IN THIS key relegation battle it was Wotton who came out on top with a well deserved victory over bottom club Cleevillians.

The visitors’ early efforts belied their position in the league table and Wotton had to be on their guard.

Neverthless, Wotton gradually took control of the game, winning the vital midfield battle with Bruce Dunham, Ed Sonnex, Joe Barnes and Edd Hill on song. Indeed, it was two of these players who combined to give Wotton the lead, with Sonnex feeding Hill for the latter to score his first goal of the season.

Sonnex then played provider again after some fine interplay in the opposition 25, this time for Harry Willcox to score at the far post. Wotton were good value for their 2-0 lead at half time.

Wotton’s third goal came from a well worked penalty corner with a dummy from Henry Patteson and a feed from Dunham finished with a cute flick in from Sonnex. Stuart Emms then added a fourth from another penalty corner.

Cleevillans threw men forward and pulled one goal back and Wotton had to weather an onslaught to prevent them from getting back into the game. Both John MacKenzie and Pete George made vital saves and tackles, while ‘keeper Chas Thomas capped a fine performance with a great reflex save towards the end.

Wotton are playing well and giving themselves every chance of remaining in this division but they need to keep on winning. This Saturday they travel to old rivals Lansdown, who are only one place above them in the table.

  • Wotton firsts came unstuck away to Lansdown in De Cymru & Marches Division One on Saturday, suffering an embarrassing 7-1 reversal but bounced back on Sunday to win the local derby with Stroud 2-1 and maintain their mid-table position. The goals came from Chris Price and Darren Pearce.