Nuttell again on target. Fosdyke must have been fearing the worst now as, in previous games, this stage of the game had signalled the customary collapse. Not this time though and they responded by grabbing the all-important winning goal when Scott Ekins cleverly created an opening for Andy Thorpe but with only the goalkeeper to beat, he was chopped down inside the box. Ekins calmly strode forward to despatch the penalty to send the Fosdyke camp into raptures. A nervous added time period was survived by the home side before they could finally celebrate a win at last! Final score was 3-2. Tydd St Mary made their long journey to Friskney last Saturday keen to play football after only two league games since November 29. Tydd started the brighter of the two sides playing some lovely football on a boggy Friskney pitch and were rewarded with the opening goal after 13 minutes. Richard Smith drilled a low corner in from the left and Kane Milne was on hand to poke the ball into the net from close range. This should have been the platform for the Saints to build upon but they allowed Friskney back into the game when a corner was not defended well after twenty six minutes allowing Jamie Lawson to find the net to level the scores. Neither side could force the advantage up to the break as both teams went close to edging in front but the first period finished all square at 1-1. The second half saw Tydd pushing and probing for the winner but, up against a dogged Friskney defence, could not find a way through. The game was being played in a fair competitive way with no reckless challenges but on fifty five minutes the referee strangely sent Smith off for Tydd following two bookable offences for dissent. Neither side could quite understand the decision but play went on with Tydd now down to ten men. This only fuelled the Saints desire to win and they were awarded a penalty on the hour mark when Ash Godfrey was bundled over in the area and Andrew Bennett duly despatched the spot kick to make it 2-1. With 15 minutes to go, Godfrey was again fouled in the area and Bennett scored again to make the score 3-1. The Friskney players were not happy with the penalty decision and the referee mysteriously sent off a Friskney player, again for two bookable offences (for dissent). A minute into stoppage time, Friskney chipped a long ball over the Tydd defence for Ryan Medley-Metcalf to score a consolation goal. Final score was 3-2. Sportsman threw away a 2-0 lead at Skegness Working Men’s Club to return home empty-handed following a 4-2 defeat. Two Nicky De Vries’ goals gave the visitors an early boost before Skegness responded to level the scores before the half time break. Sportsman conceded a crucial third in the second half – the referee over-ruling the linesman’s flag to award the home side the goal. With their heads visibly dropping, Sportsman fell further behind to a fourth Skegness goal. Home scorers were Tom Laverack (two), Sam Graham and Andy Verhaul. Sutterton picked up three valuable points in a hard fought encounter at Mareham United. The visitors started brightly and they went close to opening the scoring through Andy Brown and Nigel Edison before Mareham responded with the first goal when Stuart Bunn netted. The home side could have doubled their lead on the half hour mark when they broke clean through but thankfully for Sutterton their keeper, Mark Osborne, making his debut, pulled off a stunning save. Sutterton upped the tempo after the break and their neat passing finally paid dividends when Dean Fisher’s fine run and cross was powerfully headed home by Carl Appleyard on fifty five minutes. The visitors introduced some fresh legs in the form of Micky Hill and Gavin Rhodes and it was the latter, playing in his first game since October, who struck the crucial winner with ten minutes remaining – again it was a fine cross supplied by Fisher and the experienced Rhodes tucked away the chance at the far post. Both sides had penalty appeals turned down before the game was soured by the sending off of a Mareham player deep into added time. Final score was 2-1.

Cropleys Suzuki Division Three’s leading goalscorer, Simon Hyland, helped himself to a hat-trick in Fishtoft Reserves’ 7-0 home win against Eastville, Midville and New Leake. Tim Billingham (two), Lewis O’Keefe and an own goal put the result beyond doubt. Eastville had battled well during the first half and found themselves still in the games despite trailing 2-0 at the break. However, a third crucial goal immediately after the restart put paid to any hopes Eastville may have had of getting back into the game. Park United produced an excellent first half performance in their home game against Spalding Harriers Reserves but unfortunately for the Carrington-based side they failed to maintain their impetus after the break and played as badly after the break as they had excelled during the first period. Two goals from Stephen Hall and another from Adam Gallimore put Park 3-1 up at the interval and seemingly, well in control. The Spalding side had other ideas however, and they spoiled the party with second half strikes to finish with a share of the points after a 3-3 draw. Spalding Harriers Reserves rescued a point with goals from Jason Chilvers, who scored twice and Callum McNab. A Chris Hilton goal earned Kirton Town Reserves a point at Graves Park when they entertained Holbeach St. Marks. St. Marks had taken a first half lead before Hilton levelled the scores midway through the second period to make the final score 1-1. Woodhall Spa United Reserves enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 home win against Fresiton Reserves. Jack Draper struck twice for his side while Alex Behan, Craig Bell and Charlie Stapleton completed the scoring.

In the quarter-finals of the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Cup, Old Leake from Division One produced an impressive performance at home against Premier title-chasers, Freiston before bowing out by the only goal. The winning goal after just five minutes was worthy of winning any cup tie – a thumping Jack Smith shot into the top corner after a corner was only partially cleared. Freiston failed to break down a well organised Old Leake defence for the remainder of the match and the home side almost snatched a late equaliser but the chance went begging. The cup-tie was well controlled by referee David Bent. Another single-goal victory saw Billinghay Athletic edge through to the semi final at the expense of Swineshead. Adam Weston grabbed the all-important goal. Swineshead’s performance was totally opposite to their previous weeks’ heroics and after a poor first half they found themselves trailing to Weston’s strike. Swineshead responded to their half time roasting and their keeper, Andy Stukins was rarely troubled. However, Billinghay’s defence stood firm and the nearest Swineshead came to taking the tie into extra time was when Benn Hougthon struck the crossbar and then Jack Houghton had a goal ruled out for offside. Final score was 1-0. There were plenty of goals in the two remaining ties with Skegness Town Reserves easing through in their home tie against Wainfleet United. The Premier side proved far too strong for their First Division opponents with Arron North firing a hat-trick for his team in a 6-1 home win. Jordan Wood, Dan Starkey and Sam Sleight were also on target for Skegness while Rob Jackson replied for Wainfleet. Wyberton and Spilsby Town were locked at 2-2 after 90 minutes with the tie looking to go either way – that was until Wyberton introduced their super-sub, Jimmy Britton into the action. The striker wasted no time in sending his opponents tumbling out of the cup with a three-goal salvo as Wyberton ended up 5-2 winners. Wyberton’s earlier goals had come from Chris Rutt and John Reeson while Viv Jeffery and Graham Blades had struck to keep Town in the tie during normal time.

There were two Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup quarter-final ties played last Saturday along with a semi-final tie. The semi-final tie ensured a team from Division Three would be competing in the final as Billinghay Athletic Reserves and Mareham United Reserves locked horns. Mareham, languishing at the bottom of the third division, appeared to be heading for a shock away win before Billinghay staged a storming comeback to edge through to the final. Goals from Kyle Smith and Mark Twells had Mareham with one foot in the final before the home side bounced back with goals from Alex Gammon, Ben Miles and Rick Harrod. The other quarter-final ties saw Coningsby Reserves and Swineshead Reserves book their places for the right to compete as tournament favourites. Both sides won by two-goal margins with Coningsby defeating Old Doningtonians Reserves 2-0 thanks to goals from Danny Barker and Daniel Daubney while Swineshead Reserves saw off the challenge of Spilsby Town Reserves with Richard Barker scoring twice in a 3-1 win. Barker’s double and another from Ryan Barker came during the first half as Swineshead virtually wrapped up the tie by half-time. Spilsby, to their credit gave themselves a faint glimmer of hope when they pulled a goal back in the second half through Rhys Fitzgerald but Swineshead rarely looked in any further trouble and they deservedly went through to the semi-final.

Round-up for February 14

The Boston Saturday League will be hoping that they have seen the last of the snow now and they can get through the remainder of the season without any further disruption. More than half the scheduled fixtures were postponed last Saturday after some pitches remained part-covered in lying snow. Those playing surfaces that enjoyed a thaw, found a waterlogged mess waiting underneath.

More positively, Swineshead Institute are through to the Lincs Junior Cup final after a tense cup-tie and nail-biting finale against Louth United. The Boston League side fell behind after 20 minutes when Louth were awarded a penalty after keeper Andy Stukins was adjudged to have brought down a visiting player. The setback was a blow to Swineshead after they had started well but they bounced back on the half hour mark to level the tie with a deserved equaliser. Benn Harris converting from the penalty spot after a Louth defender handled in the penalty area. Louth came out after the interval in determined mood and for the first 10 minutes had Swineshead under severe pressure for the first time in the game. Benn Houghton relieved the pressure however, with a second goal to put his side 2-1 ahead when he fired home a well executed free-kick from twenty yards. Swineshead appeared to have one foot in the final when they went 3-1 up after 65 minutes following Jack Houghton’s trademark finish – bursting through to latch onto a defence-splitting pass from Scott Hempsall and slotting past the keeper. Swineshead’s joy was somewhat soured shortly afterwards when Benn Houghton received his marching orders for a second yellow card. Louth put their 10-man opponents under some intense pressure and they pulled a goal back with a shot though a crowded goalmouth. The home side, however, produced a fantastic defensive display in the final stages to secure their place in the final where they will meet AFC Brumby on a date still to be arranged.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, after Kirton Town postponed their home game against Spilsby Town when The Graves Park playing surface was deemed unfit, it left just one remaining game in The Premier and that thankfully only went ahead when Billinghay Athletic agreed to switch their match to opponents’, Coningsby where their pitch had fared much better than most. Jonathan Eadsforth gave Coningsby an early lead inside the first five minutes before Billinghay ‘old-boy’ Pete Dickinson made it 2-0 with just 10 minutes on the clock. Billinghay recovered after the two early blows to make a game of it before conceding a third goal with ten minutes remaining when Lee Croft made the final score 3-0.

Two of the scheduled five games survived in Cropleys Suzuki Division One and these saw big victories for Woodhall Spa United and Old Leake. Old Leake entertained Nortoft United in their first game since the recent sad and sudden death of Club Secretary, Roger Thurlby. The team, no doubt, dedicated their performance to Roger – a convincing 5-1 home win. Adam Sinclair, Rop Staples, Adam Tempest, Danny Keal and Chris Mitchell were all on target for the home side. Woodhall Spa United hit seven at Holbeach Bank with Jason Cooke scoring five of his side’s goals. One of Cooke’s five-goal haul came from the penalty spot with the other two coming from James Melia and Gareth Melia.

There was only one survivor in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two where Mareham United made the most of their chance with an 8-2 home win against Fosdyke. Mark Hodgson, Kyle Smith and Daniel Garnett all scored twice while Stuart Bunn and James Todd also got on the scoresheet. Fosdyke’s only reward came from Christopher Bell and Simon Chambers.

Out of four games, just the two matches went ahead in Cropleys Suzuki Division Three – at Eastville and at Woodhall Spa. Eastville, Midville and New Leake threw away the three points in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Holbeach St Marks after leading twice during the game. Eastville took the lead midway through the first half when Mark Mitchell scored with a fine solo effort when he burst down the flank before firing past the advancing keeper to give his side a one-goal half time lead. St. Marks levelled the scores soon after the restart before the home side regained the lead following Mark Thompson’s free-kick which struck the crossbar – luckily for Eastville, Mark Mitchell was on hand to head home the rebound. Holbeach St Marks got back on level terms after 70 minutes before a penalty put them 3-2 in front. The visitors sealed victory with a fourth to run out 4-2 winners. Ryan Wheeler did most of the damage for St Marks with a fine hat-trick while Martin Gordon was also on target. Two goals from Henry Maplethorpe helped Woodhall Spa United Reserves to a 2-1 home win against Kirton Town Reserves.

On a muddy pitch at Freiston, the home side eased through to the Fishtoft Cup final following a 3-0 semi-final victory against Westside Rangers. Rangers performed well during the opening twenty minutes with play being evenly contested before Lee Dakin opened the scoring. Dakin doubled his tally before the break to put Freiston in a commanding position and the deadly Dakin completed his hat-trick on the hour mark. The striker could have added to his tally soon after but his fierce shot struck an upright. Final score was 3-0.

Round-up for February 7

If lying snow wasn’t enough to prevent the Boston Saturday Football League programme from going ahead, the overnight frost certainly put paid to any hopes most of the clubs had of staging a game.

At Woodhall and Mareham however, they did defy the elements to get their games played. The Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup quarter-final tie between Woodhall Spa United Reserves and Billinghay Athletic Reserves went ahead with the visitors being victorious winning 4-2. Chris Hall and Rob McCusker grabbed the goals for Woodhall but that was their only bright spot on the day.

Woodhall Spa United fared much better in their Division One league game when they defeated Nortoft United 4-3. James Melia, Jack Draper, Andy Money and a Jason Cooke penalty made sure of the three points.

In the only other game, Mareham United Reserves and Park United clashed again for the second week running. This time Park United extracted some sweet revenge for their heavy defeat seven days earlier with a 2-1 Division Three away win thanks to goals from Alex Penney and Jason Pocklington.

Round-up for January 31

Only two Premier Division sides will compete in the semi-finals of the Boston League’s top knockout competition, the Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup, with Swineshead and Freiston being the two big guns from the top flight. The ‘neutrals’ in local football will be hoping that the other two sides, Old Doningtonians and Spalding Harriers will get drawn together ensuring that a lower league team will get through to the final. Freiston, although having somewhat of an ‘off-day’ still managed to eliminate Spilsby Town following a 3-1 home win. Spilsby rocked their opponents after 20 minutes when Lathen Tuplin took advantage of a defensive mistake before scoring. Freiston responded a few minutes later with a free kick which struck an upright but they could not find a breakthrough before half-time. Freiston finally drew level on the hour mark when Dean Seiner capitalised on some poor defending by prodding home the loose ball. Boosted by their equaliser, the home side went in front when Jack Smith fired into the bottom corner from a free kick. Chris Spiller wrapped up the scoring with ten minutes remaining when he scored from a right wing cross. Final score was 3-1. Swineshead needed a major improvement from last week’s lack lustre effort if they were to dispose of Coningsby away from home. Luckily for them they got a positive reaction from the players to progrees to the next round. Coningsby played with the wind behind their backs during the first half but were unable to create many clear-cut chances. The closest they came to scoring was when Swineshead keeper, Andy Stukins brilliantly tipped a free-kick onto the post. At the other end, Coningsby's keeper dealt with everything Swineshead threw at him. Swineshead dominated the second half to earn a deserved victory – after 57 minutes Anthony Slater volleyed home at the far post following a right wing cross and two minutes later they increased their lead this time it came from Max Slater who fired home a shot from twenty yards after a corner was only half cleared to the edge of the box. Swineshead made the game safe with a third goal on 75ve minutes when Jack Houghton latched onto a long clearance from Andy Stukins before driving past the home keeper for a 3-0 scoreline. Holbeach St Marks, from Division Three, were on course for causing an upset when they entertained Old Doningtonians from the First Division. At one stage the underdogs found themselves 2-0 in front after an hour before the visitors finally found their feet scoring three times to snatch victory. Liam Pitts and Martin Fox scored the goals to bring the Dons level at 2-2 before young Jonathan Butler stole the limelight with the winner. The youngster, who has only just turned sixteen popped up with the winner eight minutes from time. Martin Gordon had put St. Marks 1-0 ahead in the first half and the same player added another on the hour mark. Final score was 3-2. The all-division two clash at Sutterton saw Spalding Harriers edge through following a comfortable 5-2 scoreline. The three-goal margin probably flattered the visitors as Sutterton were not as bad as the score-line suggested. The Spalding side held a 2-0 half time lead before Sutterton’s leading scorer, Andy Brown reduced the arrears. The Harriers then restored their two-goal advantage only for Brown to make it 3-2 shortly afterwards on the hour mark. Three further goals sunk Sutterton as they pushed forward in search of some reward. The Spalding goals came from Adam Thompson and Steve Carn, who grabbed two goals apiece while Allan Lawrence completed the scoring.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, a Chris Massingham goal was enough to give Nortoft United three welcome points when they entertained Park Road Old Boys. The all-important strike ensured Nortoft a 1-0 victory. Two Robert Snaith goals (one from the penalty spot) helped keep Swineshead Reserves well on course for the title following a 4-2 home win against Holbeach Bank. Harry Houghton and Andy Thompson were also on target for the runaway leaders. The low winter sun appeared to hamper the players at Spilsby Town Reserves where Pointon were the visitors. The disjointed football produced during the first half resulted in a real scrappy contest with no goals before the break. The contest finally livened up after the break when Glenn Hislop opened the scoring for Spilsby with a header following a Neil Allen corner. Pointon levelled with a long range effort before Spilsby regrouped to control the rest of the game and they were rewarded with a winning goal from Eddie Rich after good work from John Rutherford. Town could have won by a bigger margin after they squandered some golden chances with Glenn Hislop being the main culprit in front of goal. Final score was 2-1. There was a shock at Wainfleet United where Woodhall Spa returned home with all three points following a surprise 5-0 victory. The goals came from just two players with James Melia grabbing a hat-trick while Jason Cooke helped himself to two goals.

At last, Fosdyke have finally got off the mark in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two with their first point of the season following a fine 2-2 draw at Westside Rangers Reserves. After a goal-less first half, Andy Thorpe gave Fosdyke a real boost with the opening goal after 55 minutes before Rangers replied from a corner fifteen minutes later. Still Fosdyke had their sights set on their first win when Ben Charlton put them back in front five minutes later but they had to be content with a share of the points when the home side levelled the scores with a header, again from a set piece. Michael Langley and Kieran Gatenby hit the Rangers’ goals. Despite the goalless scoreline between Skegness Working Men’s Club and Boston Town Old Boys, both sides contributed to providing an excellent contest. Skegness probably created the more clear-cut chances with the woodwork coming to The Old Boys’ rescue on three occasions but the visitors never gave up battling away. Skegness also thought they had scored when an effort appeared to have crossed the line but the referee was unable to give it. Final score was 0-0. Friskney went down 3-2 at home at the hands of Mareham United. Perrie Dale and Daniel Fletcher grabbed the Friskney goals and they could have snatched some reward if they had converted a penalty but unfortunately for the home side they squandered their chance from the spot.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three Mareham United’s recent signing, Kyle Smith proved to be the main difference between the two sides when they travelled to Park United for their local derby encounter. The in-form striker hit five of his side’s seven goals in a 7-1 away win. Mark Twells and James Wisby also got on the scoresheet for Mareham United Reserves. Old Doningtonians Reserves repeated their first team’s comeback result when they also came from 2-0 behind to snatch a 3-2 away win at Billinghay Athletic Reserves. Rick Harrod had give Billinghay a two-goal lead before Giles Favell pulled a goal back. Jamie Fovargue’s penalty brought the scores level before a ferocious Favell shot gave the visitors the three points. Billinghay tried to get back into the game but keeper, Andy Barnett’s safe hands preserved the Dons’ lead. Pointon Reserves came up against a strong Kirton Town Reserves, almost conceding double figures in a 9-2 home defeat. Kirton Reserves appear to have turned the corner now taking into account their recent performances and are finally playing the football that they have been threatening for a while. They ran riot at Pointon with fluid football that was far too strong for the home side. Richard Borrill grabbed a hat trick while young striker Aidan Mooe did one better scoring four goals. The other two goals came from Liam Wilson and Jordan Gilliard. Pointon could probably boast scoring the best goal of the game when George Sharp’s rocket of a shot flew into the Kirton net. Cryss Stoffel grabbed the other Pointon goal. Eastville, Midville and New Leake conceded two late goals to finally go down 5-1 at home to Spalding Town Reserves. After falling behind to a goal with just two minutes played, Eastville then squandered three gilt-edged chances to get back on level terms before the break when through on one-on-one’s with the goalkeeper. Spalding made their opponents pay for their first half misses when they went 2-0 ahead with a well executed lob and things got worse for the home side when they fell further behind ten minutes later. New signing, Mark Mitchell gave Eastville a glimmer of hope with a debut goal to make it 3-1 but further disarray in the home ranks saw them sunk without a trace in the latter stages of the game.

Round-up for January 24

Two goals from Cymon Lambe helped secure three valuable Cropleys Suzuki Division One points for Holbeach Bank when they entertained Nortoft United in a bottom of the table clash. Pete Hicks also got on the scoresheet in a 3-1 home win. Woodhall Spa United bounced back from an early setback to bag all three points in their home game against Coningsby Reserves. Despite falling behind to a goal after just two minutes Woodhall levelled five minutes later and they went on to gain three crucial points in a 4-2 home win. James Melia grabbed two of the home goals while Gareth Melia and Jason Cooke made sure of victory. The other scheduled game at Pointon was called off due to a waterlogged pitch

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Tydd St Mary were soundly beaten at home by promotion-seeking, Spalding Town with Thomas Rabiega and Mark Sampson both scoring twice. Nathan Young (senior) completed the scoring in a 5-0 away win. After last weeks battling performance against Fishtoft in the cup, Tydd St Mary let themselves down against an in form Spalding Town side. The first half an hour was very evenly contested with both sides creating chances but it was Spalding who took the lead after thirty five minutes when a corner was bundled into the net to make it 1-0. Tydd battled but created little and Spalding doubled their advantage just before the end of the half to make it 2-0 at the break. The second half saw Tydd captain Matty Clayden withdrawn after five minutes of the re-start due to injury and the Tydd team failed to cope with the Spalding Town threat in midfield. Spalding scored another three times before the end of the match with Tydd hardly threatening the Spalding goal. Spalding Town ran out deserved winners. Final score was 5-0. Carl Duncan scored twice for Sutterton in their 3-2 home win against Sportsman. Micky Hill was also on target for the home side while Sportsman can consider themselves unfortunate not to have gained a share of the points when a late header was ruled out by a marginal offside decision. Stefan Furnell and Nicky Dev Vries grabbed The Sportsman goals. The two remaining games at Friskney and Skegness Working Mens Club were postponed. The East Lindsey District Council called off the Skegness Working Men’s Club v. Boston Town Old Boys fixture on Friday due to the pitch being waterlogged and the Friskney v. Westside Rangers Reserves match was postponed on Saturday morning.

