TENIOLA SWIFT TO DISPATCH WITHAM
ALEX Teniola scored a brace as Heybridge
Swifts eased to a 4-1 victory over rivals Witham
Town to move within two points of top spot in the Isthmian North.
Teniola opened the scoring in the 13th minute of a frantic first-half from the spot after Harrison Chatting’s run into the box drew a trip from Daniel Smith, before Manny Osei-Owusu doubled their lead just ten minutes later.
It looked like the floodgates might have opened when Teniola scored his second ten minutes before the break to make it 3-0 and the away side missed a golden opportunity to pull one back from the spot but George Bugg side-footed wide.
Any doubt about the result was put to bed with ten minutes to go when substitute Matt Price scored a fourth from the back post, leaving Scott Kemp’s late goal for Witham to be nothing but a consolation. Will Gardner was on target as Bury Town kept their spot at the top of the table with a 2-1 win away at Felixstowe & Walton United. Gardner rammed home the opener in the 23rd minute before an opportunist finish by Ollie Hughes made the game safe with 15 minutes to go.
The Seasiders pulled a goal back in injury-time, Armani Schaar tucking home a rebound after his penalty was saved by Dan Barden. Soham Town Rangers’
Lloyd Groves scored twice and netted an own goal as his side ran out 4-2 winners away at AFC Sudbury.
It was a fast-paced start to proceedings with Lewis Clayton opening the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute, but Tom Maycock levelled it up five minutes later.
It looked set to be an afternoon to forget for Groves when he gave the opponents the lead on 65 minutes, but the humiliation clearly spurred him on as the defender grabbed two in the closing stages, either side of Sam Mulready’s effort, to secure the
win for the Rangers.
Jason Williams scored the winner as Brentwood ran out 3-2 winners at Cambridge City.
City were on the backfoot inside the opening ten minutes when a fine finish from Andy Williams put the visitors in front, but Sam Bantick quickly pulled City level.
However, Conor Hogan got Brentwood back in front before the half-time whistle when he fired home, before Williams produced a great finish midway through the second-half to seal victory, Ryan Sharman’s injury-time goal proving nothing but a consolation for the home side.
Sixth-placed Great Wakering Rovers kept up the pressure on the promotion hopefuls by beating Grays Athletic 3-1 at home. Jake Gordon, Jon Benton and Jake Stevenson all got on the scoresheet for the home side, Grays’ only goal coming from a last-minute spot-kick from Joao Carlos. New signing George Sykes scored on his league debut for Aveley, but his strike proved too little as his side were defeated 2-1 by Coggleshall Town at home. Tyler Brampton and Robert Harvey put the away side 2-0 up by the break and while Sykes’ goal gave Aveley newfound hope of securing points, it was not enough to prevent them from slipping to a narrow defeat.
Elsewhere, David Hinton’s second-half strike secured a point for Dereham Town at home to Hullbridge Sports.
After a goalless first-half, Jamie Salmon scored for the visitors but 20 minutes later Hinton salvaged a point by tapping home from a goalmouth scramble.