TYTHERINGTON Rocks made it eight consecutive league wins against title rivals Old Woodstock to go 12 points clear at the top of the table.

This is a pivotal moment of the season with Christmas still over a week away but Gary Powell’s side had a terrible start to this key game.

They had not conceded a goal in the last four games, but from a first minute free- kick into the Rocks penalty box was not cleared, and in came Liam Bodin to crack home a beauty.

But after that scoring opportunities proved scarce for the opposition, and in the 18th minute the game changed.

Lively Jack Smyth beat two men in a mazy run, but he was then tripped up by goalkeeper Jeff Simmonds in the goal area.

Simmonds was sent off and from the penalty spot man of the match Stuart Nelson gleefully converted the equaliser against Dan Monk, who had taken the visitors’ goalkeeper’s jersey.

With 17 minutes left the winner came from Rocks’ assistant boss Jason Wood, who came in from the right, found space, and his shot from 20 yards somehow beat the diving Monk to go inside the base of the near post, which gave the midfielder his seventh goal of the term.

Boss Powell said: “Our win came from all our squad, where I had to put Nick Jones and Alex Chapman in.

“They never let us down and Alex should have scored with a first half effort.

“We were the best side for most of the game, whether they had ten men or 11.

“We are in a good position but the season is only halfway and I don’t talk about promotion before Christmas.

“Our supporters can talk about that but at the moment promotion is not in my vocabulary or my players.”

This Saturday, the Rocks are away at Cirencester Development (3pm).

* A depleted Tytherington Rocks Reserves side lost 6-0 away to Avonmouth Reserves.

They play Stoke Gifford at home on Saturday, 2pm.

* Winterbourne United have applied to the FA to move to the Toolstation Western League next season to cut down on travelling.

They recorded their seventh win of the current Hellenic Division One West campaign on Saturday with a 3-2 win at New College Swindon. Winterbourne led 2-0 after 16 minutes thanks to strikes from Ashley Knight and Ben Dowdell, but Josh Skeates hit two goals in as many minutes to level the scores after half an hour.

Dowdell hit the winner with his second of the afternoon ten minutes into the second half.