Holbeach St Marks pushed Cropleys Suzuki Division Three leaders, Fishtoft Reserves all the way in their clash last Saturday. Fishtoft scored early on through Tim Billingham and somehow held onto their slender lead to preserve their 100 per cent record. St Marks produced some decent football but couldn’t find a way through the well organised Fishtoft back four. New signing, Kyle Stainton turned out for Spalding Harriers Reserves for his debut and the ex-Swineshead player soon made his mark with two of his side’s goals in a 4-1 away win at Old Doningtonians Reserves. Jeremy Sooben and Daniel Langford completed the scoring. Old Dons replied through Giles Favell. Woodhall Spa United Reserves inflicted another defeat on basement side, Mareham United Reserves. Chris Hall, Alex Behan and Charlie Stapleton were all on target in a 3-0 home win. Spalding Town Reserves remain firmly in second place after a 2-1 away win at Kirton Town. Kirton performed well enough and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal from Richard Borrill. Unfortunatley they spurned the rest of their many chances to kill the game off while Spalding calmly went about their business, replying twice to take the points.

In round one of the Barclays Brokers Willoughby Cup and for the second week running Coningsby and Freiston played out a 2-2 draw. The encounter seven days earlier was for League points while last Saturday the outcome was for a passage through to the next round of the cup and it required a penalty shoot-out to decide the winners. Coningsby were rocked after 20 minutes when the visitors opened the scoring through defender Lee Marshall. Play was disjointed for much of the half with several offside decisions and some reckless tackling disrupting the pattern of play. Coningsby finally got back on level terms when Tom Dickinson’s tame shot somehow crept into the net. In the second half Freiston continued to test the home defence and they regained the lead on the hour mark when Jamie Skinner headed home a left wing cross. Freiston were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when they were reduced to ten men after Tyrone Fravigar received his marching orders following a second yellow card for protesting to the referee. Coningsby levelled the tie once more when a foul on the edge of the box was adjudged to be have been committed inside the area and the referee pointed to the spot much to the visitors’ dismay. Ben Brown coolly converted the penalty to take the match into extra time. Neither side could find the crucial breakthrough in extra time so the dreaded penalty shoot-out had to decide the outcome. Freiston keeper, Rick Lovelace proved to be his side’s match-winner with two penalty saves while Aston Chase, Dean Seiner, Marvin Wiltshire and Lovelace himself converted their spot-kicks as the visitors triumphed 4-1 on penalties. There was another tie which needed a penalty shoot-out to decide who went through to round two and that was at Fishtoft in an all Division One clash where Wainfleet United were the visitors. Both sides fought out an exciting 3-3 draw before Wainfleet sneaked through on penalties. Fishtoft went close with goals from Damian Pugh, Ady Almond and Nathan Skayley and Wainfleet earned their shoot-out with goals from Michael Parnham, Matthew Broome and Adam Carter. Park United, languishing in the lower reaches of Division Three had the unenviable task of taking on Premier side Wyberton at Carrington last Saturday. The underdogs managed to restrict the visitors to single figures but only just as Wyberton found their opponents net nine times without reply. For the record, the goals came from John Reeson (3), Sam Louth (2), Kevin Orton, Steve Fulcher, Scott Creek and Ben Parkinson. Goals from Hayden Miller and Des Rook secured Spilsby Town’s passage to the next round when they defeated Wrangle United 2-0 at home. A single Richard Stukins goal was enough to see Swineshead safely through at the expense of Kirton Town. Stukins’ fifth minute strike appeared to be a sign of a tough day ahead for Kirton but the visitors weathered the early storm before proving to be stubborn opponents. Swineshead struggled after that early breakthrough as the visitors continually frustrated the home side. Fosdyke endured a nightmare opening to their home tie against Old Leake by conceding three goals inside the first five minutes. Another three goals followed before the break to put the result beyond doubt. To their credit, however, Fosdyke performed well after the break and Scott Ekins reduced the arrears before Old Leake wrapped up the scoring at 7-1. For the visitors, Rob Staples was in a rampant mood scoring five of his side’s goals while Adam Sinclair and Adam Tempest completed the scoring.

Round-up for January 17

North Sea United remain on top of the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division table following a convincing 4-0 win against lowly Wrangle United. Two goals in each half saw off the challenge of the visitors and leading goalscorer, Rob Masters was on song once more with a fine hat-trick while Ben Daws also got on the scoresheet. The top of the table clash at Freiston saw Coningsby earn a share of the points with a 2-2 draw. In a very competitive encounter, Coningsby started brightly and they struck first when Pete Dickinson got on the end of a left wing cross after fifteen minutes. Freiston rallied and they drew level on the half hour mark when Jack Smith headed home from a corner. The home side thought they had gone further ahead a few minutes later but the effort was ruled out for a foul on the keeper. Freiston put their opponents under some real pressure early in the second half and they were rewarded with a goal after sixty five minutes when Aston Chase swept home a right wing cross. Coningsby dug in late on and they deservedly drew level 10 minutes from time when Robin Holderness scored following a scramble in the Freiston goalmouth. The final score was 2-2. Wyberton move into third spot following their 2-0 away win at Billinghay Athletic. Sam Louth and John Reeson scored the all-important goals for the visitors. Skegness Town Reserves hit Westside Rangers for seven at home with Nathan Wetton grabbing an impressive treble. Jordan Wood scored two goals while John Jeffery and Arron North completed the rout.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Fishtoft Reserves’ leading goalscorer, Simon Hyland grabbed a second half winner to keep his side firmly on course for promotion after a 2-1 home win against Billinghay Athletic Reserves. All the goals came in the first half and it was Billinghay who opened the scoring before Lewis O’Keefe levelled the scores. The match was decided when Hyland’s 30-yard lob found the net to give Fishtoft maximum points. A superb individual effort from Jamie Fovargue was the highlight of Old Doningtonians Reserves’ comfortable 3-0 away win at Pointon Reserves. The tricky play-maker picked up the ball just outside his own penalty area before setting off on a mazy run and finishing in style with an excellent shot. Giles Favell hit the other two match-winning goals. It may have been a different story had Pointon not missed from the penalty spot with the scores standing at just 1-0. Richard Jones unfortunately screwed his spot kick wide of the target. Two goals from new signing, Carl Smith helped Mareham United Reserves to their first league win when they entertained Eastville, Midville and New Leake. Ben Cross grabbed the other Mareham goal in a 3-0 home win. In The Spalding derby game Spalding Town Reserves defeated Spalding Harriers Reserves 4-2 at home. Matt Smith and Jason Chilvers grabbed The Harriers’ goals. Kirton Town Reserves narrowly defeated Park United at Graves Park by the odd goal in five. Matt Lee grabbed two goals while Richard Borrill also got on the scoresheet for Town in a 3-2 victory. Park went close with goals from Thomas Limb and Alex Limb.

In the quarter-finals of the Target Newspapers Challenge Cup, the big shock of the day came at Division Two side, Friskney who humbled Wainfleet United who are riding high in Division One. Pete Holland’s tactics of employing a five-man midfield frustrated Wainfleet throughout. A single goal settled the outcome and it came from Michal Saskowski after twenty five minutes - his first shot was parried out by the keeper and fortunately for Friskney the alert striker followed up to tuck away the rebound. Wainfleet did have their chances to have levelled the tie especially in the second half but they failed to find a way through. Robert Holland produced a fine save when he tipped over a goalbound shot and Royston Wilkinson went agonisingly close when he headed over from a good position in the last minute. Spalding Town await Giant-Killers, Friskney in The Semi Finals after they too pulled off a big surprise when they recorded a thumping 4-1 away win at Division One side, Woodhall Spa United. Spalding, who are looking favourites for promotion, deservedly dumped Woodhall out of the competition with a fine all-round display. After falling behind, Woodhall bounced back with an equaliser from Jason Cooke who converted from the penalty spot. Spalding then stepped up a gear to blitz their opponents with three further goals. They went ahead with a goal from the penalty spot before wrapping up the tie with two further goals. Spalding’s match-winners were David Simpson 2, Mark Sampson and Thomas Rabiega. Final score was 4-1. Tydd St Mary took to the field for the first time since 20th December to put in an admirable performance against Fishtoft, from a division above, in this Challenge Cup quarter final match. The Saints had recently lost two influential players to local rivals Long Sutton and were looking to put in a good performance. Tydd started the brighter and could have scored after fifteen minutes but unfortunately for the home side Ash Godfrey pulled his shot across the face of goal. At the other end Fishtoft threatened on two occasions but Martin Cherry was impressive in goal for Tydd. Fishtoft took the lead after 22 minutes after a good move culminating in a Grant Butler finish. Tydd replied immediately on twenty five minutes when Matty Clayden was put through and although his first shot was saved by the keeper he recovered quickly to latch onto the rebound and prod the ball home. Play was fairly evenly balanced for the remainder of the first half and the scores remained 1-1 up to the break. Fishtoft came out of the blocks for the second half the stronger and looked threatening but it was Tydd who had a good penalty decision waved away on the hour mark when Godfrey was brought down in the box but the referee thought otherwise. Fishtoft rallied and made it 2-1 with a goalmouth scramble that was bundled in by Martin Jolly after sixty three minutes. The Saints did get a penalty award after seventy one minutes when Godfrey was hacked down in the area and Andrew Bennett duly despatched the spot kick to draw the scores level. The game could have gone either way from here but it was Fishtoft who again took the lead on seventy eight minutes when a long free kick was flicked into the far corner by Ady Almond to put the visitors through to the semi final. Tydd tried desperately to force extra time but Fishtoft held firm to book their place in the semi final. Final score 3-2. Tydd manager, Carl Wilson, was delighted with his sides’ battling performance and felt that they had been unlucky not to have got something from the game. Tydd’s man of the match was Matthew Clayden. Fishtoft’s opponents in the semi-finals will be Old Doningtonians after they convincingly disposed of Mareham United in their home tie. Chris Wing grabbed two of the Dons’ goals while Liam Pitts, David Slaughter and Mick Holstead completed the scoring.

Swineshead are just one step away from the Mason Bros Lincs Junior Cup final after an impressive 4-1 quarter-final home win against Barrowby. The Boston League side had to come from behind after falling behind to a goal midway through the first half when they conceded a corner. When the flag kick came over the visitors opened the scoring with a header to give them a slender interval advantage. A tremendous second half performance from Swineshead saw them finally draw level after creating several chances that had gone begging. The equaliser came on 73 minutes when substitute, Benn Houghton scored with an overhead kick following a corner. The home side were boosted by the breakthrough and Jack Houghton doubled their lead five minutes later when he knocked the ball home from close range after good work from brother Benn. Swineshead scored a crucial third goal after eighty two minutes when Ben Harris’s cool finish found the net from the edge of the box after a cross from Scott Hempsall. The triumphant Swineshead camp were still celebrating when they added a fourth three minutes later with a Benn Houghton tap in following neat build up play down the left from centre back Nathan Stainfield. Swineshead have been rewarded with a home tie against Louth United on February 7 – kick off 2.15pm. The other semi-final will be contested between AFC Brumby and Harvest Pet Products.

Round-up for January 10

Last weekend’s big freeze put paid to almost half of the Boston Saturday League’s scheduled fixtures. The problem areas appeared to be down the centre of the affected pitches, which remained frozen throughout the day while the grassy flanks of the playing surfaces were okay..

North Sea United, renowned for their impressive Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division comebacks this season, were at it again when they entertained Westside Rangers at the Camp. The half time score stood at 1-1 but then Westside rocked the Prison side with two goals after the break to lead 3-1. Just when it looked as if the leaders would kick off their New Year with a defeat, they conjured up a stunning five-goal salvo in the final 10 minutes to sink their opponents. Rob Masters struck with a hat-trick while Alan Careless hit two goals to keep North Sea firmly on top of the table. Ben Daws weighed in with the other goal. Rangers had gone close to causing an upset with two goals from Steve Vogel and one from Tom Ruck. The other two games — at Kirton Town and Spilsby Town — were called off after early morning pitch inspections, which revealed frozen surfaces.

On a crisp, but playable pitch, Old Boys continued their push for a top four position in Cropleys Suzuki Division One with a strong second half performance against Old Doningtonians. It was the visitors who played the better football in a closely fought first half and they created a couple of good chances that they weren't able to take. Old Boys slowly began to settle, with the defensive duo of Tim Gilbert and Dave Parker-Meadows in good form. As Old Boys got into the game Manager Liam Dave went close with a looping shot that hit the post, but within minutes Paul Colton coolly finished to give the home side the lead. The visitors continued to play good football in the second half, but struggled to create many chances in the last third. This enabled Old Boys to take control and extend their lead through Chris Gilbert after good work by skipper Gary Booth. Ben Kinnear then came on to replace scorer Gilbert, and was soon on the scoresheet himself. Mid-way through the half, the hard working Booth then got the fourth with a looping deflected shot. Within a minute Ash Allen’s sweet left foot strike made it five to finish off the day's scoring. Both sets of players thanked Old Boys chairman and secretary Ian Walsham for stepping in as referee when the assigned official did not attend. Fishtoft had a worthwhile journey to Holbeach Bank when they returned home with a 4-1 victory under their belts. Substitute Damian Pugh had a big impact on the game when he came on to grab two of his side’s goals while Ady Almond and Scott Wiseman also got on the scoresheet. The Banks’ goal came from Joe Evling-White. The matches at Wainfleet United and Woodhall Spa United unfortunately succumbed to the biting weather.

Two goals from Tom Laverack helped Skegness Working Mens Club to a 3-0 local derby Cropleys Suzuki Divisipon Two win at home against Friskney. Andy Verhaul completed the scoring from the penalty spot. Westside Rangers Reserves defeated Sportsman 3-1 at home thanks to goals from Jody Betts, Andy McGuire and Jason James. A single Tom Waterson goal was enough to keep Wyberton Reserves on course for promotion when they entertained Spalding Harriers. The 1-0 victory was enough for Wyberton to retain their unbeaten league record. Hot on the heels of the leaders is Spalding Town who also recorded a single goal victory when they played hosts to bottom side, Fosdyke. It required a penalty to sink brave Fosdyke – converted by Martin Patterson after 31 minutes. The only match to suffer from the weather in this division was at Boston Town Old Boys where an early decision was important bearing in mind the lengthy journey being made by Tydd St Mary.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Eastville’s home game against Holbeach St Marks was the first game of the day to be called off following their early morning inspection.

The only game in to survive in the Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup quarter-finals was at Mareham United Reserves where they enjoyed a welcome victory against Spalding Harriers Reserves. James Wisby scored one of the goals for the basement side while substitute Tom Searles struck twice to give the home side some New Year cheer.

Round-up for January 3

The eight ties at the third round stage of the Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup produced a couple of shocks and a close shave for Premier Division title-chasers, Freiston. One of the shocks came at Holbeach St Marks where Spalding Town, who are riding high in Division Two were humbled at their Third Division opponents. One goal settled the match and it came from Ryan Wheeler who scored the winning goal for the second week running for St Marks. The other surprise result was at Old Doningtonians where the Division One outfit defeated lowly Premier side, Wrangle United in a high scoring encounter. Martin Fox struck twice for the home side while Chris Wing, Liam Pitts and a screamer from Carl Appleyard settled the outcome in a 5-3 score-line. Wrangle’s goals came from Shaun Tebbutt, Tim Bell and Perrie Dale. Old Leake certainly made Coningsby fight all the way during the first half of their tie at The Community Centre before they came unstuck after the break when The Premier side stepped up a gear to finish up comfortable winners. Old Leake restricted their opponents to just a single goal during the first half but Coningsby striker, Robin Holderness went onto complete a splendid hat-trick to help put his side through to the next round. Lee Marshall and Pete Dickinson also got on the scoresheet. Final score 5-0. Spilsby Town overcame what looked to be a difficult home tie where Wainfleet United were the visitors but The Premier side made sure there was going to be no upset winning comfortably 3-0. Gary McGilloway, Des Rook and Tom Jenkins scored the crucial goals for Spilsby while Wainfleet’s man of the match, goalkeeper, Joe Perry helped keep the score down with some fine saves. The all-Division Two clash saw Sportsman going out of the competition by the odd goal in seven. Sutterton started well and for the first twenty minutes had Sportsman back-peddling. Sutterton had striker, Andy Brown to thank for their two-goal opening while Sportsman were forced to make an early substitution when Dan Baty had to leave the action due to a twisted ankle. After keeper, Scott Williams had made a great save to deny Sutterton a third goal, Sportsman reduced the arrears through Nicky De Vries after Stefan Furnell provided the opening. The second half was a more evenly contested affair and the home side drew level through Dave Willis who’s lofted cross from the right flank found the far corner of the net. Sutterton stormed back with another Brown blast to complete his hat-trick and ten minutes later the goal machine turned provider when his cross was tucked away by Paul Wright. Sportsman pulled goal back in added time through Furnell to make the final score 4-3. Nortoft United made Premier high-flyers, Freiston fight all the way to earn their passage through to the next round. It hadn’t looked too good for Nortoft early on when Nathan Padley opened the scoring for the home side and the Division One side had to defend extremely well to keep their opponents from running away with the tie. Nortoft kept Freiston out until ten minutes after the break when James Messenger weaved his way through before finishing with a low shot to make the score 2-0. Freiston then uncharacteristically became sloppy at the back and they paid the penalty as Nortoft took advantage. The visitors pulled a goal back after seventy minutes with a cross-shot before levelling the tie five minutes from time. Dean Seiner saved Freiston’s blushes with an extra time winner – a well-taken effort to make the final score 3-2. A Marcin Mincyzynski hat-trick helped Spalding Harriers dump Boston Town Old Boys out of the competition. Allan Lawrence and Steve Carn were also on target for The Spalding side in a 5-1 home win. James Wright grabbed Town’s consolation.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Eastville, Midville and New Leake had a miserable start to the new year when they went down to a heavy home defeat at the hands of Pointon Reserves. A virus had laid low several of The Eastville players and even goalkeeper, Daniel Bowers was forced out of his sick bed to help his side out of a selection crisis. Eastville found themselves trailing 2-0 at the break and a third goal in the second half put the result beyond doubt before Jack Wyeth reduced the arrears. Pointon wrapped up the scoring with another to run out 4-1 winners. Old Doningtonains Reserves got back to winning ways with a 3-2 away win at Mareham United Reserves. Andy Barnett set up Lee Fovargue for Dons’ opening goal before a trademark Jamie Fovargue free-kick set the visitors on the way to victory. Old Dons’ third came when Mark Sharman’s fine run allowed Chris Grimer the chance to wrap up the points. Mareham’s goals came from Jamie Lewis and Richard Hall. Park United enjoyed a welcome winning start to 2009 with a 3-2 home win against Freiston Reserves. Joshua Stanley was on target for Park during a first half in which Freiston replied to bring the scores level at the break. Alex Penny and Stephen Hall both grabbed crucial goals for Park in the second half to put the home side in command before a controversial penalty made a tense finale for United but they held out for maximum points. Freiston’s goals came from Troy Ayton and Dave Robinson.

Round-up for December 27

North Sea United found Kirton Town stubborn opponents in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division last Saturday before finally edging victory by the odd goal in seven. North Sea set off at a frantic pace, storming into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Davies, Byrne and Masters before Kirton rallied with two goals to go in for the half time break just one goal down. Kirton continued to take the game to The Camp and they levelled the scores at 3-3 to set up a tense finale. The prison side snatched victory with another Byrne strike to keep the pressure on at the top of the table. Final score was 4-3. It was a brave effort from the visitors who had earlier in the week confessed to be struggling to get enough players together for the visit to the Camp.

In the other Premier game, Wrangle United won 4-1 at Westside Rangers where a Jody Betts’ goal was the home side’s only highlight.

Park Road Old Boys enjoyed a fine 5-2 Cropleys Suzuki Division One away win at Fishtoft to finish the year on a high note. Goals from Paul Colton and Ash Allen put the visitors 2-0 ahead at the half-time break before Fishtoft stormed back to level the scores. Ash Allen then grabbed his second goal of the game to put Park Road back in front before Rick Limb made it 4-2 following a corner. Jack Smith then got on the scoresheet to complete the scoring. Wainfleet United were another side had, allegedly, encountered problems earlier in the week in gathering up enough players for their visit to Spilsby Town Reserves. No such problems were apparent as the visitors came away with a comfortable 3-0 away win. Rob Jackson struck twice during the first half to put Wainfleet 2-0 ahead and a further goal from Jamie Sleight completed the scoring after the break. Man of the match accolade for Wainfleet went to Royston Wilikinson who was instrumental in United's excellent away win.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Fosdyke are still looking for their first win following a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Skegness Working Men’s Club. Chris Bell was on target for Fosdyke. In the other game Westside Rangers Reserves were narrowly defeated 2-1 at Spalding Harriers. John Shaw grabbed the goal for Rangers but it wasn't enoughto gain any reward.

Fishtoft Reserves continue to look odds-on for the Cropleys Suzuki Division Three title following a 3-0 away win at Kirton Town Reserves. Tim Billingham, Carl Tate and Lewis O’Keefe grabbed the crucial goals for Fishtoft. The only real surprise was that leading scorer, Simon Hyland failed to get on the scorehseet last week although he did set up the second goal. A Ryan Wheeler goal was enough to give Holbeach St Marks victory in their home fixture against Spalding Harriers Reserves. Final score was 1-0. Park United goalkeeper, Darren Hunt tried his level best to keep his side in the game when they entertained Woodhall Spa United Reserves but even his heroics weren’t enough to prevent the visitors from returning home with maximum points. The overworked keeper was beaten twice as Woodhall chalked up a 2-0 away win.

Round-up for December 20

Although no games were lost due to the weather last Saturday, Westside Rangers had trouble raising enough players for their first team fixture at Swineshead Institute. Unfortunately for the club, they are not allowed to withdraw from a first team fixture if they still have a second-string game scheduled for the same day. Westside Rangers ended up pulling both sides from their games leaving the management committee to decide the outcome at January’s meeting. The likely outcome will be that both of their sides will forfeit the points along with the added punishment of a hefty fine.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, Spilsby Town hit six goals at Skegness Town Reserves where the only reward for the home side came in the form of a Ben Etches’ goal in a 6-1 scoreline. Spilsby’s super-six came from Des Rook (2), Graham Blades, Steve Marvell, John Jeffery and an own goal. Kirton Town moved off the foot of the table following their second win of the season when they narrowly defeated Billinghay Athletic at home by a 3-2 margin. Wyberton also hit three goals at home following a 3-1 home win against Wrangle United. Wrangle now fall into the bottom spot after the defeat.

