FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division: Almondsbury Town 7 Marlow 0 (From Gazette Series)

FTL Futbol Hellenic Premier Division: Almondsbury Town 7 Marlow 0

9:41am Thursday 25th February 2010 in

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RICHARD THOMPSON refused to get carried away after his Almondsbury Town side closed the gap on league leaders Reading to just four points with a thumping victory at Oaklands Park.

A fifth straight win for Almondsbury in the league this year and two home defeats on the trot for Reading has seen a 16-point gap between the top two reduced dramatically, and the Almonds still have three games in hand.

However, boss Thompson insists his side are still underdogs with 17 league games on top of cup commitments to cram in before the end of the season - a problem made worse by the postponement of their match at Pegasus Juniors on Tuesday night.

He said: “I don’t think it has turned in our favour but it has given us a bit more light and it’s more realistic to chase.

“But with Reading’s running and the games they have to play, they probably still fancy themselves.

“We’re all realistic about the amount of games that we have got to play, we’ve reached the stage now where it’s not physically possible, but that won’t stop us trying to win every game.”

Since Thompson replaced Paul Weeks at the helm in September, Almondsbury have won 16 and lost just once in 19 league games in their relentless chase of Reading.

“Any other league in the country we would be way ahead at the top but we’ve got this team called Reading who are probably as good as us,” said Thompson.

“I’m pleased with how everything has gone but nobody is getting carried away.

“If we go ahead and do it then it will be one hell of an achievement.”

Aaron Blakemore set Almondsbury on their way to victory against Marlow in the 11th minute following Jason Wood’s assist and Mike Whittington added a second one minute later.

Ross Stearn scored from the penalty spot on 49 minutes and completed his brace four minutes later.

Further goals followed from Dale Peckham on the hour after Lee Bridson flicked on from a corner with Aaron Cornwall and Dean Griffiths scoring within three minutes of each other to wrap up an emphatic win.

Thompson said: “I was expecting an extremely difficult game because when we played them away and won 1-0 they were a very big and physical side but they were missing a few players.

“I’m not going to big us up because we probably caught them on the right day but you’ve got to beat whatever is put in front of you and we’ve done it pretty convincingly.”

Almondsbury travel to Fairford Town on Saturday.

Winterbourne suffered a 3-0 defeat at Lydney Town in Division One West.