Thornbury 2

Malmesbury 0

A stunning acrobatic volley by Mark Viner helped Thornbury Town to victory over Malmesbury Victoria on Saturday.

On a weekend that saw victories for top two, Cheltenham Saracens and Easington Sports, a win for Thornbury was important to keep up the pressure on the leaders.

Malmesbury were in fifth place at the start of the day and were compact, well drilled and quick to break. In the first half, Thornbury had the majority of the possession but few clear cut chances. Malmesbury's Shane Bumphrey came closest to opening the scoring - on separate occasions he had shots blocked by Aaron Clark and twice by keeper Kurtis Parkin.

The wind got ever stronger throughout the match but the crowd were kept entertained by two well matched sides. Thornbury continued to play their passing game but Malmesbury's central midfield were strong and Thornbury's best opportunities came from wide on either side.

The half time whistle came with the game still goalless but as the second half progressed, Luke Franklin and Harry Brock began to get in good positions on the wings and put in crosses, creating some difficulties for the visitor's defence. It was from a fine Franklin run and cross from the left that

Thornbury eventually took the lead in the 70th minute. Having made his way to the byline on the left, Franklin's low, hard cross was expertly turned in by Harry Brock for the striker's fourth goal in as many games.

Malmesbury were stung in to action as they pushed on to try and find the equalizer but the match was ended as a contest when Mark Viner scored Thornbury's second in the 80th minute - a cross from the right evaded the Vic's central defence and Viner athletically volleyed it into the top corner from 12 yards out, for one of the goals of the season.

The Thorns celebrations that followed that goal showed that they knew Malmesbury wouldn't be able to come back and that the three points were theirs.

This hard fought victory means that Thornbury stay in close contention with the leaders and the top three start to pull away from the field.

This Saturday Thorns are at home again, this time to Oxford side, North Leigh United with a 3:00pm kick off at the Mundy Fields.