Spilsby Town Reserves held Cropleys Suzuki Division One leaders, Swineshead Reserves until half-time in their home match at Ancaster Avenue but then the visitors stepped up a gear in the second half scoring three times to run out 3-0 winners. Harry Houghton, Benn Houghton and Andy Thompson did the damage with the second half goals. It hadn’t looked particular good for Swineshead during the opening period when they suffered a severe setback when Lee Hunt received his marching orders but they recovered to produce a battling team performance. Coningsby Reserves moved into second place when they too hit three goals in their home game against Woodhall Spa United. Daniel Daubney struck twice for the home side while Tom Dickinson also got on the scoresheet. Woodhall hit back with two goals from Jason Cooke but Coningsby held out for maximum points. Final score was 3-2. Holbeach Bank gained a welcome three points in their home match against Old Doningtonians. In a closely fought encounter Holbeach Bank edged victory with goals from Cymon Lambe and Mark Casey in a narrow 2-1 scoreline. In a game of two contrasting halves, Park Road Old Boys capitulated after the break in their home encounter with Old Leake. With the game evenly balanced at 1-1 during the first half the points could have gone either way but Old Leake produced a storming second half display to return home triumphant after a 3-1 victory. Goals from Andy Ayliff and Mark Smith secured a 2-1 home win for Pointon against Nortoft United. Fishtoft had a fine 3-2 away win at title-chasing, Wainfleet United thanks to a great hat-trick from Nathan Skayley. The home side opened the scoring after five minutes when Royston Wilkinson headed home a Wes Sutton free-kick but Skayley levelled the scores five minutes before the break. Fishtoft then rocked their opponents with a crucial second goal two minutes before the interval when Skayley was again on target. Wainfleet went further behind when Skeyley completed his hat-trick after the break before Michael Parnham gave the home side a glimmer of hope but Fishtoft stood firm to hold out for the three points. Final score was 3-2.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Wyberton Reserves came out on top in their top of the table clash at Boston Town Old Boys but it needed a late debatable penalty to secure victory. After a goal-less first half, Boston Town fell behind but they continued to push for an equaliser until they were dealt a late blow when Wyberton broke away forcing a desperate tackle in the Old Boys’ box and the referee awarded a penalty which was converted. Final score was 2-0. Spalding Town are hot on the heels of the leaders following a 4-1 local derby win away from home at Spalding Harriers. The Harriers goal came from Dawid Kantak. Friskney went down to a 2-0 defeat at home against Skegness Working Mens Club. Friskney did have their chances during the game when Daniel Fletcher went close with two headers and Richard Dennis struck the crossbar – also with a header but Skegness deservedly edged victory with their two replies. Andy Brown was in top form for Sutterton in their home game against Tydd St Mary. “Bomber” Brown was in no mood for festive favours as he hit four of his side’s six goals. Carl Duncan scored twice in a 6-2 home win.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Eastville, Midville & New Leake were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Spalding Harriers Reserves. After falling behind, Eastville hit back through George Patman. Spalding again edged in front before the home side levelled before the break through Jed Stainton. Eastville went in front for the first time midway through the second half when Nicky Head scored but the visitors salvaged a point with an equaliser ten minutes from time. Nicky Head could probably have secured victory for his side after hitting the crossbar during the second half and the same player also went close on at least three occasions. Recent signing, Mark Cartlidge hit two goals for Spalding Town Reserves in their 3-0 home win against Holbeach St Marks. Martin Henderson was also on target for Town. Woodhall Spa United Reserves went down to a narrow 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Billinghay Athletic Reserves. Woodhall were leading 1-0 at the half-way stage courtesy of an own goal but they failed to convert chances after the break while Billinghay took theirs to run out winners. Fishtoft Reserves remain firmly on top of the table with their 100% record still intact after a 4-1 away win at Old Doningtonians Reserves thanks to goals from John McGarel, Tom Adams, Tim Billingham and leading scorer, Simon Hyland. Old Dons’ reply came from the penalty spot after Andy Barnett was adjudged to have been fouled in the box and Jamie Fovargue stepped up to slot home the spot kick.

A Greg Brown goal from the penalty spot was enough to give Skegness Town victory in their Mason Bros Lincolnshire Junior Cup fourth round tie against Mallard FC. Skegness Town will now join Boston League side, Swineshead Institute in the quarter finals. Skegness will travel to Harvest Pet Products while Swineshead will host Barrowby – both ties are scheduled to take place on January 10.

Round-up for December 13

The wet conditions before last Saturday caused the postponements of five games in the Boston Saturday League and with Park Road Old Boys unable to fulfil their fixture against Swineshead Reserves in Division One, all four divisions were affected.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, Billinghay Athletic’s home match against title-chasing Coningsby was called off due to a waterlogged pitch so it was left to leaders, Freiston to see if they could maintain their unbeaten run at North Sea United. Playing at the Prison is daunting enough but to come up against stormy conditions also was just too much for the visitors. With a gale force wind behind The Camp, Freiston struggled to get into any sort of rhythm and United took full advantage plundering our goals without reply before half time. It got worse for Freiston midway through the second half when North Sea made it 5-0 from the penalty spot. Lee Dakin grabbed a consolation goal with twenty minutes remaining to make the final score 5-1. David Noel did most of the damage with a hat-trick while Rob Masters and Gary Hayes completed the scoring. Wrangle United hosted Skegness Town Reserves in a hard fought East Coast derby encounter which saw The Seasiders snatch victory with a late winning goal. Both sides battled hard on a heavy pitch and it was Wrangle who struck first when Tim Bell went on a mazy run before slotting the ball past the advancing keeper. Skegness hit back just before half time when a right wing cross was converted at the far post. Both sides hit the woodwork in the second half as they tried to conjure up a decisive breakthrough but the game looked like finishing all-square until six minutes from time. It was a freak goal which settled the points when a cross from the right flank somehow got caught in a gust of wind and the ball sailed over a stranded Jim Bedford in the home goal. Final score 2-1. Two goals from Jimmy Britton helped Wyberton to a 4-1 away win at Spilsby Town. Chris Rutt and Sam Louth also got on the scoresheet while Pete Sampson replied for the home side.

Chris Massingham hit four goals for Nortoft United in their 7-2 home Cropleys Suzuki Division One win against Holbeach Bank. It was a welcome victory for Dean Stevens’ side after a run of several indifferent results. Craig Spooner, Christian Parker and Justin Reynolds also got on the scoresheet. Massingham struck first early on when he squeezed past two defenders before placing his shot into the net from 10 yards. Nortoft's lead was short-lived, however, as the Bank levelled within five minutes. The game was end to end for a while until United took the lead following a slick passing move which ended in Dean Steven's defence-splitting pass finding Justin Reynolds who fired into the top corner. Nortoft took control from thereon and Massingham added his second goal of the game when he reacted first to a deflected free kick. The fourth goal soon followed when Massingham completed his hat-trick when he headed home after Stevens and Reynolds had carved out the opportunity. Nortoft were out of sight by half time when Craig Spooner ran 40 yards pas two defenders before slotting home a deserved goal. Holbeach Bank started much brighter in the second half and they deservedly reduced the arrears after playing some good football. Nortoft stormed back and made it 6-2 through Christian Parker's low shot before a fizzing Reynolds free-kick forced the Bank keeper to parry the ball out to Massingham and the lurking striker netted his fourth goal to make the final score 7-2. Nortoft keeper, Karl Beck was influential in preventing Holbeach Bank from adding to their score with some great saves. Referee Dave Bent had a fine game in the middle. Old Doningtonians and Spilsby Town Reserves shared the points in a 2-2 draw. Liam Pitts and Chris Wing grabbed the Dons’ goals. Rob Staples hit the Old Leake goal in their home game against Fishtoft but they went down to a narrow 2-1 defeat. Leon Pycock and Martin Jolly hit the decisive goals for the visitors. Referee Tom Horton had a fine game in the middle. Andy Money got Woodhall Spa United off to a flying start in their home game against Pointon but unfortunately for the home side they couldn’t maintain their bright opening. Pointon recovered superbly to take maximum points with a 3-1 victory. In fact Woodhall could have conceded further goals during the game as they completely lost their way.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Sportsman somehow threw away a 3-0 lead to finish empty-handed when they played hosts to Spalding Harriers. Nicky De Vries did his best to get his side into a seemingly unbeatable position with a fine hat-trick but at the other end things just got worse for the home side as they conceded four goals to lose out by the odd goal in seven. De Vries notched all of his goals during the first half before Spalding came out after the break with a new zest in their game and they pulled a goal back within five minutes of the restart before making it 3-2 midway through the half. The visitors then levelled the scores following a mistake in the home defence and the game appeared to be heading for a draw as the encounter entered the final minutes. The Harriers then dealt a massive blow to their opponents in the fading light when they snatched a winner. The visitors’ goals came from Marcin Minczynski 2, Allan Lawrence and Matt Paul. Final score 4-3. Fosdyke once again performed admirably for the first hour of their local derby encounter against Sutterton before capitulating in a big way to finish up on the end of a 5-0 score-line. The first half was an evenly contested affair in which Fosdyke probably edged the possession stakes although Sutterton went closest to scoring when Paul Wright’s penalty struck the crossbar on the half hour mark. A change of formation and a strong back wind ensured Sutterton produced a much improved performance after the break and they took the lead after fifty minutes with Carl Duncan bursting clear and shooting home. The lead was doubled after sixty five minutes when substitute Andy Brown crossed for the unmarked Matt Wright to tap home from close range and the game was over as a contest ten minutes later when Duncan fired home a stunning strike from the angle of the box. to make it 3-0. An own goal made it four then ‘old boy’ Andy Brown outpaced the Fosdyke defence in the dying seconds before rounding the keeper and slotting the ball home to make the final score 5-0. The weather conditions put paid to the fixtures at Wyberton Reserves and at Friskney where they were due to play hosts to Spalding Town and Tydd St Mary respectively.

Park United secretary, Fred Hunt spent three hours working on their Carrington pitch on the Friday and his son, Darren also dedicated a further couple of hours during Saturday morning in a bid to get their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Three derby match with Mareham United Reserves underway. But it was all to no avail as the referee declared the pitch unfit after further rain. Pointon Reserves home match with Spalding Town Reserves also suffered from the rainy conditions and was postponed. Freiston Reserves had striker, Troy Ayton to thank for their thumping 5-1 home win against Eastville, Midville and New Leake. The big goal-grabber struck four of his side’s goals while Stuart Messenger also got on the scoresheet. Spalding Harriers Reserves and Old Doningtonians Reserves gained a point each after a 1-1 draw. Spalding earned their point courtesy of an own goal. Kirton finally found the win that has been coming for weeks with some good overall play. Both teams struggled with the wet conditions but it was Kirton who came out on top. Kirton went ahead through Jordan Gilliard after a slick move. Woodhall then equalised and Kirton thought it was a case of deja vu. They persevered however and went ahead through Matt Lee. A further goal from young striker Aidan Moore sealed the game to make the final score 3-1.

Round-up for December 6

It was a magnificent seven Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division performance for Coningsby when they paid a visit to the North Sea Camp last Saturday. The visitors inflicted only the second defeat on the prison side in a game where Coningsby went goal-crazy during the final 10 minutes. Tony McCauley scored the North Sea goal in the first half as The Camp took the game to their opponents but they still found themselves trailing 2-1 at the interval. After Coningsby edged further in front in the second half through a superb Carl Wilson header, a crucial substitution ended any hopes North Sea had of saving the game when Pete Dickinson was introduced into the action. Deadly Dickinson plundered an amazing four-goal haul during the final ten minutes to give Coningsby victory in a 7-1 scoreline. A Jonathan Barnsley header and a Robin Holderness strike completed the scoring for the visitors. Jimmy Britton and John Reeson both struck two goals each in Wyberton’s 4-2 home win against Westside Rangers.

Fishtoft got back to winning ways in Cropleys Suzuki Division One after an indifferent spell with a 3-1 home win against Nortoft United. The crucial goals came from Joe Bradbury, Simon Bush and a great header from Nathan Skayley. The game was evenly contested and was well controlled by referee Paul Revell. That defeat by Nortoft sent them down to bottom spot after Old Doningtonians conjured up an excellent 5-1 away win at Pointon. Martin Fox did most of the damage with a fine hat-trick while the other goals came from Carl Appleyard and Liam Pitts. Wainfleet United’s good run continued with a 3-2 away win at Park Road Old Boys. Gary Booth opened the scoring for Park Road before Tom Bone levelled for Wainfleet. Wes Sutton put United 2-1 ahead after the break before The Old Boys levelled through a Jack Smith penalty. Phil Simpson struck the winner to give Wainfleet three valuable points. Old Leake were handed an early Christmas present at Spilsby Town Reserves after just two minutes when a slip-up in the home defence allowed a grateful forward an easy tap-in with Spilsby keeper, Dan Fox slightly dazed and back-peddling off the pitch. It got worse for Town as they conceded a second goal after twenty minutes following a flighted chip from distance. Spilsby got their act together in the second half and Pete Sampson headed home a Rhys Fitzgerald free kick before they levelled the scores when Mark Ingram drove home a fierce free kick into the top corner. With half an hour left Old Leake were reduced to ten men when Scott McKay was harshly dismissed and then Spilsby went down to ten men shortly afterwards – only this time it was through an injury to influential captain Rhys Fitzgerald and with Town having no further substitutions to call upon both sides were evened up at ten men each. Old Leake snatch the winning goal with ten minutes remaining when a shot from the edge of the box flew into the net to give the visitors the three points and subject the home side to their first home defeat of the season. Final score was 3-2.

Micky Nuttell hit two goals for Boston Town Old Boys in their Cropleys Suzuki Division Two 3-1 home win against Sportsman. Mark Wakefield hit the other Boston goal. Sportsman’s reply came from Mitchell Johns. Skegness Working Men’s Club enjoyed a welcome 3-0 win when they entertained leaders, Wyberton Reserves. Although Wyberton were missing the services of five key players, take nothing away from the home side, who secured victory with goals from Tom Laverack, Andy Verhaul and Nick Cawthorn. Wyberton had managed to keep their opponents out during a goal-less first half. Andy Brown was in red-hot form for Sutterton when his side played hosts to Friskney. The ex-Fosdyke sure-shot hit all four of his side’s goals in a 4-2 home win. Both of Friskney’s goals also came from the same player with Jamie Lawson grabbing a brace. Thomas Rabiega struck five times for Spalding Town in their 8-2 away win at Westside Rangers Reserves. Nathen Young (Junior) grabbed two goals and Ainsley Johnson the other in the visitors' excellent victory. Rangers replied through Kieran Gatenby and Ben Gardner.

In an entertaining Cropleys Suzuki Division Three game at Eastville, the home side snatched maximum points in a nine-goal thriller. After trailing to an early Billinghay goal, Eastville striker, Micky Head took centre stage with a fine hat-trick and when Jamie Appleby added another it looked all over for Billinghay at half time. The visitors had played well enough during the first half and Eastville had goalkeeper, Dan Bowers to thank for keeping Billinghay at bay with some fine stops. The visitors stormed back with three goals after the break pulling the scores level with fifteen minutes remaining before Micky Head popped up again to edge his side back in front at 5-4 with ten minutes left. A tense finale saw Eastville, Midville and New Leake hanging on desperately as Billinghay threw everything at the home side. Lewis O’Keefe grabbed two goals for leaders Fishtoft Reserves in a 3-1 away win at Spalding Town Reserves. Top scorer, Simon Hyland was on target again as the title favourites retained their 100 percent record. Old Doningtonians Reserves had a real off day when they entertained Pointon Reserves stuttering to a 4-2 home defeat. The Dons did have five regulars missing from their line-up but can have no real excuses after a dismal display. Their only rewards for The Dons were two goals from Giles Favell. Chris Hall hit two goals for Woodhall Spa United Reserves in their 4-2 home win against Holbeach St Marks. Danny Wells and Stuart Gomes also got on the scoresheet while Ryan Wheeler struck both of The St. Marks’ goals. Mareham United Reserves collapsed late on in their home game against Freiston Reserves. Mareham were trailing 1-0 for a long time before a Troy Ayton penalty put Freiston 2-0 ahead with 12 minutes remaining. Three further goals followed late on to give the visitors a comfortable 5-0 victory as first, Stuart Messenger made it 3-0 and then Ayton grabbed his second goal of the game. Stuart Messenger fired home a long range shot which went in off the underside of the crossbar to give Freiston a welcome 5-0 victory. Park United held Spalding Harriers Reserves to a 3-3 draw at home. Dawid Kantak scored twice for the home side while Matt Smith also got on the scoresheet. Park salvaged a point with goals from Adam Gallimore who scored two and Ty-Martin Toon.

Boston League's last representative in the Lincs Junior Cup, Swineshead Institute progressed to the last eight following a 2-0 home win against Limestone Rangers. The home side were on top for much of the first half but several missed chances went begging and it looked as if the first period would finish goal-less. Then on the 40th minute Richard Stukins popped up with the opener when he stabbed home a close range shot after the keeper had parried out a Nathan Stainfield shot. Limestone started brightly after the break and they created a couple of decent chances but thankfully for Swineshead they failed to convert them. Swimeshead finally sealed victory with ten minutes remaining when Jack Houghton latched onto a through ball from Martin North before firing past the advancing keeper.

Round-up for November 29

Third Division outfit, Old Doningtonians pulled off a great result in the Main Ridge Take Away Reserve Cup when they travelled to Wyberton Reserves, who currently lie on top of Division Two. A tremendous 3-2 victory put Old Dons through to the next round although it needed extra time to separate the two sides. Wyberton held a 1-0 half time lead before Old Dons responded after the break with goals from Giles Favell and George Skafidas. Wyberton conjured up a late equaliser to take the tie into extra time but The Dons were not to be denied and they grabbed the crucial winner when Mark Sharman scored in the final minute. Fishtoft Reserves riding high in Division Three gave a good account of themselves when they entertained Spilsby Town Reserves from Division One. Fishtoft’s top scorer, Simon Hyland rocked the visitors with the opening goal when he headed home from a corner before Spilsby bounced back to level the scores after the break and although the home side created further chances Town kept them out through some great tackles from Dean Heard and several excellent saves from Andy Horton. The second half was a different story however, with Spilsby getting on top and they deservedly equalised through a Rhys Fitgerald free-kick from the edge of the box. Liam Shinn went close to giving Town the lead when he had a goal-bound shot cleared off the line and then hitting the woodwork twice. Spilsby snatched a winner with five minutes remaining when a Fitzgerald corner eluded everyone and curled into the net at the far post. This was Spilsby’s first away victory of the season. Referee Stuart Eyre had a fine game in the middle with both sides producing a good sporting contest. Woodhall Spa United Reserves booked their place in the next round with a 2-1 home win against Freiston Reserves. Daniel Wells and Alex Behan put Woodhall 2-0 in front before Freiston pulled a goal back through Dave Robinson with three minutes remaining. Spalding Harriers Reserves edged through at the expense of Pointon when they produced a hard fought 3-2 away win. Luke Chilvers, Callum McNab and David Kantak grabbed the all-important goals for Spalding while Shane Jordan and Tom Zealand replied for Pointon Reserves. Firm favourites in the competition, Swineshead Reserves, booked their place in the next round following a 3-1 home win against Spalding Town Reserves. The crucial goals came from Mark Ledger, Richard Barker and Harry Houghton.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division, goals from Robin Holderness who struck twice, and Ben Brown who slotted home a penalty, put Coningsby 3-0 ahead in their home match against Wrangle United. Although they squandered further chances to increase their lead they conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes to give Wrangle a glimmer of hope. The visitors had defended well during the first half, which finished goal-less and they desperately close to snatching an opener when Perrie Dale headed against a post. The home side opened the scoring through Brown’s penalty before Holderness’s double put them in the driving seat. Wrangle appeared to be heading for a heavy defeat but their young side refused to cave in and they pulled a goal back through Darryl Bray’s superb chip from outside the box. Perrie Dale then set up Tim Bell to fire home to make the scores 3-2 but Coningsby clung onto their lead to maintain their challenge at the top of the table. Freiston remain firmly in top spot after a 6-1 home win against Spilsby Town and they had to recover from being one down as the visitors took an early lead after ten minutes through Matt Barker. Lee Dakin levelled straight from the restart following a cross from Dean Seiner before Seiner put his side 2-1 ahead ten minutes before the break. A blistering six minute spell early in the second half finished off Spilsby’s challenge as Freiston went goal-crazy with three quick-fire goals. A rare Ty Fravigar goal was followed by another from Seiner before Aston Chase made it 5-1. In the fading light, a sweeping move sliced through the Spilsby defence allowing Nathan Padley enough room to complete the scoring to make the final score 6-1. North Sea United scored a goal in each half to remain hot on the heels of Freiston. Ben Daws and Sam Rahmonia were the Camp’s match-winners in a 2-0 victory over Wyberton. Westside Rangers hit six goals at Graves Park as Kirton Town’s dismal run continued. Westside started brightly and they took the lead before a controversial goal knocked the stuffing out of the home side – a shot was adjudged to have crossed the line with The Kirton defenders looking on in disbelief. Town did claw themselves back into the game after the break when Simon Collins scored to make it 2-1 but Rangers took control again scoring four more times to run out comfortable winners. Steve Vogel was on top form hitting four of his side’s goals while Tom Ruck scored twice.

Holbeach Bank came up against an inspired goalkeeping display when they played hosts to Pointon in a goal-less Cropleys Suzuki Division One stalemate. The Pointon shot-stopper thwarted the Bank on several occasions with some excellent saves to earn his side a valuable away point. It is rumoured that the goalkeeper is on the books of Championship side Queens Park Rangers. Final score was 0-0. Woodhall Spa United had a comfortable 5-1 home win against a stuttering Fishtoft side. Woodhall held a 3-1 half time lead and two further goals secured victory. Jason Cooke hit a hat-trick while Rob McCusker struck twice for the home side. After a couple of cup defeats to Spalding Town, Old Boys got back to league business and continued their charge for a top four finish with a hard-working performance against a spirited home side, Old Doningtonians. The visitors’ goals came from a Jack Smith penalty, his first since taking over the duties from Paul Colton, and stand-in skipper Gary Booth. The match was well refereed by Nick Sleaford. Old Boys have also received some encouraging news that injured skipper Craig Andrews may be able to pull a shirt on again before the season ends as his knee is showing signs of improvement. Liam Pitts grabbed the Dons goal in their 2-1 home defeat.

