Two wins lift Thorns off bottom

THE winter weather has played havoc with Thornbury Town’s fixtures over the past month, with the first team having been in action on only three occasions.

Thorns made an early exit from the County Cup, suffering a narrow 2-0 defeat at Roman Glass St George.

However, this defeat did give Town the chance to concentrate on their league form, as they try to steer themselves clear of the Hellenic League Premier Division relegation zone.

A local derby after Christmas against Chipping Sodbury Town saw a good-sized crowd witness Thorns' biggest win of the season.

Two goals in a minute, from Harvey Pritchard and Harry Brock, started the ball rolling midway through the first half and a third from Cam Drew, five minutes later, gave Thornbury a comfortable lead at half-time.

Drew scored his second and Town’s fourth just after the hour mark, as they romped to a 4-0 win.

The New Year’s bank holiday fixture saw Town travel to Hereford to play fourth-placed Westfields and, in front of a 200-plus crowd, they upset the form book by snatching a 1-0 win, courtesy of a penalty from Jack Sheppard-Cozens.

Whilst the hosts enjoyed a good slice of

Captain Jo Deas, Sophie Vizard and Connie Talbot roamed effectively in midfield, while Alice Atkinson and Vicky Ball caused the visiting defence a number of problems, Ball putting the result beyond doubt when she hammered home the third goal.

Thornbury visit Hanham next, hoping to continue on the winning trail.

Meanwhile the Thornbury men's team lost a high-scoring game against Old Bristolians 5ths, 6-4.

Lewis Henderson scored a brace, with Christoph Zickert and Tiger Sherrard-Isles getting Thornbury's other goals.

The team continues to develop and show considerable promise in this, their first season in league hockey.

David Parry-Jones

possession, a great defensive display saw Thorns take the points and lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

The postponement of the away match at Fairford on January 22 was the third Saturday fixture in a row to be called off.

The Reserves still challenge for honours, despite only having played one game in the last five weeks.

There was some disappointment that they dropped two points following a 4-4 draw with Highridge United in an incident-packed game.

The Reserves led 3-1 and 4-2, with goals from Harrison Young(2), Stan Wyatt and George Huke, but on both occasions the visitors pulled level.

Despite the result, Town’s reserves still maintain second place in the league, three points behind leaders Old Sodbury, and crucially have three games in hand.

With some key league fixtures coming up and a County Cup quarter-final against Lion FC, there is still much to play for.

The A team however have been kicking their heels in recent weeks, not having had a fixture since the end of November.

In a very tight division they currently lie in fourth place, and whilst AFC Mangotsfield Reserves look to be title favourites, the runners-up spot is well within the A team's grasp, especially as the enforced break from action has allowed some key players to recover from injury.

Malcolm Carr