Flackwell crush Milton but Rayners stay top after walloping Wembley

Flackwell Heath were the biggest winners in the Combined Counties Premier Division North on Saturday, as they swept aside Milton United 6-1 at Wilks Park.

Unfortunately for Chris Ayres side, leaders Rayners Lane were the second biggest winners as they dispatched Wembley 5-1 to stay top of the table on goal difference.

The two teams have almost identical records this season with both having won 22 games, drawn four and lost three. And in a title race that looks as though it may well go right to the wire both teams now seem to be aware of how important goal difference could be. The two sides were level on 70 points for a few days before Rayners' 32 win over Reading City took them three points clear on 73 points.

Flackwell had this game well won by half-time. Harrison Mepham gave them the lead after nine minutes, with Matthew Ayres adding their second in the 15th minute. The increasingly prolific Wiktor Makowski added their third in the 21st minute and Ayres grabbed his second of the game to kill off any hopes of a comeback just before the interval.

There was little let up from the hosts in the second half, as Flackwell added a fifth in the 50th minute before Milton grabbed the scantest of consolation goals four minutes later. For good measure, Jethro Odumosu added a sixth in the 73rd minute and as they came off the field at the end, Flackwell might have felt they’d done enough to move top of the tree. However, little did they know that Rayners Lane were doing something similar to Wembley.

“Saturday showed that we are where we are for a reason,” said assistant boss Paul Shone. “We clicked and that kind of win has been coming for a while. Fortunately for us, everything we hit on Saturday went in and unfortunately for Milton, they were the ones who got that deserved beating on the day. It was pleasing to bounce back from the Harefield United game and to give our goal difference a boost.

“When you're at the top of the table, you are there to be shot at. When you're winning sometimes things are papered over and in that sense, losing that game could help us. Hopefully, it spurs us on for the next nine league games and the two cup competitions that we're still in this season.”