Mareham United defeated Boston Town Old Boys 3-2 at home in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two with goals from James Todd, Mark Hodgson and Shaun Smith. Both of The Town goals came from striker Micky Nuttell. Spalding Harriers continued their recent good run with a 3-0 home win against Sutterton. Steve Carn, James Smith and Adam Thompson hit the Spalding goals. Sportsman sprung a real surprise at Spalding Town by earning a share of the points in a game that they could so easily have won. Sportsman started brightly but Spalding struck first with their third attack of the game and although the visitors continued to play some attractive football the home side added a second – again through slack marking. Sportsman got back into the game just before half time when Nicky De Vries scored with a great strike from a tight angle. The Boston side came out after half time with a positive attitude and deservedly levelled through recent signing Dave Willis. Both sides produced some slick football and it was Sportsman who rocked their opponents by going ahead for the first time when Stefan Furnell scored with a delightful chip over the keeper after playing a neat one-two with De Vries. Town managed to salvage a point with a late equaliser but Sportsman held out to earn a creditable draw. Final score was 3-3. For the Sportsman, Josh Eldred was adjudged to be their man of the match. Tydd St Mary made the long journey to Skegness by minibus on Saturday and were relieved to have come away with a point. Having beaten Skegness Working Men’s Club twice already this season Tydd were in a confident mood however, it was clear from the offset that Skegness are a different team at home and they came at The Saints in numbers early on. Nevertheless, a combination of good goalkeeping and missed opportunities from both sides kept this game level up to half-time. The second half saw Tydd came out pressing for the opener but it was Skegness that took the lead five minutes after the restart when a good shot from outside the box found the back of the net. Tydd did not lie down and came back when Rob Mikla squared for Ashley Godfrey to level the scores at 1-1. Skegness regained the lead five minutes later with a very good passing move resulting in a close range tap in. It looked all over for Tydd 10 minutes from the end when centre back, James Barwick was injured after all three substitutions had been made and was forced to play up front. Yet the Saints never gave up and nicked a goal right at the death when Andrew Bennett whipped in a corner from the left and the ball deflected off a Skegness player to nestle into the back of the net to even up the scores at 2-2. The Skegness goals came from Andy Verhaul and Adam Morton.

Park United looked to heading for a hard earned Cropleys Suzuki Division Three

point at Holbeach St Marks with the two sides locked together in a 2-2 score-line with just seconds of added time remaining. The visitors were left stunned however, when Chris Broom scored a last-gasp winner from a free-kick leaving Park just enough time to restart the match before the referee blew the final whistle. Ryan Wheeler had struck twice for St Marks earlier while Chris Wright and Martin Bradshaw replied for Park United.

Round-up for November 22

There were no major surprises in the Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup, apart from Spalding Harriers defeating Fishtoft. But Holbeach Bank went mighty close to springing a big shock result when they entertained Spilsby Town. Cymon Lambe opened the scoring for the Division One side before Spilsby levelled to take the tie into extra time. Again the minnows shook their opponents with another goal when Mark Casey scored to put his side 2-1 ahead in extra time but Spilsby grabbed a last gasp equaliser fifteen seconds before the final whistle to send the encounter into the dreaded penalty shoot-out. The Premier side proved more deadly from the spot-kicks and they sneaked through by 4-2 on penalties. Spilsby’s normal-time goals came from Pete Sampson and Lathen Tuplin. Spalding Harriers from Division Two saw off the challenge of First Division visitors in the form of Fishtoft thanks to two goals from striker, Steve Carn. The double strike was enough to put the home side through after a hard fought 2-1victory. Wrangle United had to make six changes from the previous week when they travelled to play Skegness Town Reserves. The visitors suffered an early setback when Skegness were awarded a penalty and although Jim Bedford saved the first attempt he was powerless to prevent the rebound being knocked home. Wrangle fought back and were soon level when Jamie Elston latched onto Wayne Keal’s through ball before beating the advancing keeper. Wrangle then edged in front soon afterwards when Tim Bell scored and this was quickly followed by a Perrie Dale strike to put the visitors 3-1 ahead. Young Lewis Emmanuel added a fourth on his Premier debut before Skegness reduced the arrears with another penalty to make the half time score 4-2. In the second minute of the second half the home side were amazingly awarded a third penalty but Bedford’s earlier practice paid dividends and he made a fine save. Perrie Dale looked to have put the game well beyond Town’s reach with a fifth goal but two goals in the final five minutes set up a tense finish but Wrangle held out to book their place in the next round. Skegness went close with goals from John Jeffrey 2, Troy Lonslow and David Duckham. Final score was 5-4. You would have probably expected Boston Town striker, Micky Nuttell to celebrate his 40^th birthday with a goal when his side played hosts to Tydd St Mary but even though the home side won 4-0 the birthday boy didn’t make the scoresheet. Amazingly Ian Bircumshaw stole the limelight with all four of his side’s goals. Tydd St Mary were disappointing although they can take some credit for scoring probably the best goal of the game through Ashley Godfrey.Coningsby breezed through to the next round with a comfortable 8-1 away win at Third Division side, Eastville, Midville and New Leake but the underdogs frustrated their opponents with a stirring first half performance as they restricted the visitors’ lead to just 2-0. Coningsby’s strength and superiority eventually shone through and six more goals followed after the break. Robin Holderness grabbed a hat-trick while the other goals came from Pete Dickinson, Ben Brown, Jonathan Eadsforth, Tom Dickinson and Jordan Moore. Eastville’s efforts were rewarded with a Michael Head goal and they went close to adding another when the same player struck an upright. Final score was 8-1. Swineshead did just enough to book their place in the next round when they played hosts to Mareham United from Division Two. All the goals came during the first half while the second half was somewhat of a non-event. An own goal got Swineshead off the mark after 22 minutes when a defender who was under pressure turned the ball past his own keeper. The second goal arrived after 40 minutes when Nathan Stainfield stabbed home a Ben Harris cross following a short corner. The home side added a third three minutes later when Richard Stukins produced a cheeky back heel from an Anthony Slater cross. Mareham frustrated their opponents after the break, preventing Swineshead from adding to their score while at the other end goalkeeper, Andrew Stukins was rarely troubled so it was pretty dour ending to the tie. Final score was 3-0. A depleted Freiston side still proved too strong for visiting Westside Rangers. Freiston held a slender 1-0 lead at the halfway stage thanks to a Dean Seiner strike but Rangers crumbled after the break conceding a further five goals. Nathan Padley 2, Peter Lovelace, Aston Chase and another Seiner goal ensured a comfortable passage to the next round. It wasn’t until the closing minutes that Reserve keeper, Carl Rowe was finally beaten to give Westside a consolation goal. Final score was 6-1. Friskney struggled to contain the energies of a young Holbeach St Marks side when they played hosts to the Third Division side and they were dumped out of the competition following a 4-0 defeat. Tom Brooks struck two goals for St Marks while Lewis Forman and Martin Gordon completed the scoring. Skegness Working Men’s Club from Division Two were always facing a mountain to climb when they took the field with only nine men against First Division side, Old Doningtonians and not surprisingly, they conceded double figures in a heavy defeat. Chris Wing helped himself to five of his side’s goals in a 12-0 victory while the tally was completed with further strikes from Liam Pitts (2), Martin Fox, Tom Wilkerson, Adam Slaughter and Wayne Foster. Wainfleet United also hit double figures when they made the journey to Carrington to take on Park United. Rob Jackson with two goals, and Lee Johnson with another, put the visitors into a comfortable 3-0 half-time lead. Park battled bravely after the break and will feel a little unlucky to have conceded a further nine goals. Royston Wilkinson and Wes Sutton struck early in the second half before Rob Jackson completed his hat-trick. Michael Parnham then helped himself to a brace of goals before Scott Drury and Wes Sutton, with his second goal of the game, completed the scoring. Old Leake are through to the next round following a comfortable 4-0 home win against Pointon. Rob Staples hit two of the Leake goals while Luke Stocks and Scott MacKay made sure of victory. It looks as if Sutterton will be awarded with a ‘walk-over’ following Billinghay Athletic’s decision to pull out of their tie at The Second Division side’s ground because of a lack of available players. Two goals from Thomas Rabiega were enough to give Spalding Town victory at park Road Old Boys although it needed extra time to decide the outcome. Jack Smith grabbed The Park Road goal but it wasn’t enough to prevent the visitors squeezing through in a closely fought 2-1 victory. A single Jimmy Britton goal separated the two sides at Graves Park where Wyberton were triumphant over Kirton Town.

Swineshead Institute Reserves grabbed a late Cropleys Suzuki Division One winner at Coningsby Reserves to retain their place at the top of the table. Carl Wilson’s two goals looked to have earned Coningsby a share of the points in an evenly contested encounter before Swineshead dealt the late body-blow to their opponents. Swineshead’s match-winners were Alex Kirkham, Harry Houghton and an own goal.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Spalding Town Reserves remain in touch with the leaders following a 4-1 home win against Woodhall Spa United Reserves. Aiden Doherty hit two of the Town goals while Chris Page and Mark Henderson also got on the scoresheet. Fishtoft Reserves’ leading scorer, Simon Hyland grabbed another two goals in his side’s 3-2 home win against Kirton Town Reserves. Hyland’s strikes came from the penalty spot and a free-kick, which took a slight deflection. John McGarel was also on target for the league leaders. Two scheduled games failed to take place in the division – Billinghay Athletic Reserves versus Spalding Harriers Reserves and Pointon Reserves v. Freiston Reserves. Billinghay opted to pull out of their first team’s Sports Cup tie after several players were found to be away for the weekend on a ‘Stag’ weekend and this forced the Reserve team match to be cancelled also owing to League rules not allowing First team games to be ‘pulled’ before the second-string fixture. In the other match, Freiston Reserves were unable to go ahead with their game at Pointon because of a serious lack of available players. It is expected that Spalding Harriers Reserves and Pointon Reserves will be awarded the three points at December’s management meeting.

Sportsman took part in their second successive friendly during a period of league inactivity when they played Old Doningtonians Reserves. Both sides provided a closely fought encounter in a 1-1 draw with Nicky De Vries being on target for Sportsman.

*****

At a management committee meeting held last Wednesday, the draw for round three of the Target Newspapers Challenge Cup was made. Ties to be played on Saturday, January 17, 2009 (1.30 pm kick-off) are:
Woodhall Spa United v Spalding Town
Friskney v Wainfleet United
Old Doningtonians v Mareham United
Tydd St Mary v Fishtoft

Round-up for November 15

Eastville, Midville and New Leake conceded another late goal as they crashed out of the Target Newspapers Challenge Cup at the round two stage in their home tie against Friskney. The visitors took a 10th minute lead following a fumble from the normally reliable Eastville keeper to edge in front during the first half before Eastville got back on level terms midway through the second period when Michael Head equalised. There was no further score during the ninety minutes so the match entered extra time and it was Friskney who grabbed the all-important winner to book their place in the next round. In an eventful cup tie there were two dismissals to cloud the afternoon. Old Doningtonians sent Holbeach Bank tumbling out of the cup when they recorded a 5-3 home win. Striker, Chris Wing hit two of his side’s goals while Andy Slaughter also got on the scoresheet with a rasping shot. Martin Fox and Liam Pitts completed the scoring for the Dons. Fosdyke yet again crumbled after producing a promising first half display when they travelled to Wainfleet United. The basement side in Division Two comfortably held their First Division opponents at 1-1 during the first half. But once Wainfleet had edged themselves in front after the break, Fosdyke capitulated conceding six more goals to end up on the end of a 7-1 mauling. Rob Jackson hit a fine hat-trick for United while Lee Johnson grabbed a double. A Royston Wilkinson penalty and a Phil Simpson goal finished off Fosdyke’s brave challenge. After losing 4-1 in a league encounter at home to Boston Town Old Boys earlier in the season, Tydd knew this game was never going to be an easy contest. Both sides had early chances in this cup game but it was Tydd who opened the scoring after five minutes when Dan Fines sprung the Old Boys defence before releasing Ashley Godfrey who rounded the keeper to slot home. The Saints went two up on the quarter hour mark with Lewis Chapman striking a fantastic free kick into the top right hand corner. Boston Town Old Boys applied the pressure and deservedly pulled a goal back on 31 minutes after a short corner was flicked in to the far corner of the net to make it 2-1. The pitch was heavy and conditions poor but neither side could find the net further before the break. In the second half Old Boys pushed The Saints back in this physical encounter and they drew level at 2-2 with 20 minutes to go after Micky Nuttell got his head to a long free-kick to score. The game could have gone either way in an even contest and Old Boys nearly scored when Nuttell hit the post with 10 minutes remaining but it was Tydd who scored the winner with just five minutes to go when Richard Smith was released down the right and he squared the ball for Godfrey who made no mistake in front of goal to send the Saints into the next round. Final score was 3-2. Spalding Town progressed into the next round of the cup, in a game of few chances as both sides toiled tirelessly on a heavy pitch. The home side, missing Colton, Jesson, Kinnear, Andrews and Smith, had the first chance, but Chris Gilbert shot inches wide with a tremendous shot. The visitors, who appeared to be hungrier to win the ball, took the lead through Paulo Junior who drove home a crisp shot into the corner of the net to take the lead. The remainder of the half was relatively even as both defences remained in control. The second half was much the same as the first, although Old Boys did show some improvement. Defender, Rick Limb swapped positions with Dave Parker-Meadows in the left midfield slot and the change led to a better team balance as the Old Boys pushed hard for an equaliser. It was somewhat against the run of play at the time, however when Tim Gilbert unfortunately turned the ball into his own net after a counter attack from Town. Back came The Old Boys and they gave themselves a lifeline when Gary Booth's free kick took a deflection to reduce the deficit. Park Road kept going right to the end but the visitors comfortably held on for the win. Final score was 2-1. A brace from Paul Sims, a Nathan Skaley penalty and a great Leon Pycock goal earned Fishtoft a comfortable cup victory at Spalding Harriers. Referee, Ray ‘Geordie’ Larcombe enjoyed a fine game in the middle. Final score was 4-0.

A 5-0 away win at Wyberton put Freiston on top of the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division table as previous leaders, North Sea United, were without a fixture. Both sides were forced into making early substitutions due to unexpected injuries and it was Freiston’s sub, Nathan Padley, who put his side ahead. This goal was quickly followed by a Dean Seiner strike as Freiston stormed into a 2-0 lead after fifteen minutes. Wyberton were struggling to find an answer to the visitors slick football and further goals from Padley and Seiner made the half time score 4-0. Freiston sealed victory midway through the second half when Seiner completed his hat-trick before Wyberton enjoyed their best spell of the game. The home side created several late chances but they failed to reduce the deficit. Final score was 5-0. Coningsby will be the first to admit that they didn’t perform to their usual standard when they visited Spilsby Town but the visitors will be grateful for a share of the points in a 2-2 score-line. Jonathan Barnsley hit both of the Coningsby goals while Spilsby replied through Stephen Marvell and Gary McGilloway. Billinghay Athletic got back to winning ways with a 3-2 away win at Westside Rangers. Rick Elsom and Michael Burt hit the goals for Rangers but it wasn’t enough to prevent Billinghay returning home with maximum points with goals from

Wrangle United recorded their first win of the season when they visited Graves Park to take on Kirton Town. The home side struggled to contain the lively Wrangle forwards in the opening stages of the game and Perrie Dale gave United an early lead when he swivelled on the edge of the six yard box before slotting home. The hard-working midfield of Wrangle’s continued to carve more openings for their strikers and Tim Bell produced two deadly finishes to put the rampant visitors 3-0 ahead at the break. The only black spot of Wrangle’s first half performance was the sending off of Wayne Keal. Kirton pushed hard after the break in an effort to get back in the game and but Wrangle’s ten men held them out until the 65th minute when the home side reduced the arrears. Kirton continued to pour forward but Wrangle sealed victory with a fourth goal fifteen minutes from time when Perrie Dale broke clear down the right flank before crossing for veteran, Shaun Tebbutt whose weary legs carried him forward and he managed to back heel the ball for Tim Bell to complete his hat-trick. Final score was 4-1.

A single Harry Houghton goal helped maintain Swineshead Reserves’ 100 percent record in the Cropleys Suzuki Division One following a 1-0 home win against Spilsby Town Reserves. The visitors kept their high-flying visitors at bay during the first half before Houghton struck ten minutes into the second period when the Spilsby defenders left the ball for each other allowing The Swineshead striker a free run at goal and he went on to finish in style. Spilsby’s Liam Shinn had a couple of chances but keeper, Frazer Hallam was in good form to deny him. Dan Smith also went close with five minutes left but he pulled his shot the wrong side of the post when clean through. Referee, Rod Crozier had a fine game in the middle.

Billinghay Atheltic Reserves hit six goals in their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Three encounter with Mareham United Reserves. It was Mareham, however, who struck first when they shook their opponents into action with their early goal but by half time the home side were 3-1 ahead. Another three goals followed after the break with Mareham grabbing another to make the final score 6-2. Rick Harrod and Daniel Long both struck two goals apiece while Alex Gammon and Adam Smith completed the scoring. Freiston Reserves were holding second-placed, Spalding Town Reserves to a 2-2 interval score-line in their home match last Saturday but the visitors stepped up the pace after the break to secure the three points with three second half strikes to run out 5-2 winners.

Sportsman and Nortoft United made the most of their inactivity last weekend to arrange a friendly between themselves. Two goals from new signing, Nicky De Vries helped secure a 3-2 win while Dean Fisher also got on the scoresheet. The two clubs have agreed to another friendly this coming Saturday as they are both without a league game once more.

Round-up for November 8

There were three Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division sides involved in County Cup action so there was only two top-flight games. One match was at Freiston where the second-placed side narrowed the gap on North Sea United following a 3-0 home win against Billinghay Athletic. The home side got off to a blistering start with the opening goal in the first minute when debutant, Michael Gardner was put through before the striker fired home a low shot from 20 yards. Lee Dakin then mad it 2-0 when he converted a left wing cross on the half hour mark. Billinghay came into the game briefly and although they enjoyed plenty of possession they couldn’t break through before the interval. Freiston controlled the second half but very often their final efforts were way off target. However with fifteen minutes remaining the home side wrapped up the points with a third goal when Aston Chase scored from the penalty spot. In the other Premier game Wyberton took the points at Graves Park where Kirton Town went down to a narrow 3-2 defeat in a game which was an evenly contested affair. Wyberton managed to score on the stroke of half time before Kirton replied mid way through the second half with a superb chip from Adrian Dobriansky. However, Wyberton managed to score two more goals to make it 3-1 in their favour and put the game out of Town’s reach. Kirton managed to reduce the arrears before the end through Martin Durrant but the home side ran out of time to find the equaliser. Wyberton’s goals came from Paul Vaughan who scored twice and Jordan Dixon.

Nortoft United had the difficult task of visiting high-flying Cropleys Suzuki Division One rivals Wainfleet United last Saturday and at half-time they appeared to be holding their own against the title-chasers. Phil Simpson struck for Wainfleet in the first half but Nortoft replied to go in all square at the break. A sending off turned out to be the turning point in the second half when Nortoft were reduced to ten men. This setback signalled an onslaught from the home side and Nortoft conceded seven goals to finish up on the end of an 8-1 mauling. Royston Wilkinson put Wainfleet 2-1 in front from the penalty spot before Rob Jackson added a third. Lee Johnson went onto grab a hat-trick while Jackson hit his second goal of the game. Jason Carter completed the scoring for the rampant home side. Old Leake had a comfortable 3-0 home win against Old Doningtonians. Adam Sinclair, Jamie Skinner and Scott MacKay hit the all-important goals for Old Leake. James Melia struck twice for Woodhall Spa United in their 4-2 home win over Holbeach Bank. Jason Cooke and Andy Money were also on target for Woodhall.

A new-look Sportsman side started well in their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Two game against Tydd St Mary and they had their opponents pegged back in their own half for the first 15 minutes. Every time the home side broke forward they looked menacing and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring when Steffan Furnell neatly turned in a corner at the far post. The goal seemed to spur Tydd into action and they were rewarded with an equaliser 10 minutes later when Sportsman’s John Gregory was deemed to have fouled his man inside the box and the spot-kick was converted by Ash Godfrey. Sportsman started the second half impressively and they regained the lead through debut-boy Nicky De Vries. Dean Fisher was pulling the strings for the home side and when Tydd had a man dismissed the game looked over for the visitors - The unfortunate player to receive his marching orders was James Barwick for violent conduct. Paul Marsh went close to adding a third goal for Sportsman but his free kick came back off an upright before Tydd came back into the game during the final fifteen minutes and home keeper, Scott Williams had to be alert on several occasions to keep the visitors out. Tydd’s efforts were rewarded when they salvaged a point with a last-gasp equaliser when an Andy Bennett free kick was flicked on by Godfrey and Andy Cooper swept the ball into the net. Final score was 2-2. Friskney and Fosdyke clashed in a bottom of the table encounter and Ryan Medley-Metcalf proved to be the difference between the two sides. Friskney’s deadly striker grabbed all three of his side’s goals in a 3-1 victory. Medley-Metcalf’s opener came after eight minutes before Fosdyke levelled the scores from a corner seven minutes later. The hat-trick duly arrived midway through the second half and Daniel Fletcher went close to making it 4-1 ten minutes from time with a mazy dribble which took him all the way through the opposing defence but he failed to provide a finish to match his approach play. Final score 3-1.

Boston Town Old Boys had a narrow home win against Spalding Harriers with Micky Nuttell opening the scoring for Town. The striker was credited with the second goal although there was some debate over the final outcome. Spalding’s Steve Carn replied for The Harriers but Town held out for a 2-1 victory. Nathan Young junior scored Spalding Town’s goal in their 1-1 draw at home against Sutterton. Inevitably it was Andy Brown who was on the scoresheet for Sutterton. The game between Mareham United and Skegness Working Men’s Club suffered an unfortunate end to the game when the referee was forced to abandon the match. With the scores standing at 2-2, The Skegness goalkeeper sustained a nasty facial injury following an unfortunate collision with an opposing player. Whilst the two sides awaited the arrival of medical help, the light faded quickly and the referee decided that there wasn’t enough time to complete the game and it was abandoned. The incident also sparked off an unsavoury skirmish, which saw a Skegness player receive his marching orders for retaliation. The goalkeeper appeared to have suffered a depressed cheekbone in the accident.

Eastville, Midville and New Leake appeared to be heading for another Cropleys Suzuki Division Three draw when they entertained leaders, Fishtoft Reserves. After a goalless first half Eastville looked capable of holding out but a 75th minute winner from leading goalscorer, Simon Hyland sent Fishtoft home with maximum points – their ninth successive victory. Two David Kantak goals secured the three points for Spalding Harriers Reserves in their 2-1 home win against Kirton Town Reserves. It was Spalding who scored first before Kirton equalised through Jordan Gilliard. The game could have gone either way before Spalding conjured up the winner to take the points. Woodhall Spa United Reserves and Old Doningtonians Reserves shared the points in a 3-3 draw. Alex Behan, Richard Whitfield and Danny Wells were on target for Woodhall.

