Fifteen in a row for Stoke, twelve for the Swans, four points still the gap

Our leaders Basingstoke Town, with a four point lead at the summit, had won their last fourteen matches- indeed had won nineteen of their last twenty- and they were quickly ahead against Uxbridge at Winklebury, Brody Peart opening the scoring on fourteen minutes to the delight of most of the seven hundred and fifty two watching on (some of whom are pictured, courtesy of the club). Peart added another nine minutes before the break, and two minutes later confirmed his hat trick- three goals and surely three points for Stoke. Midway through the second half the visitors got one back, scorer as yet unknown, and two minutes from time Anthony Mendy made things interesting, bring it back to three-two- but that was that.

Walton & Hersham, four points adrift of the summit in second place, had won their previous eleven matches and hoped to make that a beautiful dozen by defeating seventh place Binfield. It took them only six minutes to go ahead, Eddie Simon with his fifteenth of the campaign, and they were two up eight minutes before the break, Jordan Adeyemi doubling their advantage- but the Moles hit back immediately, Brad Pagliaroli halving the arrears. Five minutes into the second half the two goal advantage was restored for the Swans, and it was Simon once more doing the damage, before the same player got his hat trick with twenty five minutes remaining. It was five-one nine minutes later, Harry Mills with the fifth, and that’s where the scoring stopped, twelve in a row for the Swans.

Marlow and Northwood started the day tied on points in third and fourth. The side in third were on the road to relegation-threatened Bedfont Sports, a ground where they’ve lost on their last two visits- but they were quickly ahead in this one, Junaid Bell on thirteen minutes- his eighth of the campaign. Sports levelled from the spot just after the half hour, Aidan Brown converting, and they went ahead with fifteen minutes remaining, Noe Vendrells giving them the advantage. Sports couldn’t take a priceless three points, Khalid Simmo levelling for the visitors with eight minutes left- and Sports ended the match with ten men, Ethan Kaiser seeing red as his side fell into the bottom two.

Northwood were also on the road, to Thatcham Town. The Woods saw a four match unbeaten run come to an end against the leaders last weekend, but the margin of defeat was rather narrow and they hoped to get back to winning ways- and they were ahead on eleven minutes, Harry Gallagher with the goal. The turnaround arrived midway through the second half, a red card for Gallagher followed by two goals in a minute for Simeon Weekes, and three points for the Kingfishers, who go tenth.

Ashford Town v Chertsey Town was a big match for both sides, if for entirely different reasons. The Tangerines had slipped to within two points of the drop zone, a run of five consecutive defeats and one win in ten the cause, whilst the Curfews had similarly lost their way at the other end of the table. It was the Tangerines who hit first, Mohammed Hassan scoring after just five minutes- and they made sure there would be no repeated of their six-one hammering earlier this season by adding a second on eighteen minutes, Ricky Johnson making it two-nil. With seven minutes left the Curfews had a lifeline, William Montague pulling a goal back- and three minutes from time the Tangerines were crestfallen, Bryan Taylor equalising and earning his side a point- and seeing them close to within a point of the top five.

South Park Reigate took on Westfield as tenth entertained ninth. Field started the day five points behind the fifth place Villains, but were ahead on the quarter hour, Didi Ndombe scoring for the second Saturday in succession. The Sparks levelled with thirteen minutes left, Sam King with the goal, and both sides had to settle for a point.
Guernsey played host to Chipstead, the Green Lions, three points clear of the bottom four, looking to close the gap on their visitors to three points. Guernsey had only one defeat from six, but they fell behind six minutes into the second half, Chips top scorer Andy Somo doing the damage- but within two minutes things were level, Matt Loaring scoring. Somo wasn’t having that and put his side ahead again four minutes later, but the Green Lions grabbed a point when Ross Allen- of course- scored his customary late goal.

Finally, Tooting & Mitcham United welcomed Sutton Common Rovers in a clash of the bottom two. The hosts are bottom of the table, thirteen points from safety, and had seven matches left to avoid leaving our ranks for the first time since 1956- but they had the worst possible start, Conan Torpey with a finish worthy of a barbarian on seven minutes. Rovers made it two just after the hour, Nabeel Ghannam with the second for the visitors, and the visitors held on for victory to climb out of the bottom two.

Follow the Pitching In Isthmian League on Instagram. Head here or search for theisthmianleague on your app. We're also on Facebook and Twitter.