Wrangle United amazingly threw away a 2-0 lead to crash out of the Mason Bros Lincs Junior Cup when they played host to North Somercotes. Goals from Jamie Elston and Nicky Spiller put Wrangle in the driving seat but they hit the self destruct button conceding four goals and they went out in a 4-2 defeat.

Round-up for November 1

North Sea United and Spilsby Town produced a very tight Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division encounter down at the prison camp where the points were settled by a single goal early on in the game. David Noel, returning from suspension, grabbed the all-important goal to give North Sea maximum points and keep the prison side in top spot. It was a crucial three points for the camp especially as two of their nearest title-challengers, Swineshead Institute and Freiston were being held to draws. Another side with desires on the title, namely Coningsby, had no problems in their home encounter against Kirton Town. The home side hit their opponents for six with Carl Wilson and Pete Dickinson both scoring twice. Ben Brown and Robin Holderness were also on target for Coningsby who move upto third place following this 6-1 victory. Adrian Dobriansky replied for Kirton. Wrangle United picked up their first league point of the season when, ironically, they visited the only team in the Premier Division with a 100 percent record, namely Freiston. It had been a mixed week for Wrangle United after they reluctantly withdrew their reserve side from Division Two – a matter to be ratified at next week’s league meeting. The Premier side had suffered for most of the season in raising enough players and last Saturday’s game saw the side made up of mostly reserve team players (with only three survivors from the last Premier Division outing). Wrangle struck first on the half hour mark when recent transfer capture from Friskney, Perrie Dale was felled in the box and fellow striker. Tim Bell converted the resulting penalty. Freiston came back strongly and they equalised within a couple of minutes when a free kick was flicked on and Dean Seiner squeezed the ball home from an acute angle at the far post. Freiston took the lead ten minutes into the second half with a well-taken goal from Lee Dakin who scored with a low drive. Wrangle refused to let Freiston settle, however, and they levelled the scores when Perrie Dale controlled a long ball before beating his marker and firing home for a fine solo effort. Freiston piled on the pressure late on forcing a succession of corners but keeper, Aiden Keal was in fine form helping to keep the home side out. Referee, Simon Howard had a fine game in controlling an exciting encounter. Final score was 2-2. Swineshead had to be content with a point on their travels to Billinghay Athletic following their 2-2 draw. The visitors were ahead at the break thanks to a Richard Stukins strike after 35 minutes when the striker collected a Jack Houghton pass before firing home. Billinghay drew level after 65 minutes with a superb Sam Miller free kick from the edge of the area. Swineshead edged back in front 10 minutes later when Matt Bates burst through onto a Ben Harris pass before slotting past the keeper. Swineshead's lead was shortlived, however, as Billinghay salvaged a point with a Gary Cochrane header from a corner. Final score was 2-2. Goals from Jimmy Britton and John Reeson secured three points for Wyberton in their home game against Skegness Town Reserves. The visitors managed to pull a goal back but they went home empty-handed after a 2-1 defeat. The only black spot for Wyberton was with the sending off of Lathon Millar who received his marching orders for getting involved in a skirmish.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Fishtoft got back to winning ways with a 2-1 home win against Coningsby Reserves. Pete Coonan and Nathan Skaley hit the goals for Fishtoft. Swineshead Reserves and Wainfleet United provided a feisty affair which, on occasions, turned far too physical. Wainfleet had a player dismissed in each half and with it went their hopes of gaining any reward from the game although Swineshead too had a player sent off in the second half brawl. Wainfleet had started well enough opening the scoring after ten minutes when Jason Carter netted before they suffered their first setback. Swineshead got back on level terms to go in at the break all-square before they clinched victory with the winning goal midway through the second half. Lee Hunt and Robert Snaith hit the match-winning goals for Swineshead. Richard Barker was the unfortunate player to receive his marching orders for the home side. Referee Barrie Ingham had a good game in the middle despite some unsavoury moments. In a game of two halves between Park Road Old Boys and Pointon, it was the Old Boys who started the game stronger and were soon one up when Paul Colton calmly side-footed into the net following good work by Ash Allen. Player-manager Liam Dave then made it two with a fine shot from the edge of the area. Chris Gilbert thought he had made it 3-0 when he burst clean through to score only to see a late offside flag deny him a goal. The visitors eventually settled and got back in the game with a scrappy goal before Colton immediately restored the home side's two-goal advantage just before half time. While Old Boys passed the ball well in the second half, Pointon's determination and commitment to attack was soon rewarded when they pulled a goal back early in the second half when a good run from midfield resulted in a goal. The visitors then threw everything at the home side while The Old Boys were relying on the counter attack and Ash Allen was the main culprit for not converting the chances that came his way. Pointon’s hard work eventually led to an equaliser when a long ball deceived Tim Gilbert leaving the striker to run through and finish emphatically. Old Boys nearly lost it in the last few minutes, but an excellent save by Chris Battle in the home goal retained the point. Special mention to Paul Revell who had an excellent game in the middle. Spilsby Town Reserves continued their good home form with a comfortable victory against Nortoft United. The home side opened the scoring after 20 minutes when a Mark Ingram shot was parried out by the keeper to Rhys Fitzgerald who was hand to tap the ball home. Liam Shinn's defence-splitting pass helped Spilsby go 2-0 ahead when Jamie Opray fastened onto the ball before chipping home a superb 30-yard shot into the net past a helpless keeper. Nortoft enjoyed the advantage of a stiff wind behind their backs in the second half but they couldn't break through a well organised Town defence and the home side went 3-0 in front when man of the match, Marcus De Vivar set up Liam Shinn to drill the ball home from the edge of the box - a big relief for the ex-Wrangle goalscorer who finally broke his duck for the season. Final score was 3-0.

There were two top of the table clashes in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two — at Boston Town Old Boys, who were held by Spalding Town and at Sutterton, who lost their 100 percent record at home to league leaders, Wyberton Reserves. Goals from Jamie Maddison and Adam Bradley earned Boston Town Old Boys a share of the points in their home clash with Spalding Town. The visitors replied through Nathen Young and Paul Slipper. Two goals from Jason Skinner helped Wyberton to a 3-1 away win at Sutterton thus putting an end to the home side’s impressive start to the season. Jason Allen was also on target for Wyberton. Spalding Harriers and Skegness Working Men’s Club served up an eight goal thriller last Saturday. Marcin Minczinsky grabbed two goals for The Spalding side in a fine 5-3 victory while Ben Jenkins, Matthew Paul and Adam Fuller completed the scoring. Fosdyke went down to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of a strong Westside Rangers Reserves outfit. Despite being under the cosh for much of the first half, Fosdyke managed to restrict their opponents to just one goal at the interval. Fosdyke produced a great improvement after the break but Rangers caught them out twice on the counter-attack. Jason James, Ben Gardner and Lee Nicholson hit The Rangers’ goals while Fosdyke replied through Andrew Thorpe who was rewarded for his persistence after closing down a defender, collecting the ball and firing home for a consolation.

In a Cropleys Suzuki Division Three game of two halves, Eastville, Midville and New Leake were held to a draw for the third week running when Park United earned a valuable point away from home. Eastville elected to tackle a strong headwind during the first half and they found themselves trailing 2-0 at the break with Alex Limb and Darren Hunt grabbing the all-important goals for Park. George Crewe pulled a goal back in the second half before Kris Holland brought the scores level with ten minutes remaining. A single Martin Gordon goal was enough to give Holbeach St Marks a 1-0 away win at Pointon Reserves. In the other remaining game Woodhall Spa United Reserves won 4-1 away at Mareham United Reserves. The home side’s consolation goal came from Jamie Lewis

Holbeach Bank conceded seven goals for the second successive week, this time in the Spalding Inter-Services Trophy at Old Doningtonians to crash out of the competition. Liam Pitts and Chris Wing struck two goals apiece while Martin Fox, David Slaughter and Sean Cade also got on the scoresheet. Tydd St Mary went into this Spalding Inter Services Cup game as the underdogs and surprised Long Sutton with their first half display. Tydd played the ball on the floor well and frustrated Sutton for long periods. Not surprisingly, there was tension between the two sides and, local rivalry was evident. Ashley Godfrey scored two in the first half for The Saints, Sutton getting one back to make the half time score 2-1. Long Sutton suffered a major setback when their keeper was sent off for raising his hands and pushing the referee. The second half saw 10-man Sutton come into the game more and pressurised the Tydd defence into making silly mistakes and conceding five goals in the process. The Saints were particularly vulnerable from corners and free kicks and the Magpies certainly played on this weakness to comfortably win the game in the end 6-2.

Round-up for October 25

With the Fishtoft Cup second round occupying several of the Saturday League’s Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division sides, Skegness Town Reserves and Coningsby were the only two teams in contention in the top flight. It was Coningsby who took the honours following a 2-0 away win. Tom Dickinson and Ben Brown grabbed the all-important goals for the visitors.

Coningsby Reserves mirrored their first team’s score-line when they played hosts to Park Road Old Boys. After a goal-less first half, the home side secured Cropleys Suzuki Division One victory with goals from David Stephenson and Jordan Moore. Final score 2-0. Nortoft United enjoyed a welcome win after a disappointing start to the season when they defeated Woodhall Spa United at home. Woodhall had been one of the form sides in the division up until last Saturday but Nortoft turned the form book upside down to lift themselves off the foot of the table. Dominic Cridland grabbed two of his side’s goals while Craig Spooner netted the other in a fine 3-0 home win. One side who remain on top form is Swineshead Reserves who recorded their eighth straight league win as well as being one of the most prolific goal-scoring outfits in the whole league. A 6-1 away win at Pointon kept the Swineshead goal-machine well clear at the top of the table. Ryan Barker scored twice for the visitors while James Andrew, Andy Thompson, Mark Ledger and Harry Houghton completed the rout. Ponton’s reply came from Dane Hardy. Spilsby Town got back to winning ways with a 3-0 home win against Fishtoft. After four successive away matches, Spilsby seemed to enjoy being back on home ground and with the wind behind their backs they opened the scoring through Neil Allen who headed in a Marcus De Vivar corner after twenty minutes. It was soon 2-0 following a long clearance from Dan Fox which was headed home by Dan Smith past the stranded keeper, Bob Warby who made some great saves to keep the score down. Fishtoft surged forward after the break but couldn’t find a way through the well organised home defence and Spilsby broke away to snatch a third goal when a fine flowing passing move resulted in De Vivar drilling home a superb shot. Fishtoft almost pulled a goal back when a shot from their own half struck the crossbar. Referee, Stuart Eyre enjoyed a comfortable afternoon controlling a sporting contest. Old Leake, who had struggled of late against all the new sides in the division seemed much more at home against one of their old adversaries, Holbeach Bank. But a 7-0 away win was still somewhat of a shock result.

A spectacular long range effort from Daniel Fletcher secured Friskney’s first Cropleys Suzuki Division Two victory of the season when they defeated Sportsman at home by that lone super-strike. After a goal-less first half the match appeared to be heading for a stalemate as the contest entered the final twenty minutes but then Fletcher connected with a 30-yarder from out of nowhere and the ball rocketed into the net past a startled keeper. Final score was 1-0. Sutterton found themselves trailing to an early goal in their away encounter at Westside Rangers Reserves through an Andy McGuire strike before levelling on the half hour mark with a trademark Andy Brown strike – the ex-Fosdyke striker latched onto a long clearance from his keeper before firing home. Brown was on target again 10 minutes later to put his side ahead when Ben Smalley’s quickly-taken free-kick put the speedy striker clear to round the advancing keeper and rolling the ball into the back of the net. Rangers grabbed another early strike in the second half through Kieran Gatenby to make it 2-2 before Sutterton finally edged back in front after seventy five minutes. This time, Brown turned provider when his free-kick found the unmarked Simon Long and he made no mistake with a close range finish. Sutterton wrapped up the scoring with a fourth and inevitably, it was Brown who had the final say completing his hat-trick to make the final score 4-2. There was another 4-2 away win, this time for Spalding Town who made the lengthy journey to Skegness Working Men’s Club. The visitors ensured it was a triumphant journey back home following goals from Martyn Patterson 2, Scott Philips and Paul Slipper. Skegness replied through Gordon Drake and an own goal. Poor Fosdyke were involved in yet another luckless encounter when they were the visitors to league leaders, Wyberton Reserves. The basement side enjoyed a bright opening in a goal-less first half and Wyberton had Scott Lea to thank for keeping them in the game with some fine saves – one being a brave stop to prevent recent signing, Ben Charlton from getting on the scoresheet when he broke clear on a one on one. Fosdyke were then dealt a cruel blow on the hour mark when a half-hit shot was deflected into the net off defender, Simon Chambers’ knee and wrong-footing the stranded keeper. A ridiculously high bouncing ball caught out the visiting defence for the second goal as the ball was headed over the onrushing keeper, Aaron Bradshaw who collided with the home striker resulting in the unfortunate goalkeeper being carried off. Fosdyke striker, Chris Bell went close for the visitors as they looked to get back into the game when he forced Scott Lea into the save of the match before a free-kick ten minutes from time put an end to Fosdyke’s brave fight. Wyberton sealed victory with a fourth shortly afterwards. Wyberton remain in top spot thanks to the goals from Tom Waterson 2, Nikki Himsworth and Jamie Cox. Final score was 4-0. Tydd St Mary made the long journey to Wrangle United Reserves and a 4-0 half time score-line looked to be making it a miserable return journey home for the visitors after some really sloppy defending. However, after some strong words at the break from the visiting dressing room, The Saints produced a major improvement in the second half playing far better than the first half. Bizarrely, the referee inadvertently helped Tydd for the first 10 minutes of the second half when Wrangle had to play with eight men! Wrangle had made three substitutions at half time but had failed to inform the referee. The official told the players to leave the field and wait to be called onto the pitch as he had not been told of the changes. The Saints took advantage of that and Ashley Godfrey scored his first goal of the game following a one-on-one with the advancing keeper. Wrangle looked visibly shaken by this early setback but with all their players now back on the field of play they conceded two further goals. Lewis Chapman scoring twice — a free kick that was a meant to be a cross and another from 25 yards that looped round the keeper. Wrangle finally responded with a fifth to restore their two-goal advantage again at 5-3 before Rob Mikla grabbed another and Godfrey scored his second goal of the game to make the final score 5-5! Both teams could have won the game with Wrangle having a goal disallowed when the ball looked to have crossed the line and Tydd having one ruled out for offside when Godfrey looked to have timed his run to perfection. Wrangle’s goals came from Daniel Redford and Tim Bell who scored two goals apiece and Jamie Skinner.

Old Doningtonians Reserves hit seven away from home when they had a successful Cropleys Suzuki Division Three outing to Spalding Town Reserves. Giles Favell got Old Dons’ off the mark before a superb 35-yard free kick from Jamie Fovargue put the visitors 2-0 in front. Further goals followed from Tom Wilkerson, Lloyd Oglivie, Martin Fox, George Skafidas and Andy Barnett who fired home a fierce low drive. Spalding hit back with goals from Chris Page and Paul Ryan. The result meant that Old Dons swapped places with their opponents and they now stand at an impressive second place in the table. Fishtoft Reserves are still top of the table following a 2-0 away win at Park United. It just wasn’t going to be Park’s day from the moment they had to provide a stand-in referee and following lengthy discussions, Darren Hunt, who was due to keep goal for the home side, reluctantly took control of the whistle. United were then forced to field a rookie goalkeeper in their side and although they gave a good account of themselves against the league leaders they ended up empty handed. Fishtoft’s goals came from Carl Tate and Tim Billingham. Eastville, Midville and New Leake conceded a late, late goal to deny them of another victory as they had to be content with a 2-2 draw at home to Mareham United Reserves. Mareham held a slender one-goal lead at the interval before a Jed Stainton header brought the home side level. Eastville then looked to have secured victory with a Michael Head goal before a wayward back pass was seized on by a grateful Mareham forward in the dying minutes to level the scores at 2-2. Billinghay Athletic Reserves entertained Kirton Town Reserves and both sides helped provide an exciting seven-goal thriller. It was Kirton who went ahead through up and coming striker Aidan Moore but then the visitors let themselves down and gave away two penalties, both converted by Rick Harrod to make the half time score 2-1. Kirton piled on the pressure after the break and they levelled through Matt Lee before the home side hit their opponents again with a two goal blast with Harrod again being on target along with Daniel Long to go 4-2 ahead. Matt Lee popped up again 10 minutes from time to make it a tense finale but Billinghay held out for the three points.

Two Dean Seiner goals in the opening 15 minutes of their away Fishtoft Cup tie at Wainfleet United, was enough to put the Premier Division side through to the semi-finals. Seiner opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a header and shortly afterwards made it 2-0 when he cleverly lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper. Wainfleet applied some pressure after the break with some neat approach play and the home side were finally rewarded with a goal 15 minutes from time when Phil Simpson netted following a fine cross from Shaun Drury. Wainfleet, prompted by their man of the match, Wes Sutton, continued to press forward in search of an equaliser but Freiston held firm and The Premier’s second-placed side went close to grabbing a third when a shot crashed back off the crossbar. Final score was 2-1. Westside Rangers caused a bit of an upset at Spilsby Town when the Boston side stormed through to the semi finals following a 4-2 away win. Steve Vogel opened the scoring for Rangers with a superb goal when his shot with the outside of his foot from twenty yards flew into the net. Spilsby then squandered a golden opportunity to level the tie when they were awarded a penalty but Westside remained in front after the home side missed from 12 yards. The visitors made Town pay for their miss when they went 2-0 ahead following Rick Elsom’s speculative 40-yard effort. The long range shot looked to be drifting wide of the target until the back-peddling keeper, in desperation, appeared to divert the ball into the back of the net. Westside were then pegged back as two quick-fire goals from Spilsby brought the tie level before Vogel popped up again with less than ten minutes remaining, slotting home from the penalty spot. With Spilsby pouring forward in an effort to rescue the match and send the tie into extra time, Ryan Mason ended their hopes with a fine individual effort when he beat several players before rifling the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Final score was 4-2. In the other all-Premier clash, Swineshead entertained Billinghay Athletic and both sides produced a closely fought quarter-final which was finally settled by a single goal. The goal-less first half was evenly contested with both sides producing just a few clear-cut chances. Swineshead performed much better after the break but solid defensive work and good goalkeeping kept Billinghay in the game. At the other end, Swineshead defended equally well restricting their opponents to just a couple of half chances. Just when it looked as if the tie was destined for extra time, Swineshead striker, Richard Stukins pounced for the winning goal when he slipped his defender before delivering a screamer of a shot into the net from 20 yards. In the remaining tie, Second Division side, Mareham United put up a brave fight at home to Wyberton before going down 6-2. James Todd grabbed both of the Mareham goals.

Round-up for October 18

North Sea United came from 2-1 behind at the interval to take the three Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division points on offer with a 3-2 victory against Billinghay Athletic. The visitors had taken the lead before the prison side equalised. Billinghay regained the lead before the break but United grabbed two match-winning strikes in the second half. North Sea’s goals came from Steve McMillan who scored twice and Gary Hayes. Freiston remain hot on the heels of the camp team with a 3-0 home win against Skegness Town Reserves. Freiston, kicking against the blustery wind played their best football of the game to lead 3-0 at the break. The home side took the lead after fifteen minutes when a tame shot from Aston Chase somehow managed to roll over the line. Jamie Khun was causing problems down the right flank and he produced two excellent crosses for striker Lee Dakin to head home on both occasions. Skegness, to their credit, responded after the break with some flowing attacking football and were unfortunate not to have reduced the arrears but Freiston held onto their clean sheet to secure three precious points. Swineshead stormed back from going a goal behind after 10 minutes to end up 5-1 winners in their home match with Coningsby. The visitors rocked the third placed side with the opening goal after just 10 minutes when a corner curled directly into the net. Swineshead pulled level on 25 minutes when Nathan Stainfield headed in a Ben Harris corner. Richard Stukins then edged Swineshead in front just before the break when he beat two defenders to fire home. The same player added a third goal ten minutes into the second half when he turned a defender before rifling home from 15 yards. The fourth goal didn't arrive until seven minutes from time when midfielder, Scott Hempsall raced through to get on the end of a Matt Bates cross to head home. Jack Houghton completed the scoring in added time when he burst through before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball into the back of the net. Kirton Town came away from Spilsby Town with a share of the spoils following a 1-1 draw. Spilsby started strongly and the visitors were under pressure against the wind and up the slight gradient on the home pitch. Spilsby managed to get ahead early in the second half through Des Rook before Kirton began to get a grip on the game after some tactical changes. Kirton managed to draw level mid way through the second period after striker Simon Collins coolly slotted home after he was put through on a one on one with the keeper. Kirton thought they had snatched victory through Chris Hilton’s strike only to be flagged offside by the linesman. Final score was 1-1. Wrangle United went down to a heavy defeat at home to Westside Rangers. John Tomlin and Sergio Roquetti were on target for United but they conceded at regular intervals at the other end as Rangers replied six times to run out 6-2 winners. Steve Vogel did most of the damage for Rangers hitting four of their goals while Jake Cawthorn and Jody Betts also got on the scoresheet.

The top of the table Cropleys Suzuki Division One clash between Fishtoft and Swineshead was, as expected, a tightly fought encounter settled by a single goal 10 minutes from time. Harry Houghton popped up with the crucial winner to keep his side top of the table. Park Road Old Boys dominated their home game against Nortoft United from start to finish despite the visitors taking an early lead with a well-worked goal after 14 minutes through Dean Stevens. Old Boys’ man of the match, Jonny Britton soon equalised when he smashed home a loose ball from close range following a corner. The same player then extended the lead by showing great skill to dribble past a first defender, lift the ball over the head of a second and score with a header as the keeper advanced to make the half time score 2-1. With the excellent Gary Booth, making his first start of the season following an eye injury, and Jack Smith controlling the midfield, Old Boys continued to dominate the second half. The third goal was the goal of the game when a fast sweeping move resulted in Rick Limb galloping from left back to head in Chris Gilbert's pinpoint cross at the far post. Gilbert himself then got number four when he burst through the defence to drive home. Both Ash Allen and Paul Colton went close to scoring further goals - Allen having a header hit the bar and a goal disallowed, Colton having a header cleared off the line. Old Boys got their fifth, which came from Booth’s crisp shot, to round off the home side's best performance of the season so far. Pointon and Old Leake shared the points in a 2-2 scoreline. Dane Hardy and Bill Sadler were on target for Pointon. Wainfleet United remain in second spot following a thumping 7-1 home win against Holbeach Bank. Matt Broome hit a hat-trick for his side while Lee Johnson and Rob Jackson scored two goals apiece. Woodhall Spa United continued their impressive run with a 5-1 home win against Old Doningtonians. Jack Draper opened the scoring for Woodhall and Andy Money grabbed the second as the home side edged 2-1 in front at the break. The home side then stepped up the pace in the second half scoring three times through Jason Cooke, Stuart Gomes and Rob McCusker. Spilsby Town Reserves suffered another defeat on their travels when Coningsby Reserves recorded a 4-1 home win. Steve Brown struck twice for Coningsby while Ben Lawton and Nick Shaw completed the scoring.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Wyberton Reserves hit five at Westside Rangers Reserves to remain top of the table. Jason Allen took star-billing with a hat-trick while Tom Waterson and Steve Melady also got on the scoresheet. Micky Nuttell grabbed two goals for Boston Town Old Boys in their 4-0 home win against Skegness Working Men’s Club. Jamie Maddison and a rare Curly Himsworth goal sealed victory. Tydd St. Mary played some good football in the first half against Friskney creating numerous chances with efforts from Ash Godfrey and Matty Clayden going close but it remained 0-0 at the break. However, The Saints came out with a clear purpose in the second half and scored their first goal after 52 minutes when Dan Fines floated in a speculative cross from the right that deceived the ‘keeper and nestled into the back of the net. Fines tried that trick again five minutes later but the Friskney ‘keeper managed to tip it over. Tydd made it 2-0 on 70 minutes after man of the match, Lewis Chapman lofted a precision ball to the far post that Clayden headed against the bar but Godfrey was there to head home the rebound. Just four minutes later it was 3-0 when Fines crossed from the right again and beat the keeper with an identical goal to his first (Fines later tried to claim that both of his speculative goals were intentional). The Saints were playing some excellent football now and two minutes later it was four when Chapman threaded a measured through ball for Andy Cooper to score. With just ten minutes left, Tydd completed the scoring when Godfrey put Cooper through again to score and make a resounding final score-line of 5-0. Fosdyke slipped to another defeat when they were defeated at home by Sportsman. Both sides struggled to get going during the first half before Sportsman opened the scoring ten minutes before the break when a left wing corner was headed home. Fosdyke levelled the scores early in the second half through Wayne Ash but they conceded a bizarre goal to fall behind and the visitors wrapped up the points with a third to run out 3-1 winners. Sportman’s goals came from Andy Waterson, Paul Marsh and Dean Fisher. Sutterton opened the scoring after just 30 seconds of their home game against Mareham United when Micky Hill fired home following good work between Andy Brown and Carl Duncan. Sutterton squandered further chances in the first twenty minutes but as the half wore on Mareham slowly took control and they produced the better football. Mareham began the second half in the same way as they ended the first playing some positive football but they couldn't produce the end product. On the other hand Sutterton showed them how its done with a second goal scored by Andy Brown after he made room for himself with a clever turn and fierce shot. Mareham pulled a goal back almost immediately after Sutterton failed to clear a corner but the home side wrapped up the points with a third goal following a fine move from one penalty area to the other ending with Brown sliding home his second goal of the game from ten yards. Final score 3-1

Fishtoft Reserves made it sevens wins out of seven following a 4-0 Cropleys Suzuki Division Three away win at Spalding Harriers Reserves. Simon Hyland was on target again for the leaders while Carl Tate, Grant Butler and Tim Billingham also got on the scoresheet. Tom Moor scored Billinghay Athletic Reserves’ only goal in their 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Spalding Town Reserves. Lee Fovargue was on target for Old Doningtonians Reserves in their 1-1 home draw against Freiston Reserves. There was another 1-1 draw at Woodhall Spa United Reserves where Eastville, Midville and New Leake maintained their recent good run. Richard Whitfield scored the Woodhall goal while Ben Lyons salvaged a point for Eastville. There was a game of two halves at Carrington where Park United and Pointon Reserves produced a six goal thriller. Park must have thought they were on their way to their second win of the season when they found themselves 3-0 ahead at the interval thanks to two goals from Gavin Gregory and another from Alex Limb. But Pointon bounced back after the break to rescue a point with three replies of their own. Final score was 3-3.

Round-up for October 11

Because of the Lincs Junior Cup activity, most of the Boston Saturday League sides were otherwise occupied in pitting their wits against unknown opposition from around the county. Therefore, there was only one game in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division and that was down at the North Sea Camp where the prison side got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory against Skegness Town Reserves. Both goals came during the first half with MacMillan and Coyle on target for North Sea.

Swineshead Reserves remain top of the Cropleys Suzuki Division One table following a 4-2 away win at Old Doningtonians. Richard Barker and Harry Houghton did most of the damage with two goals apiece while Martin Fox grabbed both of the Dons’ goal. Wainfleet United are now in second spot following a 4-1 home win against Coningsby Reserves. Shaun Drury, Lee Johnson, Royston Wilkinson and Rob Jackson were all on target for United. The win meant that United exchanged places with Coningsby at the top of the table.

Park Road Old Boys got back to winning ways after last week's defeat to Holbeach Bank with a gritty, hardworking performance. Mark Jesson was persuaded to return to the side to replace injured captain Craig Andrews and he produced a man of the match performance in the centre of the midfield. Old Boys started well and took the lead through Paul Colton but were immediately pegged back to 1-1 by the visitors through Michael Twigg. Colton then got his second to restore the Old Boys lead, but just before half-time, Spilsby came back again to equalise when Dan Smith scored. Early in the second half Colton had the perfect opportunity to complete his hat-trick and restore the home side's lead, but his penalty was well saved by Martin Ziller. With the home defence, in particular Simon Ward, keeping the visitors at bay, Old Boys continued to push for the winner. Player/manager Liam Dave duly delivered mid way through the half, rising high above the Spilsby defence to head home and secure three much deserved points. Referee Nev Abrams had a fine match in the middle.

Friskney could only manage to turn out the bare 11 players for their home Cropleys Suzuki Division Two

match against leaders, Wyberton Reserves. Friskney competed well enough early on but Wyberton’s superiority eventually came to the fore. Jason Allen hit a hat-trick for the visitors while Tom Waterson grabbed a double strike for the second week running. Jamie Cox also got on the scoresheet for the leaders in a 6-0 score-line. Friskney were dealt another blow this week when their leading goalscorer from last season, Perrie Dale, transferred to Wrangle United. Pete Holland declared however, that his side have now played all the top sides and now look forward to competing against some of the sides from the lower reaches of the league during the coming weeks. Nathan Young (junior) scored twice for Spalding Town in their 3-0 home win against Tydd St. Mary. Jonathan Turner was also on target for Town. Tydd St Mary competed well against the in-form Spalding side during this match but were undone on thirty five minutes when a good through ball saw the Town player go one on one with the 'keeper before tucking it away into the top right hand corner. The Saints had their chances but it remained 1 – 0 at the interval. The second half saw Spalding come strongly at Tydd and they doubled their lead within eight minutes of the re-start with a carbon copy of their first goal. The Saints rallied and felt they suffered some injustice on sixty five minutes when Ashley Godfrey was brought down by the last defender. The defender escaped with a yellow card when a red card seemed more appropriate, and a free kick was awarded as opposed to a penalty. Lewis Chapman beat the ‘keeper from the resulting free kick but his shot hit the bar. Spalding made it 3 – 0 with fifteen minutes remaining. Sportsman, looking for their first points of the season, played hosts to Mareham United and they opened the scoring early in the first half when Dean Fisher scored the first of his two goals. New signing, Paul Marsh added a second before Fisher made it 3-0 at the interval. Mareham raised their game after the break and they clawed themselves back into the game with two goals to make it 3-2. Man of the match, Steffan Furnell came to his side’s rescue, however, with the best goal of the game to make it 4-2 to Sportsman. Back came Mareham and they reduced the arrears to make it a nervous final period for the home side but they held on for three precious points. Final score 4-3. Marcin Minczynski scored twice for Spalding Harriers in their 3-0 home win against Fosdyke. Matt Paul was also on target for the home side

Holbeach St Marks and Old Doningtonians Reserves served up a seven-goal thriller in their Cropleys Suzuki Division Three encounter. After St. Marks recovered form being a goal down, they recovered superbly to lead 3-1 following goals from Tom Brooks, Lewis Forman and Tom Elderkin. It was then Old Dons’ turn to turn things around when they somehow dug deep to level the scores before snatching a last-gasp winner to return home with the three points. Old Dons match-winners were Mark Sharman, Lee Fovargue, George Skafidas and Jamie Fovargue (penalty). Dons’ keeper, Andy Barnett produced a heroic performance following a nasty facial injury. Eastville, Midville and New Leake recorded their second successive win following a 2-1 home win against Kirton Town Reserves. Jed Stainton opened the scoring for Eastville early on before George Patman made it 2-0 at the halfway stage. Kirton reduced the arrears in the second half through Matt Lee to set the nerves jangling in the home camp but Eastville held out to gain three more valuable points. Goals from Matt Smith and David Kantak secured a 2-0 away win for Spalding Harriers Reserves at Mareham United Reserves. Fishtoft Reserves remain top of the table following a 4-2 away win at Freiston Reserves. Simon Hyland was again amongst the goals along with Carl Tate, Tom Adams and Lewis O’Keefe. Freiston replied through Dave Robinson and Chris Spiller. Rick Harrod and Daniel Long were on target for Billinghay Athletic Reserves in their home game against Pointon Reserves but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from going down 4-2. Daniel Wells grabbed the Woodhall Spa Reserves’ goal in their 2-1 home defeat against Spalding Town Reserves.

Wrangle United had several first team players missing for their Mason Bros Lincs Junior Cup round one visit to Grimsby to take on Seven Seas but thankfully five of the second string squad answered the call late on Friday night or early Saturday morning. The Grimsby side adopted a very physical approach early on in the tie in an attempt to unsettle the young Wrangle side but the visitors rocked their opponents with the opening goal when Thomas Crozier curled in a superb free kick. Wrangle’s player-manager, Neil Pursey then gave Seven Seas a lifeline when he headed into his own net following a corner before the visitors regained the lead before half time when Tim Bell finished in style after a fine run. Seven Seas threw everything at United in the second half but The Boston League side stood firm and Tim Bell struck with two killer blows in the final 20 minutes to put the visitors through and complete his own personal hat-trick. Final score was 4-1. Another of the Boston sides, Swineshead Institute also produced a fine away performance when they travelled to Scotter United. Swineshead eased through in a difficult game following some excellent finishing. The visitors opened the scoring after thirty two minutes when Richard Stukins lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper after latching onto a through ball from Ben Harris. Scotter’s most dangerous forward the levelled the scored three minutes later when the speedy left wing raider cut inside before firing home a shot across the goal and inside the far post. A hotly disputed goal edged Swineshead ahead three minutes before the break when Jack Houghton netted a rebound from a Stukins’ shot which the keeper parried out. The Scotter manager reacted too strongly to claims for offside and the referee dismissed him from the ground. Swineshead went 3-1 ahead seven minutes into the second half when Jack Hougthon got behind the defence to fire home after Anthony Slater had threaded a pass through. Scotter pushed their big centre back into an attacking roll and the gamble soon paid off as he got on the end of a long throw before the visitors wrapped up the tie with a fourth goal on seventy minutes. Brother Richard forward collected goalkeeper Andrew Stukins’ long punt and he beat two defenders before rifling home from the edge of the box. Final score was 4-2. In the battle of the two Boston League sides, Coningsby came out on top against Westside Rangers by the odd goal in seven. This was the second time the two clubs had faced each other in the last three weeks and Coningsby had now edged it on both occasions. And amazingly, Pete Dickinson chalked up a second successive hat-trick after his treble against Spilsby seven days earlier. Tom Dickinson was also on the score-sheet for the home side. Westside had gone into the game with anew Manager and were looking for an improvement after a poor start to the season. Rangers, unfortunately couldn’t have got off to a worse possible start conceding an opening goal inside the first ten seconds following a sloppy pass in the defence – Pete Dickinson grabbing his first goal of the game. Westside were back on level terms midway through the half when Rick Elsom swivelled neatly on the edge of the box before curling a delightful shot past the despairing keeper. Coningsby regained the lead just before the break when their keeper launched a huge clearance into the path of Pete Dickinson and he finished in style. Rangers came out after half time determined to get back into the tie and Michael Burt drew his side level with a fierce low drive from just inside the box. Coningsby took the lead for the third time with probably the best goal of the game when Tom Dickinson curled in a superb effort from the right hand corner of the box. The visitors refused to lie down and they bravely equalised again through Burt’s second of the game following an excellent cross from Steve Vogel. Just when it looked as if the tie would go into extra time, Pete Dickinson nodded home the winner from a corner to make the final score 4-3. Referee, Tony Sharrock enjoyed an excellent match in the middle. Kirton faced a very experienced side on Saturday and although they held their own at the back but they were unable to provide the killer touch in front of goal and this failing lost them the game. AS Motors went down to 10 men just before half time due to an injury but they stood firm. In the second half AS then had a player sent off which made it 11 against 9. Somehow the Kirton strike force were failing miserably in front of goal and they were dealt a further blow when their striker, Ashley Hughes was sent off for a second bookable offence when he stupidly hand-balled in the opposing area. This evened it out slightly at 10-9 in players but still neither side came close to scoring. Extra time followed but it still ended up as a stalemate. AS showed their experience in the penalty shoot out and ended up bizarre winners in a tie that Kirton should really have finished off. Nortoft United looked to heading for victory in their home tie against Market Rasen as they entered the final stages of the game with a 1-0 lead. But the visitors snatched a late equaliser before being awarded a penalty in the last minute. To Nortoft’s dismay the spot-kick was converted and they were suddenly out of the competition. Final score was 2-1.

Round-up for October 4

North Sea United’s winning start came to an end last Saturday when they entertained Swineshead in Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division. In the windy conditions, constructive football was limited with only a few chances created at either end. The visitors took the lead as early as the eighth minute when Ben Harris finished from close range following good work from down the right from Matt Bates. Swineshead’s second goal came late on when substitute Kyle Stainton, returning from a year-long absence following a broken leg, laid the ball off for Paul Clarke who lobbed a superb shot over the keeper to seal victory. Final score was 2-0. Billinghay Athletic and Spilsby Town produced a dour 1-1 draw. Gary Cochrance had given Billinghay a 1-0 half time lead but Spilsby bounced back after the break to level the scores through Gary McGilloway. Pete Dickinson, the former Billinghay Athletic play-maker hit a hat-trick for his new club, Coningsby in their impressive 4-1 away win at Wyberton. Lee Marshall hit the other goal for Conignsby. Wyberton’s reply came from Jimmy Britton. Westside Rangers started brightly in their home game against formidable opponents, Freiston and they shook the visitors with the opening goal. The visitors responded positively and only fine goalkeeping from Rangers’ keeper prevented them from levelling the scores. However, on the half hour mark, Peter Lovelace did eventually net the equaliser from a low cross before Dean Seiner gave Freiston the lead for the first time. Westside continued to defend well after the break but they were undone by a quick-fire burst from midfielder, Jamie Khun who ran through from the halfway line before scoring on the hour mark. Seiner made it 4-1 shortly afterwards when Scott Hutchinson’s header fell nicely for the striker to score. Peter Lovelace wrapped up the scoring with a fifth goal just before the final whistle when he headed home. Final score 5-1. Kirton Town played hosts to an in-form Skegness Town Reserves and it was the home team who found themselves battling against the wind in the first half but they defended impressively to go in at the break with the scores standing at 0-0. After the break Kirton knew the game was for the taking and mid-way through the second half they managed to snatch a goal from Simon Collins to go one up. Further chances for Kirton came but were unfortunately spurned. However the home side ended up worthy 1-0 winners after some great individual displays all over the pitch.

Cropleys Suzuki Division One leaders, Swineshead Reserves were again among the goals at Tattershall Road where, this time, Nortoft United were the victims. Richard Barker scored twice in a 5-0 victory while Alex Kirkham, Robert Snaith and an own goal completed the scoring. Coningsby Reserves recovered from being 1-0 down at the interval to take all three points in their home encounter with Old Leake. The wind played its part in the game with Leake scoring just the once during their first half breeze-assisted opening. Coningsby fared much better after the break scoring three times through Lukasz Wojcik, Daniel Barker and Carl Brown to run out 3-1 winners. Wainfleet United played hosts to Pointon and both sides produced an exciting nine-goal encounter with the home side coming out on top following a 6-3 victory. Lee Johnson hit two goals while Andy Rasmussen, Rob Jackson, Jason Carter and a Royston Wilkinson penalty completed the scoring for United. Pointon’s goals came from Pete Wilson, Paul Goodwin and Paul McHugh. A combination of an excellent home team performance and the loss of inspirational skipper Craig Andrews with a serious knee injury, requiring the attendance of an ambulance, led to a dismal day for Old Boys. Both sides started brightly, with the home side's front two of Cymon Lambe and Ben Crane in excellent form. With the wind at their backs, Lambe opened the scoring for the home side when he burst through the Old Boys defence to fire past Battle with a great finish. With the game continuing to be evenly contested, Old Boys equalised when Andrews dribbled through the home defence to cross for Chris Gilbert to head home from five yards out. The Bank then regained the lead when Crane pounced on a rebound to make the half time score 2-1. It was within the first five minutes of the second half when Andrews suffered his injury that halted the game for over ten minutes. As Chairman Ian Walsham followed the ambulance to Boston, the visitors fell into a state of shock. The excellent Lambe took advantage to register three more goals to finish with a personal haul of four goals in the game to cap a superb man of the match performance. Bank also added a sixth to rub salt into the visitor’s wounds further when Crane netted his second goal of the game. Craig Andrews left hospital at 7pm on Saturday and was due to return yesterday (Tuesday) for further scans and tests. Early indications are that he has suffered a serious knee ligament injury that will potentially rule him out for a number of months.

Friskney entertained one of the early-season Cropleys Suzuki Division Two favourites for promotion, Spalding Town, and it was always going to be a tough task for the lowly home side. They performed well enough during the first half and Gary Dent rocked Spalding with the opening goal to put Friskney 1-0 ahead. This setback only boosted Town to step up their game and by half-time the visitors were 6-1 ahead and the game was as good as over. Five further goals followed after the break for Spalding Town although Friskney must receive some credit for being rewarded for their efforts with two more goals – both scored by Daniel Fletcher. For the record Town’s goals came from James Kingston (5), Nathen Young junior (2), Junior Paulo (2), Thomas Rabiega and Martin Patterson. Final score was 11-3. Two goals from Tom Waterson helped Wyberton Reserves to a 3-0 away win at Mareham United and in the process, take over the leadership from their opponents. Jason Skinner grabbed the other Wyberton goal. The defeat was Mareham’s first of the season. Sutterton bounced back from last week’s mauling to take the three points in their home game against Spalding Harriers. Sutterton battled against the strong wind during the first half as Spalding dominated the possession but some last ditch defending and excellent goalkeeping from Graham Nicholls kept the visitors out. At the other end, Sutterton created only two chances – and took them both. Carl Duncan hooked home a volley after 25 minutes before Andy Brown doubled the lead ten minutes later. After the home side started the second half brightly, Spalding Harriers came back into the game and they deservedly drew level with goals from Marcin Minczynski and David Kantak. The Harriers continued to search for a winner but Sutterton, who changed their formation when they introduced new signing Micky Hill into the action somehow turned thing right round. The substitution worked wonders as Hill put his side ahead with just five minutes remaining with a 30-yard screamer before . Sutterton made it 4-2 in added time when Hill and Brown linked up well before the latter smashed the ball home from ten yards. Final score was 4-2. Tydd St Mary and Westside Rangers who were both among the goals seven days earlier, scoring six and seven times respectively, served up a six-goal thriller. Tydd started the game brightly and deservedly took the lead after just seven minutes when Matty Clayden squared the ball for Rob Mikla to shoot home from close range. The Saints doubled their lead on the half hour after Rob Mikla chased down what seemed a lost cause, won the ball, rounded the ‘keeper and slotted home for his and Tydd’s second. Tydd should have then gone onto control the game but Westside had other ideas and scored five minutes later to make it 2-1. The game opened up and both sides had chances but it was Rangers who equalised just before the break when some poor defending allowed the scorer time to place the ball with ease for 2-2. Westside Rangers took the lead for the first time in the game on fifty minutes when Tydd keeper, Steve Wright, allowed the ball to squeeze under his body to make the score 2-3. The game looked to be heading Rangers’ way as the match drew to a close but Tydd took the game to their opponents in the dying stages and with normal time up and the game entering the second minute of time added on, Lewis Chapman floated an inviting ball into the box from a free kick and Ashley Godfrey managed to get something on it and it trickled into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make a final score of 3-3.

Fishtoft Reserves maintained their 100 percent Cropleys Suzuki Division Three record to remain top of the table following a 2-0 home win against Holbeach St Marks. Simon Hyland and Lewis O’Keefe were on target for the leaders. Woodhall Spa United Reserves had a fine 5-2 away win at Freiston Reserves thanks to a hat-trick from Charlie Stapleton and a couple from Jimmy Melia. Both of The Freiston goals came from new signing Ollie Pinner.

Park United chalked up their first victory of the season when they defeated Kirton Town Reserves at home. Chris Wright gave Park the lead before Town levelled. The visitors then squandered a golden chance to have gone ahead when they were awarded a penalty but it was missed. This proved costly for Kirton as Jack Carter then made it 2-1 in Park’s favour at the halfway stage. Gavin Gregory made it 3-1 before Town reduced the arrears. Alex Limb made sure of victory with a fourth goal to make the final score 4-2. Kirton Res admitted they were somewhat subdued due to the manager’s stag night the night before. This clearly showed in their lacklustre performance and Park came out deserved winners. Kirton’s consolation goals came from Chris Smith and Richard Borrill. Another side to record their first win of the season was Eastville, Midville and New Leake who returned home from Spalding Harriers Reserves with maximum points after a single-goal victory. Jed Stainton hit the all-important goal for Eastville. Mark Sharman was on target again for Old Doningtonians Reserves again but it wasn’t enough to prevent the home side from slipping to a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Billinghay Athletic Reserves.

A hat-trick from Nathan Skayley helped Fishtoft through to the round two of the Eleys Newton Fallowell Sports Cup at the expense of Woodhall Spa United. Paul Hyde and an own goal made the final score 5-2. In the other tie Old Doningtonians hit eight goals at Fosdyke without reply.

Sportsman and Spalding Town got together in a friendly match to make the most of their inactive day with a friendly. The match proved to be a useful workout for both sides and the game finished all-square at 3-3. Sportsman’s trialist, Nicky De Vries came up trumps with a hat-trick and manager, John Sutton will be keen to sign the striker who is currently registered with troubled club, West End Tigers. West End’s withdrawal from the league will be discussed at this week’s management committee meeting.

Round-up for September 27

There were no major shocks in the first round of the Target Newspapers Challenge Cup, just one or two smaller surprises. Wainfleet United, riding high in Division Two defeated First Division side Old Leake at home by the narrow margin of 2-1. Matthew Broome opened the scoring for Wainfleet before a wonder goal from striker Lee Johnson put the home side two goals ahead — Johnson’s superb overhead kick giving the keeper no chance. But once Old Leake reduced the arrears through Ben Jacques, Wainfleet had to dig deep to keep their opponents out. The second half was a real onslaught as Old Leake threw everything at their opponents, but the home side somehow preserved their slender one-goal lead to go through to the next round. It was slightly surprising to see Sutterton crash out 6-1 at Spalding Town after they had produced some impressive results recently. Spalding breezed through following goals from James Thorold (two), Michael Handford, Martin Patterson, Thomas Rabiega and an own goal. Thorold’s two goals came from a speculative 45-yard shot and a penalty. Tydd St Mary progressed to the next round of the Challenge Cup in style when they beat Skegness Working Men’s Club on Saturday. However, it was not all plain sailing for the Saints early on when they found themselves behind on 18 minutes after a hatful of earlier chances had been squandered by the home side. Tydd rallied and hit the bar a minute later but did not find the net until the 34th minute when a fine long throw by Rob Precey found Andy Cooper to spin in the box and hit a low shot into the bottom right hand corner. Tydd came out with all guns blazing in the second half and they took the lead on 49 minutes when another long Precey throw was flicked on by Dan Fines for Ash Godfrey to claim his first. The Saints made it to 3 -1 six minutes later when Gary Drake headed in Lewis Chapman’s perfectly weighted free kick. Godfrey got his second goal on seventy five minutes with a ferocious low drive from a free kick just outside the box to make it 4 – 1. On eighty four minutes Godfrey was brought down in the box and he coolly got to his feet before converting the spot kick for his hat-trick. Skegness had a player sent off with four minutes remaining following a second bookable offence and with just a minute left on the clock Godfrey scored his fourth and Tydd’s sixth when he beat the offside trap, rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into an empty net to make the final score 6 – 1. Old Doningtonians went through to the next round at the expense of plucky visitors, Park United. Park, who had been receiving some heavy defeats of late, put up a brave fight before going out 4-2. Michael Holstead hit two goals for The Dons while Chris Wing and Liam Pitts completed the scoring. Goals from Pete Sampson and Joe Turner helped Fishtoft to a 2-1 home win against Nortoft United.

In Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division two goals from Robin Holderness helped Coningsby to three welcome points when they recorded a 3-1 home win against Westside Rangers. Danny Cottingham grabbed the other Coningsby goal. Coningsby will be hoping for a repeat performance in two weeks’ time when the two sides clash again in this time in the Lincs Junior Cup. Skegness Town Reserves pulled off the comeback of the day when they somehow dragged themselves back from the dead to defeat Billinghay Athletic at home. The visitors had stormed into a three-goal lead through Adam Weston, who struck twice and Chris Bampton but Skegness produced a scintillating second half display to take the honours with five goals and run out 5-3 winners. David Duckham did most of the damage for Town with a fine hat-trick. Troy Lonslow and an own goal sealed Billinghay’s fate. Kirton Town started strongly at Freiston and they thought they had gone ahead through Ashley Hughes only for the goal to be disallowed through a marginal offside decision. Freiston bounced back and they missed several chances before Jamie Khun opened the scoring on the half hour mark. Kirton continued to frustrate Freiston after the break with some resolute defending and fine goal-keeping and although both teams had chances it was Freiston who proved to be more clinical in front of goal. Aston Chase added a second goal after seventy five minutes before Dean Seiner took advantage of a rare error in Town’s defence to make it 3-0. Lee Dakin completed the scoring in the dying minutes with a lob over the advancing keeper. Final score was 4-0. Spilsby Town and Swineshead Institute produced a tight encounter which ended all square at 1-1. Spilsby went ahead after 25 minutes following a corner which Graham Blades turned into the net after a header had rebounded off the crossbar. Swineshead drew level just before the break when Nathan Stainfield lobbed a ball into the opposing goalmouth and Ryan Barker reacted first to run the ball into the net after the keeper hesitated. Swineshead probably edged it in the second half but their chances either flew just wide or keeper Dan Fox thwarted them with some fine saves. Final score was 1-1. Wrangle United played hosts to Wyberton and both sides served up an eight goal thriller before the visitors took the honors following a 5-3 victory. Leroy Medina, Jake Louth and John Tomlin scored the goals for Wrangle but Wyberton hit back with match-winning strikes from Jim Britton and Brandon Sylvester who both netted two goals apiece and Ben Parkinson who grabbed the other goal.

Swineshead Reserves’ striker Harry Houghton emulated his brother Jack’s goal bonanza from the opening day of the campaign, after Jack had hit six goals in Swineshead first team game back in August, Harry repeated the feat last Saturday with a double hat-trick of his own as the Reserves hit Coningsby Reserves for 12 in their Cropleys Suzuki Division One meeting. Poor Coningsby were forced to provide their first team with half a dozen players after a chronic shortage of players and they suffered the consequences. Alex Kirkham and Richard Barker both scored two goals apiece while Rob Snaith and Dale Houghton completed the scoring. Final score was 12-0. Spilsby Town Reserves made the lengthy journey to Pointon where both sides shared the points in a 3-3 draw. Spilsby, already battling against a long injury list lost Sonny Cragg in the warm-up. The game itself was a story of two halves with Town bossing proceeding during the first half while the home side controlled affairs after the break. The visitors raced into a two-goal lead through Neil Allen and Alex McMullen before Pointon levelled the scores with two wonder strikes. McMullen grabbed his second goal of the game to level the scores before Pointon replied with another stunning 30-yard screamer. Spilsby created two golden chances to have regained the lead but the non-stop first half finished all square at 3-3. As the encounter became more physical after the break, Town lost Matt Thomas and Sam Elliff through injury in the opening 10 minutes. Spilsby keeper, Martin Ziller pulled off some terrific saves to preserve his side’s precious point and the final 10 minutes saw Pointon camped in their opponents half but Spilsby hung on to return home with some reward. Referee Steve Ross had an excellent game in the middle contributing great communication in a very physical battle. Mark Smith, Nathan Wilson and Dane Hardy were on target for Pointon. Park Road Old Boys produced a storming fight-back in their home game against Woodhall Spa United. Woodhall appeared to be coasting at 3-0 in the opening 20 minutes before Park Road decided to respond. With the home side still in kit presentation mode, the visitors raced into a two-goal lead within the first six minutes due to errors at the centre of the Old Boys defence. Shell-shocked, Old Boys started to settle but then went three down due to another defensive error mid way through the first half. Player-Manager Liam Dave hit a superb right footed shot to trigger the fight back. Rick Limb then headed in from a Dave free-kick after 40 minutes to make the half time score 3-2 to the visitors. With steely determination, the home side took control of the second half and deservedly equalised through a tremendous left footed shot from skipper Craig Andrews 10 minutes into the half. Man of the match Ash Allen then sealed the points with 15 minutes remaining as Woodhall Spa ran out of steam when he burst through to fire home. With the visitors beaten, Old Boys had other half chances but did not extend their lead. Josh Ansell made a late cameo appearance on his return to the Old Boys team after spending more than a year in Australia. Special mention to referee Ray “Geordie” Larcombe who had an excellent game in the middle.

Friskney turned in a decent first half showing at home against Boston Town Old Boys in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two before the visitors’ experience finally came to the fore. Friskney were trailing to a single goal at the halfway stage before Town overpowered their opponents with a four-goal burst to run out 5-0 winners. Mark Locking hit a hat-trick for Town while Joe Vaughan and Jamie Maddison completed the scoring. Another side in the stages of rebuilding are Fosdyke and they produced a real Jekyll and Hyde performance at home against Mareham United. The home side played as well during the first half as they had in any other game this season. Unfortunately for Andy Hardstaff’s side the team completely switched off in the second period and things just got worse by the minute. Scott Ekins had deservedly given Fosdyke a first half lead before an injury blow unsettled them when centre back Kyle Gibbons suffered a fractured ankle – this setback took the gloss off the home side’s best 45 minutes for many a match. Mareham punished the home side with five replies after the break to run out comfortable winners. Final score was 5-1. Westside Rangers Reserves had a fine home win against Wrangle United Reserves with Jody Betts and Kev Manning both scoring twice in a 7-1 victory. Lee Nicholson, Ryan Mason and Michael Langley also got on the scoresheet. Thomas Crozier replied for Wrangle. Sportsman, looking for a major improvement, gained some much needed confidence in their performance at home to Spalding Harriers. Although they still finished up on the losing side it was only by a single Marcin Minczynski strike. Sportsman went close in the first half with a shot which clipped a post while The Harriers created three decent chances. Scott Williams came to Sportman’s rescue after the break with superb saves – one with his hands and one with his feet. At the other end Dean Fisher and Scott Bates were denied by the Spalding keeper. Final score was 1-0 to Spalding Harriers.

Woodhall Spa United Reserves recorded their first Cropleys Suzuki Division Three points of the season following their 4-2 home win against Pointon Reserves. Daniel Wells and James Melia were the strikers on target with two goals apiece. Billinghay Athletic Reserves almost mirrored their first team’s circumstances when they squandered a comfortable lead before ending up empty-handed. A Rick Harrod penalty and a Joe Car goal put the home side 2-0 ahead but Fishtoft Reserves struck back to return home with maximum points following a three-goal comeback. Fishtoft’s match-winners were Tom Adams, Tim Billingham and an own goal. Kirton Town Reserves finally got the result that has been coming for a while with some excellent second half play. Once again they went behind and were actually trailing 2-0 at half time. Kirton finally came out of the starting blocks in the second half and blitzed their opponents with a five goal blast. Goalscorers were Steve Lee (two), Liam Wilson, Matt Lee, and Richard Borrill who was making his outfield debut after an injury lay-off of six months. Eastville, Midville and New Leake went agonisingly close to putting their first points of the season on the board when they entertained Old Doningtonians Reserves. Although the home side were probably fortunate to find themselves 1-0 ahead after the break, they scored again after the interval before the Dons reduced the arrears after 70 minutes. Eastville then threw it all away in the closing stages as first, a back pass went astray and Dons netted the equaliser and then, with just two minutes remaining the visitors stole the points with a winning goal to run out 3-2 victors. Kris Holland and Jack Wyeth had given the home side hope with the opening two goals.

Round-up for September 20

One of the surprise results of the day in Cropleys Suzuki Division One came at Holbeach Bank, who bounced back from their Lincs Junior Cup mauling seven days earlier. The Bank hit top form, hitting opponents Spilsby Town Reserves for six in a 6-3 scoreline. Ben Crane and Cymon Lambe did most of the damage with two goals apiece while Michael Ayres and James Cole completed the scoring for the home side. Spilsby just had an off day as defensive errors saw them trailing 3-0 inside the opening 15 minutes and they never really recovered after that. The score could easily have been doubled had it not been for some excellent saves from Martin Ziller. Dan Smith did pull a goal back just before half-time and although they improved after the break, Holbeach countered with a fourth goal. For Town, Alex McMullen grabbed a second half brace, including a brilliant header while The Bank wrapped up the match with two further goals to run out comfortable winners. Woodhall Spa United were still in the game at the halfway stage of their home game with Swineshead Reserves but they didn’t account for their opponents renowned second half displays of late. Trailing 2-1 at half time, the home side must have thought that they could salvage something from the game but the young strike-force of Swineshead proved too hot to handle in the end and they moved up a gear scoring four more times to run out 6-2 winners. Swineshead’s main match-winner was leading goalscorer Harry Houghton who hit four of his side’s goals. Richard Barker and a Robert Snaith penalty wrapped up the scoring while Woodhall’s efforts came from Jason Cooke and an own goal. New signing, Dave Stephenson struck twice for Coningsby Reserves in their 3-2 home win against Nortoft United. Alan Newell grabbed the other match-winning goal for Coningsby. Park Road Old Boys came away from Old Leake with all three points on their Division One debut, despite being given a first half lesson by the home side. Leake started the game by retaining possession with the visitors working hard but unable to get hold of the ball. The possession eventually led to a goal for the home side mid way through the half after a high teasing cross caught out debutant keeper Chris Battle, resulting in a routine tap in for Rob Staples. Old Leake then pushed for a second, but excellent defending and good goalkeeping by Battle kept the half time score to 1-0. The second half was a much different affair with half time substitute Jonny Britton adding pace to the attack alongside Paul Colton and with Ash Allen's energy The Old Boys started causing the home side problems. Slowly they took control of the game and it was no surprise when Allen burst through to equalise after sixty five minutes. Old Leake rallied, but could n't find a way past man of the match Simon Ward and defensive partner Tim Gilbert. Old Boys then had a Colton goal disallowed, but eventually took the points when Park Road's other debutant, Jack Smith, showed some quick feet to create a shooting opportunity for himself which was deflected into the net for the winner. A special mention must go to young referee Chris Reeson who had an excellent game.

Boston Town Old Boys suffered their first Cropleys Suzuki Division Two defeat of the season when they went down 3-2 at home against Suterton. Jamie Maddison and Scott Palmer struck the goals for the Old Boys but Andy Brown was amongst the goals once again for the visitors. The ex-Fosdyke striker hit two of his side’s goals while Nathan Hubbert also got on the scoresheet. Amazingly the first half finished goal-less as both sides produced some good football throughout. Town’s direct approach caused Sutterton some problems while the visitors probably had the best chances of the first half with Andy Brown and Paul Wright squandering good chances. Sutterton broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half when Brown broke free before smashing the ball past the keeper but Town levelled within five minutes. Sutterton regained the lead on seventy minutes when Hubbert got on the end of Ben Smalley’s flick-on and his stunning lob gave the keeper no chance. Carl Duncan then missed a sitter in front of goal which would have virtually wrapped up the points for the visitors before Town punished the costly miss with an equaliser. As the game entered the closing minutes, both teams seem to be settling for a draw until substitute Simon Long fired in a pin-point cross for Andy Brown to head powerfully into the net to make the final score 3-2. Gordon Drake and Tom Laverack both grabbed two goals apiece in Skegness Working Men’s Club’s 4-1 home win against Westside Rangers Reserves. Ben Gardner replied for Westside. A Steve Carn hat-trick helped Spalding Harriers to a 4-1 home win against Friskney. Adam Fuller was also on target against a Friskney side still trying to rebuild a side for life in Division Two. Wrangle United Reserves were held at home by Spalding Town. Shane Brackenbury grabbed United’s goal while the visitors replied through Martin Patterson. Wyberton Reserves hit six against Sportsman at home with Jason Allen scoring twice. The other goals came from James Payling, Tom Waterson, Dan Mindham and Jamie Button. Sportsman are still finding life difficult in Division Two and freely admit that they would have been more suited to Third Division football. Final score was 6-1.

The Cropleys Suzuki Division Three clash between Holbeach St Marks and Freiston Reserves ended in stalemate with the game finishing 0-0. St Marks went the closest to snatching victory in the second half when Lewis Forman was felled in the box but Nicky Watson missed from the penalty spot. Fishtoft Reserves’ excellent start continued with a 9-1 home win against Mareham United Reserves and Simon Hyland carried on with his impressive goal spree grabbing a hat trick for his side. Pete Coonan and Grant Butler scored two goals apiece while Tom Adams and Carl Tate completed the rout. Spalding Town Reserves were made to fight all the way for the three points in their home encounter against Eastville, Midville and New Leake. The winning goal, in a 5-4 score-line, coming with just five minutes remaining. Woodhall Spa United Reserves went down to a narrow home defeat at the hands of Spalding Harriers Reserves. Woodhall Player-Coach, Matt Haslam explained that their downfall came about when they conceded three goals in a disastrous ten minute spell. Woodhall went close with goals from Rob McCusker, Daniel Wells and Justin Scarborough but Spalding’s David Kantak proved to be a real thorn in United’s side scoring all four of his side’s goals in a 4-3 away win. Lee Fovargue scored twice for Old Doningtonians Reserves in their 4-2 home win against Kirton Town Reserves. George Skafidas and Mark Sharman grabbed the other Dons’ goals. Jordan Gilliard scored both of Kirton’s goals in an exciting encounter.

Wainfleet United, from Division Two, caused one of the upsets in the first round of the Fishtoft Cup when they dumped Kirton Town out of the competition in a tight encounter. It was a catalogue of errors that cost the home outfit the game on Saturday. Wainfleet went up late on in the first half through Lee Johnson – this was after Kirton failed to score after creating at least four clear-cut chances to go ahead. Kirton finally managed to find the net and equalize through Adrian Dobrianskly just before half time before an unfortunate incident on the stroke of half time led to the game being delayed for an hour while waiting for an ambulance. The unfortunate accident happened when a Wainfleet player was caught in the face and failed to not get up. Fortunately for all concerned the head injury was not too serious as three attempts were made to collect the player before the proper ambulance arrived. A first response fire engine turned up, then a ‘car’ ambulance appeared before the correct vehicle showed. After the ambulance had finally departed the game resumed and again Kirton committed themselves to attack but goals were not happening. Wainfleet managed to get a break and go ahead through Rob Jackson before Kirton equalized again through Adrian Dobriansky and they should have gone on to win the match from then onwards. Kirton then pressed the self destruct button and gifted two goals to Wainfleet through some serious errors of play- Shaun Drury and Matt Broome scoring. Substitute Simon Collins came on and managed to retrieve a goal in the last minute but it was too late and the score finished 4-3. Westside Rangers completely dominated their home tie against Wrangle United although the home side put up a brave fight going down by the odd goal in seven. Wrangle were forced to include player-secretary Nigel Birtwistle in their line-up and they have to be given credit for their brave efforts. Westside squeezed through with goals from Neal Wheatley, Steve Vogal, Richard Elsom and Anthony Brooks. Tim Bell scored all three of Wrangle’s goals. Final score 4-3. Adam Weston struck twice for Billinghay Athletic in their 3-1 home win against Skegness Town Reserves. Thomas Moor grabed the other Billinghay goal. Spilsby Town narrowly saw off the challenge of visitors, Old Doningtonians following a 2-1 victory. A Gary McGilloway penalty and a Graham Blades strike put Town through to the next round. Park United, the basement side from Division Three, had the daunting trip to Premier outfit Freiston and the visitors only just managed to scrape up the bare eleven players for their cup tie. Not surprisingly Park went down 9-0 and they will now be able to concentrate their efforts on improving their league position. Park battled well during the first half and their keeper helped restrict the home side to just three goals with Darren Gibbons scoring twice and Lee Dakin netting the other. Lee Dakin went onto score three more times after the break while Dean Seiner netted two. Peter Lovelace completed the scoring. Fishtoft gave Swineshead quite a scare before The Premier side eventually ran out comfortable winners. Fishtoft went in front as early as the second minute before Jack Houghton slotted home the equaliser sixteen minutes later. The visitors still looked lively and they scored again on the half hour mark to lead 2-1 at half-time. Fishtoft had a golden chance to cause a real upset five minutes into the second half when they were awarded a penalty but keeper, Richard Stukins saved the spot-kick. That miss proved to be the turning point as Swineshead slowly pulled themselves together and gain control. Benn Houghton knocked in a rebound after brother Jack’s shot came back off the crossbar. The same player added another following Chris Shipley’s long free-kick before Jack Houghton finished off a fine move involving Matt Bates and Ben Harris. Jack Houghton completed his hat-trick after pouncing onto another long ball forward. Final score was 5-2.

Round-up for September 13

The preliminary round of the Mason Bros Lincolnshire Junior Cup saw six of our sides involved – half of which made it through to the next round where several other Boston League sides will then join the competition. Nortoft United look to have booked their place in round one without kicking a ball when opponents, Scawby contacted the Boston side on the morning of the scheduled tie to declare that they wouldn’t be travelling as they would be withdrawing their side from all competitions. It is therefore expected that the Lincolnshire FA will give Nortoft a ‘walkover’ and a severe punishment to Scawby. In the other ties Holbeach Bank, Spilsby Town and Freiston came up against some tough opposition and they all crashed out of the competition. Holbeach Bank were always going to up against it when the draw pitted them against Ivy Tavern and although the Boston League side were on their own patch it didn’t prevent their opponents from hitting double figures in a 12-0 mauling. Spilsby Town also found life difficult in their home tie with Scunthonians and a 4-0 defeat told its own story. Freiston put up a great fight at home against Grimsby side Nunsthorpe Tavern and although the visitors went through following a 5-2 win the score-line didn’t reflect the closeness of the encounter. Nunsthorpe took the lead after 15 minutes but within two minutes the home side equalised through a surging run and excellent finish from Scott Hutchinson. Both sides were producing some thrilling football and it was the visitors who regained the lead but Freiston bounced back once again to level the scores at the break when Aston Chase pounced. Nunsthorpe went ahead immediately after the break with a rising shot into the roof of the net and as Freiston chased the game the visiting keeper kept the home side out with some fine saves. Nunsthorpe rocked their opponents with two late goals as Freiston threw caution to the wind to make the final score 5-2. The real success stories came at Coningsby and Billinghay Athletic – Coningsby’s feat was probably the most impressive as they defeated a side who were allegedly unbeaten for 18 months although it needed a penalty shoot-out to get them through. The Boston League side somehow clawed their way back into the tie after trailing 2-0 but goals from Robin Holderness and Tom Dickinson gave them a life-line and Coningsby proved more clinical from the penalty spot to go through. Billinghay’s 5-2 home victory against Everyone Active was achieved with the help of a fine individual goal-scoring display from Chris Bampton who plundered four goals. Billinghay’s other match-winner was Adam Weston.

There was only one game in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division and that was at the North Sea Camp where the prison side were, once again among the goals and not surprisingly, they had to come from behind before claiming the three points against Westside Rangers. In their opening three games North Sea have now conceded opening goals before bouncing back and last Saturday was no different as Westside opened the scoring before the Camp responded to lead 2-1 at the halfway stage. Another strong second half display saw United overpower their opposition with four further goals to make the final score 6-1. Rob Masters was on top form hitting a fine hat-trick while Gary Hayes, Curtis McDonald and Ben Daws completed the scoring.

Old Doningtonians and Coningsby Reserves served up a real Cropleys Suzuki Division One goal feast, sharing nine goals with the Dons sneaking the three points in a 5-4 home win. The Dons found themselves 2-1 behind at the interval and Coningsby struck again after the break to give them real hope of taking maximum points. The home side somehow dug deep to rescue the game with a four-goal blast as Chris Wing and Mick Holstead both struck two goals apiece. The Dons’ other goal came from Carl Appleyard. Wainfleet United had a tremendous 6-2 away win at Old Leake with striker, Lee Johnson grabbing a hat-trick. Although Old Leake were minus a couple of key players, Wainfleet produced a strong team performance to take the points. Lee Johnson and Duncan Whiley gave the visitors a 2-0 half-team lead before Johnson went onto to complete his own personal treble. Rob Jackson and a Royston Wilkinson penalty completed the scoring. Old Leake replied through Ben Jacques and Adam Tempest. In a very evenly contested encounter at Ancaster Avenue, visitors Woodhall Spa United opened the scoring against Spilsby Town Reserves after 20 minutes with a fierce drive that flew into the top corner leaving the home goalkeeper with no chance. Spilsby then created two excellent chances with Neil Allen and Jamie Oprey forcing superb saves from the Woodhall keeper. The second half was just as tight with Woodhall going mighty close to adding another but Martin Ziller came to Spilsby’s rescue with a fine finger-tipped save. At the other end Glenn Hislop shaved an upright before the home side finally grabbed the equaliser they thoroughly deserved. Alex McMullen had just blasted home a loose ball only for the referee to rule the goal out as he had already blown for a penalty following a handball offence and this time McMullen was not to be denied as he stroked home the spot kick. Final score was 1-1. For Spilsby, Rhys Fitzgerald had an outstanding game in midfield.

Fosdyke put up a spirited display at home against a strong Wyberton Reserves side before going down 3-1 in Cropleys Suzuki Division Two. The home side opened the scoring with an Andy Shaw goal and they held that lead until the second half. An own goal got Wyberton back on level terms and that cruel blow took the wind out of Fosdyke’s sails. Wyberton sealed victory with two further goals. The visitors credited their goals to Michael Swain, Jamie Button and Nikki Himsworth. James Kingston, Nathan Young (junior) and Laurence Price were all on target for Spalding Town in their 3-0 home win against Westside Rangers Reserves. Mareham United also hit three goals at home when Friskney were the visitors. James Todd, Lee Hockerston and Adam Everitt hit the goals in a 3-1 victory. Wrangle United Reserves’ young side had to dig deep to come away with the three points following their visit to a determined Spalding Harriers side. Wrangle took the lead midway through the first half when Bobby Smith cut in from the left hand side and firing home a low shot before The Harriers levelled the scores at half time following a period of sustained pressure. The Spalding side continued to put the visitors under pressure after the break but The Wrangle defence stood firm and they regained the lead after Bobby Smith’s free kick came back off an upright leaving Joe Pitcher to tuck away the rebound. Wrangle appeared to have made the game safe when Shane Brackenbury chased a long ball before rounding the keeper and scoring to put his side 3-1 ahead but Spalding Harriers reduced the arrears within the final two minutes to set Wrangle nerves jangling. Amazingly their was still time for the home side to be awarded a penalty in added time but keeper, Aiden Keal produced a superb save from the resultant spot kick and Wrangle went home triumphant. Final score was 3-2. The Harriers’ goals came from Allan Lawrence and Marcin Minczynski. Skegness Working Mens Club produced a red hot performance at Sportsman hitting a magnificent seven in a 7-3 score-line. Skegness took an early lead when they took advantage of an hesitant Sportsman defence before the home side got their game together and following an impressive spell they levelled the scores. Daryl Bray was felled in the box and the same player coolly dusted himself down before firing home from the spot. Skegness responded in positive fashion by taking control again and scoring twice before the interval to make the half-time score 3-1. Sportsman enjoyed a mini-revival after the break and another penalty brought them back into the game following a foul on Nathan Turner and Bray, once again netted from the resulting spot kick. A long ball then caught out the home defence and Skegness restored their two-goal advantage before a sending off offered Sportsman a glimmer of hope as the visitors were reduced to ten men. Unfortunately for John Sutton’s side, they didn’t take advantage and a determined Skegness side put the result beyond doubt with three further goals. On the plus side for Sportsman, Daryl Bray completed his own personal hat-trick to make the final score 7-3. Boston Town Old Boys made their lengthy journey to Tydd St. Mary where they continued their good start to their campaign. Both teams got stuck in early on and it was Tydd St Mary who took the lead after eight minutes when Dan Fines whipped in a low cross that was bundled into the back of the net by Town defender, Mark Locking for an own goal. Old Boys levelled five minutes before the break when a loose ball in the six yard box was swept home by Micky Nuttell. The Saints had a chance to retake the lead when they were awarded a penalty right on the stroke of half time but Andrew Bennett’s spot-kick was well saved. The second half saw both sides producing some good football but Boston Town began to use their experience and Nuttell scored three more times to take his personal tally to four goals. Tydd could have made the margin slightly closer game but Phil Elderfield’s header struck the bar and James Laing’s fierce shot then hit an upright. It was a game of missed opportunities for Tydd but Boston Town Old Boys ran out deserved winners on the day. Final score was 4-1.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Three, Pete Wilson and Bill Sadler did all the damage for Pointon Reserves in their 8-4 away win at Kirton Town Reserves. Wilson hit five of his side’s goals while Sadler struck a hat-trick. Kirton replied through William Rodgers, Chris Chapman, Liam Wilson and Chris Hilton. A Jamie Forman goal earned Holbeach St Marks a share of the points in their home game against Mareham United Reserves. Final score was 1-1. Park United Reserves went down 5-1 at home against Old Donintonians Reserves where their lone strike came courtesy of an own goal. Park are hoping to transfer a striker to their ranks soon as they strive to get their season up and running. Woodhall Spa United Reserves’ debut in The Boston Saturday League ended in disappointment when they went down in a 7-0 mauling at Fishtoft Reserves. Carl Tate grabbed a hat-trick for the home side while Simon Hyland notched twice for the second week running. Lewis O’Keefe and an own goal completed the scoring.

Round-up for September 6

Two games in the Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division were postponed last Saturday. They were Kirton Town’s home match with Wyberton, called off because of excessive water in the goalmouths while Swineshead’s home game with Skegness Town Reserves couldn’t go ahead because the grass hadn’t been cut! No doubt the matter will be discussed at the first monthly management meeting. On the field of play, North Sea United went one better when, after their opening day 5-2 win, they recorded a 6-2 victory — this time against Wrangle United. The Camp, once again recovered from falling behind, leaving Rob Masters explaining after the game that it’s as if they need to concede the first goal to kick-start the side into action. After their early setback, North Sea responded with a powerful second half performance and David Noel was amongst the goals grabbing a fine hat-trick. Rob Masters scored twice while Ben Daws completed the scoring. Both of Wrangle’s goals came from Pedro Sevilha. Spilsby Town opened their campaign with a 4-2 home win against Westside Rangers. Graham Blades was on target twice while Steve Marvell and Hayden Miller made sure of victory. Westside striker Neil Sinha, who now works in London, returned home for the weekend and signed on before scoring both of his side’s goals. Freiston travelled to Billinghay Athletic for their Premier Division debut and a 2-0 win got their points total rolling following an entertaining game. The visitors took the lead just before half time when Jamie Khun picked up a poor clearance from the keeper before firing home a 30-yard shot. Freiston were enjoying life in the top flight and they sealed the three points with a second goal after seventy five minutes when Aston Chase rifled home a low shot.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Woodhall Spa United got their season off to a winning start although they left it late before securing the three points in their home game against Wainfleet United. Stuart Gomes opened the scoring for Woodhall before Wainfleet responded immediately with an equaliser following a Wes Sutton free-kick. Wainfleet appeared to heading for a share of the points when two late goals from Andy Money and Dave Melia shattered their hopes. Final score was 3-1. It was a case of deja vu for Swineshead Reserves as they again recovered from a two-goal half-time deficit to take maximum points, this time at Holbeach Bank. In their opening day game, Swineshead trailed 3-1 before winning 7-3 and last Saturday they found themselves 2-0 behind at the halfway stage before storming back to win 4-2. Pointon hit seven without reply in their home game against Coningsby Reserves to secure their first points of the season. Nathan Wilson and Dane Hardy were both on fire with a hat-trick each while Daniel Wright also got on the scoresheet. Fishtoft made it two wins out of two with a 3-1 away success at Old Doningtonians. Declan Wilson, Joe Turner and Pete Coonan were Fishtoft’s match-winners while Chris Wing replied for The Dons. After an evenly contested opening 30 minutes between Old Leake and Spilsby Town Reserves, the deadlock was broken when Leake’s Ben Jacques netted following good work from Jamie Skinner. Spilsby pressed hard for an equaliser but The Leake defence stood firm. Old Leake’s crucial second goal came five minutes into the second half when Adam Tempest burst through before chipping the ball over the advancing keeper. Jamie Skinner added goal number three after a slick move and Tempest made it 4-0 after fine play from Jacques out on the left flank. The same two players linked up to complete the scoring when Tempest crossed for Jacques to net at the far post. Referee A Redgard enjoyed a fine game in the middle.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division Two, Boston Town Old Boys won their first game in the league with a 5-1 home triumph against Fosdyke, although the margin probably flattered the new boys somewhat. It took the Old Boys time to settle before eventually winning with goals from Mark Wakefield (2), Micky Nuttell, Marcus Cain and Danny Cannon. Fosdyke produced a much-improved performance after their opening day thrashing even with a threadbare squad. Their cause was hampered even further by the loss of keeper, Sean Johnson through injury after 20 minutes with a torn muscle. After Old Boys had surged into a 3-0 lead, Fosdyke were rewarded for their battling efforts when Andy Shaw flicked the ball on for Lee Pitam who slotted the ball home. With some new found belief, Fosdyke twice went close through Pitam and English. It wasn’t until nine minutes from time that Town secured the points with two further goals — the fourth coming from a cross-cum-shot which bounced over stand-in keeper, Aaron Bradshaw, who up until then had performed heroics and the fifth goal came on the final whistle. Final score was 5-1. Pete Holland managed to get Friskney up and running after some recent uncertainty and although they battled well they went down to a 4-1 away defeat at the hands of Westside Rangers Reserves. Friskney were still in the game at the halfway stage after they found themselves trailing 1-0 but three second half goals sealed their fate. Jody Betts, Ryan Mason, Lee Nicholson and Kevin Manning grabbed Rangers’ goals. Wrangle United Reserves stormed into a 3-0 lead against visitors, Sportsman thanks to a brace from Aiden Skinner and one from Nicky
Spiller. The result looked a formality but Wrangle then took their foot off the gas and let their opponents back into the game with two goals to make the score 3-2. A stern half-time talk did the trick for the home side and they made the game safe with further goals from Jamie Skinner and Thomas Ruck. Final score was 5-2. Mareham United gained a hard earned point at Spalding Town following a 1-1 draw. Stuart Bunn was on target for the visitors. Sutterton travelled to Skegness Working Men’s Club for their first game of the season and they soon found themselves 1-0 behind against a well organised home outfit, Gordon Drake netting the opener. Sutterton slowly improved as the first half wore on and they equalised 10 minutes before the break when new signing, Andy Brown swept the ball home from close range after good work from Nigel Edison. The visitors then rocked their opponents five minutes later with a second goal to lead 2-1 at the break when Brown dispossessed a defender on the half-way line before racing clear and slipping the ball under the advancing keeper. Skegness had plenty of possession during the second half but the Sutterton defence looked comfortable throughout. As Skegness poured forward for an equaliser, Sutterton countered on the break scoring twice, when first substitute, Gavin Rhodes burst into the box after eighty five minutes before squaring the ball for Brown to register his first hat-trick of the season and then Brown set up James Bruns who smashed home a shot from 10 yards to make the final score 4-1. Wyberton Reserves got back to winning ways with a 3-0 home against Tydd St Mary. Jason Allen, Tom Waterson and Jamie Button hit the all- important goals for the home side.

Kirton Town Reserves were a better side than the 3-0 Cropleys Suzuki Division Three defeat at Holbeach St Marks suggested. Town played some decent football before conceding goals to Gary Chappell and Tom Elderkin, who scored twice. Kirton had some chances during the first half but could not find the back of the net. Holbeach then went one up and it was only a superb first half penalty save from Kirton’s keeper Richard Borrill that kept the score that way at half time. Kirton again had some chances in the second half but could not find the killer touch. Two more late goals came from Holbeach in the closing stages put the result beyond doubt. Final score was 3-0. Simon Hyland struck twice for Fishhtoft Reserves in their 7-2 home win against Pointon Reserves. Hot-shot Hyland’s goals came from a free-kick and a 30-yard drive while victory was wrapped up with further goals from Grant Butler, Tom Adams, Jack Mival, Rob Follows and Tim Billingham. Mareham United Reserves were held at home to a 3-3 draw by Spalding Town Reserves. Anthony Bierton hit two of The Mareham goals while Gary Hunter grabbed the other goal. Park United collapsed in the second half of their home game against Billinghay Athletic Reserves. Darren Hunt, playing as an emergency striker, scored Park’s first half goal as they trailed 3-1 at the interval before Billinghay blitzed their opponents with five further goals without reply to record an 8-1 victory. Spalding harriers and Freiston Reserves served up a seven-goal thriller at Monks House Lane with the visitors returning home with the three points following a 4-3 victory. Freiston’s match-winners were Gary Hoyles, Troy Ayton, Ben Ladds and Malcolm Brinkley. Spalding Harriers went close with replies from Trevor Hammond, who scored twice and Craig Lawrence.

Round-up for August 30

The Boston Saturday League had hoped to have one of their biggest number of entries for many a year with over 50 teams competing for the various honours at stake. Alas, though, three teams withdrew before a ball was kicked. Disappointingly, West End Tigers (first team and reserve sides), who still managed to register nearly 30 players, decided to pull the plug a couple of weeks ago and Black Bull United did likewise. More positively, Friskney — who have also been struggling of late to attract players to the club — still boldly soldier on with Pete Holland desperately scouring the countryside in an attempt to gather enough players for their first game next Saturday.

North Sea United, who romped away with the Division One title, wasted no time in getting some Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division points on the board with a 5-2 victory down at the Camp where Kirton Town were the visitors. It all started well for Kirton who went one up early on through Chris Hilton. Then disaster struck Kirton when their keeper Kev Parker had to leave the field through injury. North Sea instantly caught Kirton out as they were trying to reorganise their team and they managed to score two quick goals in the process to make the half-time score 2-1. After the break Kirton did not find their feet and North Sea managed to score three goals fairly rapidly. Kirton composed themselves again and replied through Chris Hilton but it was far too late by then. In the later stages an ugly scene led to a player from either side being sent off. North Sea’s goals came from Anthony Anderson who grabbed a hat-trick while David Noel and Rob Masters completed the scoring. Westside Rangers went down to a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Skegness Town Reserves. Damian Howland grabbed the visitors’ first half goal as both teams reached the interval all square at 1-1. A goal five minutes after the break with Howland again being on target, proved to be enough to give the visitors the three points while Westside’s cause wasn’t helped by the sending off of Neal Wheatley. Final score was 2-1. Swineshead couldn’t have asked for a better start to their season when they travelled to Champions, Wyberton. Although last season’s title holders are only a shadow of their former selves, a 6-1 away win was a very impressive opening result. If the result alone wasn’t special enough, the individual goal-scoring feat of striker, Jack Houghton was simply magical. Hot-shot Houghton hit all six of his side’s goals as he put his opponents to the sword with some deadly finishing. Houghton’s opening goal came after five minutes when he knocked home a corner kick at the far post after it had been flicked on. Wyberton stormed back to level the scores three minutes later when Jimmy Britton broke through before chipping the ball over the advancing keeper. Swineshead regained their lead after 25 minutes when Benn Houghton rolled a free-kick to brother Jack and he promptly smashed the ball home from 25 yards out. The visitors’ speedy striker completed his first hat-trick before the break when he burst past a defender and the keeper before slotting home to make the half time score 3-1. After the break an unfortunate mistimed clearance from the Wyberton keeper fell straight at the feet of Houghton who fired into the roof of the net and a simple tap-in made it 5-1 shortly afterwards. Jack Houghton completed his double hat-trick in the closing stages following good work from brother Benn. In the one other remaining game Billinghay Athletic came away from Wrangle United with all three points after a 2-0 victory.

In Cropleys Suzuki Division One, Nortoft United threw away a two-goal lead late on and with it their chance of getting their new campaign off to a flying start. Nortoft looked to be heading for a home victory as goals from Craig Spooner, who hit two and Dominic Cridland gave them a 3-1 lead with just 10 minutes remaining against Wainfleet United. The visitors, however, salvaged a point with two late goals to return home with a share of the points. Tom Bone grabbed Wainfleet’s first goal before Andy Carter and man of the match, Shaun Drury, saved the day. Final score was 3-3. Swineshead Reserves produced the most impressive comeback of the day when they entertained Old Leake. Trailing 3-1 at the interval, Swineshead somehow turned the game round with a six-goal blitz to sink their opponents. Substitute, Harry Houghton, did most of the damage with a blistering hat-trick while Richard Barker grabbed two. Alex Kirkham and Robert Snaith completed the storming fight-back. Old Leake will be left scratching their heads after goals from Ben Jacques (2) and Simon Potter appeared to be put them firmly in the driving seat. Final score was 7-3. Pointon found life difficult in their debut match in the Boston Saturday League when they travelled to Fishtoft. Although the new club hit two goals, Fishtoft took the points with a resounding 5-2 victory. Scott Wiseman struck twice for the home side while Ady Almond came out of retirement to net another. Joe Turner and Joe Talbot added the other match-winning strikes. Coningsby Reserves got off to a winning start with a 4-1 home win against Holbeach Bank. Shaun McGeough and Cameron Robertson gave the home side a 2-0 half-time lead before a Martin Lynch free-kick put Coningsby well in control. Ben Clark produced a storming run from full back before finishing in style to make it four. Ben Crane grabbed The Bank’s consolation. Old Doningtonians proved stubborn opponents at Spilsby Town Reserves as the home side were continually frustrated with their efforts. Town enjoyed plenty of possession but their play in the final third was lacking quality and after wasting several good chances the first half finished goalless. It needed a centre back to provide the inspiration for Spilsby with the opening goal when Dean Herd powered forward from the back before curling a fine shot round the keeper and into the net. Rhys Fitzgerald and Alex McMullen both went close to adding further goals for Spilsby but both of their efforts came back off the uprights. The second decisive goal came soon after when Marcus De Vivar sent Neil Allen through to score and virtually seal the three points. Old Dons did manage to get on the scoresheet through Chris Wing’s late consolation but it was too late to get back into the game. Referee J Chadwick had an impressive game in the middle of his first match since coming to Lincolnshire.

A single Jason Chilvers goal was enough to give Spalding Harriers an opening day Cropleys Suzuki Division Two boost following a 1-0 home win against Wyberton Reserves. Westside Rangers Reserves dealt a blow to newly formed Sportsman at Rosebery Avenue. Goals from Jody Betts, Lee Nicholson, Julian Renouf and Michael Langley secured a 4-2 away for Rangers. Sportsman started well enough producing a bright opening ten minute spell before Rangers opened the scoring when Jodie Murphy was adjudged to have handled a goalbound effort and the penalty was subsequently converted. Westside were encouraged by their opener and they enjoyed the majority of possession for the next twenty minutes. Sportsman bounced back with an equaliser before the break when Mitch Johns netted and following a harsh half time talk from Manager, John Sutton, they took the lead through Haden Platts. The home side couldn’t hang onto their lead for long, however, as Rangers levelled at 2-2 before Sportsman squandered a golden chance when Steffan Furnell rounded the keeper but his final shot came back off an upright. Westside took full advantage of this let-off to seal the match with two goals to run out deserved winners. Wrangle United Reserves went down 5-2 at Mareham United. Dion Roberts and Jon McLeod were on target for the visitors while Mareham’s James Todd proved to be their match-winner scoring four of his side’s goals. Tydd St Mary kicked their season off in fine form with a well deserved home win against Skegness Working Men’s Club at the weekend. After a frantic start The Saints began to control the game and they took the lead on twenty four minutes when Rob Mikla threaded a lovely ball through for Ashley Godfrey to beat the offside trap and slot the ball under the Skegness ‘keeper to make it 1-0. Both teams had their chances and Skegness finished the half stronger but Tydd’s defence, marshalled by Lewis Chapman, held onto their one nil advantage up to the break. Tydd started the second half well and deservedly increased their lead after fifty one minutes when Mikla held the ball up well before feeding Godfrey who still had a lot to do but after beating the keeper he slotted the ball into an empty net. Skegness clawed a goal back on the hour mark after a fine lob beat Tydd ‘keeper, Steve Wright, to make it 2-1. However, on seventy one minutes The Saints made it 3-1 when, after a quickly taken short corner, Gary Drake floated a speculative ball into the box which beat everyone, including the keeper. Manager Carl Wilson, was happy with his side’s performance and he went to say: “The work we put in pre-season is now beginning to pay off and we are playing well as a team.” Tydd’s man of the match was Ashley Godfrey. In the other game a strong Spalding Town side proved far too strong for Fosdyke and they returned home with a 9-1 victory under their belts. Fosdyke are still team building after losing several keys player including goal-machine, Andy Brown to rivals Sutterton.

Matthew Cawthorn hit a Cropleys Suzuki Division Three hat-trick for Holbeach St Marks on their return to the Boston Saturday League when they entertained new boys, Eastville, Midville and New Leake. Gary Chappell also grabbed two goals in a convincing 7-2 home win while Jamie Forman and Michael Ocock also got on the scoresheet. Billinghay Athletic Reserves also enjoyed a good opening day success following their 4-2 home win against Freiston Reserves. Andrew Palmer, Ben Miles, Adam Brett and Paul Baxter were all on target for Billinghay. Pointon Reserves made up for their first team’s debut disappointment with a 3-3 home draw against Spalding Harriers Reserves. Pete Wilson struck twice for the new boys while Kurt Tyrell also got on the scoresheet. Kirton Town Reserves went down to a narrow 2-1 defeat at Spalding Town Reserves. Spalding scored two early goals before Kirton could settle and both teams went in for their half time break with the score remaining at 2-0. Kirton replied in the second half through Liam Wilson and were unlucky not to get at least a point out of the game after creating some fine chances and hitting the woodwork.