TAUNTON & District Saturday League should have had ten teams in this first round of the Somerset Intermediate Cup with others due to join in the next round but four opponents decided to give teams a walkover.

Through to the next round without kicking a ball go Minehead Reserves, Nether Stowey, Stogursey and Dulverton Town.

Of the six others that did play only one lost out and that was to another one of our sides which was Highbridge Town Reserves losing out 3-0 to Redgate for whom Jack Hamblin scored twice and Sam Granville converted a penalty. 

Woolavington had an easy 9-1 away win at Burnham United and Wembdon similarly were not troubled much with a 12-2 win at Pilton.

In the League Knock-out Cup, Westonzoyland did well to hold Division 1 Bishops Lydeard to a score of 1-1 after 90 minutes with Jake Gillard scoring but they weren’t able to win the penalty shoot-out which Lydeard dominated. 

IN the Seward Cup First Round, North Petherton Reserves beat Minehead Reserves 3-2 with Gareth John getting both Minehead goals. Jason Mantyk scored one for Pethy from open play but failed to get a pair when he missed a penalty but, fortunately for him, his colleagues James Smith and Dan Wilkes both scored to give his side the win.

Galmington Dragons Reserves started the game well against Bridgwater Sports Colts, going 1-0 up after five minutes through Sam Witt. Sports got right back in the game with some sloppy defending to lead 2-1 at half-time with goals from Alex Turner and Peter Machnowski. 

In the second half, Galmington were much better taking control of the game and two Robbie Welham goals sealed the win. 

Williton had a resounding victory over Morganians Reserves, winning 8-1.

Veteran striker Matt Werbitzky scored half of his sides goals, Marc Girling adding two, Andrew Davey and Jay Darrell added one each, while Matt Parker scored Morganians consolation goal. 

Bridgwater Sports are the early season leaders in Division 1 after a 4-1 win at Sampford Blues. Sports started strongly and Jason Hitchcock scored a superb volley on the run to reward Sports for a positive start. Shortly before halftime Matt Fursland added a second. 

A sloppy start to the second half saw Sports concede a penalty which Matt Holmes despatched but Paul Organ and Piers Govier secured the win with cool finishes late on. 

Locomotives also have a 100% record winning this week 3-2 at home to North Petherton. 

North Petherton took the lead through Josh Gracie but Kieran Wyatt made it 1-1 at half-time. The second half Ryan Vickery made it 2-1 and Stu Kennard scored to give his side a two-goal cushion but Senna Clapp got a late goal to finish the game 3-2.

Middlezoy Rovers Reserves grabbed two goals in two minutes to put the pressure on Tone Youth, the second a great finish after a fortunate deflection by Jack Warren; Jemal Choudrey scoring the other.

Tone Youth rallied and came back into the game before half-time through top scorer Mike Kearley. They then pressed consistently through the second half and hit the bar and also forced the keeper into a great save, but Middlezoy held out for the 2-1 victory. 

In Division 2, The Gallery are top of the table but they have played a game more than everybody else but they were held to a 2-2 draw by Westonzoyland for whom Jake Gillard and Paul Burrows scored.

In the only other other League game, it was a 3-0 win for Milverton over Morganians.

Sydenham Rangers are the early leaders in Division 3 with nine points from three games, the latest a 6-1 win over Exmoor Rangers but the game was closely contested in the first half with an interval score of 1-1, Nick Baker scoring the Exmoor goal.

In the second period, Sydenham took advantage of the tiring Exmoor players and scored a further five goals, Adam Knight scoring three of them, and Chris Gillard, Martyn Milton and Vinnie Jodkowski all adding one each. 

In Division 4, Bridgwater Grasshoppers beat previously undefeated Staplegrove Colts 2-0. It was a fantastic game from Hoppers with resolute defending from a corner count well in the 20s which Grove couldn’t convert from. 

Although Hoppers should have had at least two more goals if it wasn’t for woeful finishing from Dan Saunders and Shane Thompson who both had decent one-on-ones, but Shane did score one goal and Andy Hole added the second.

Wiveliscombe beat Middlezoy Athletic relatively easily with a 4-0 scoreline. Lloyd Cuthburt helped himself to a hat-trick and Tom Welch scored the fourth. 

A strong East Bower performance against North Curry see them go top of the Division 5 table. 

The opener came from Lewis Jordan followed quickly by Louis Watts goal. Shane Frost scored a bullet header from a Warren cross and then Ash Warren scored a brace with Josh Jones scoring the sixth to complete a sterling first half performance. 

In the second half, North Curry improved and a missed penalty by Ash Warren was followed up by Kai Knight goal to complete the Bower’s scoring but Lloyd Deans got one back for Curry as East Bower won 7-1. 

The Gallery Reserves went one better beating Norton Fitzwarren Reserves 8-1, Lee Blewitt hitting a hat-trick, Adam Chappell a pair with Cameron Robilliard, Brad Hayes, and Liam Charles all adding one each. James Wyatt got the Norton consolation goal. 

There were also nine goals at Bridgwater Wolves but the game against Hamilton Athletic was a bit closer with Wolves winning 6-3. Brad Walford led the line with four strikes, Sam Pople and Adam Gamblin also netting, Callum Smith, Dave Sweet and Dom Knight all got a goal for Hamilton. 

RESULTS
KO Cup – Westonzoyland 1, Bishops Lydeard Res 1.
Rowbarton Cup – Bishops Lydeard Colts 2, Creech Cougars 1.
Seward Cup – North Petherton Res 3, Porlock Res 2; Williton 8, Morganians Res 1; Galmington Dragons Res 3, Bridgwater Sports Colts 2.
Somerset Intermediate Cup – Winscombe v Minehead Res (w/o); Dulverton Town v Weston Super Seagulls (w/o); Highbridge Town Res 0, Redgate 3; Burnham Utd 1, Woolavington 9; Alcombe Rovers 5, Worle Rangers 2; Pilton United Res 2, Wembdon 12; Imperial Res v Nether Stowey (w/o); Som Stogursey v Midsomer Norton Athletic (w/o); Fivehead 3, Belrose 2 (aet). 
League: Division 1 – Bishops Lydeard Res 2, Staplegrove Res 3; Locomotives 3, North Petherton 2; Porlock 2, Wyvern Rangers 1; Sampford Blues 1, Bridgwater Sports 4; Tone Youth 1, Middlezoy Rovers Res 2. 
Division 2 – Morganians 0, Milverton Rangers 3; Westonzoyland 2, The Gallery 2. 
Division 3 – Galmington Dragons 3, Norton Fitzwarren 4; Sydenham Rangers 6, Exmoor Rangers 1; Tone Youth Res 3, Alcombe Rovers Res 2.
Division 4 – Bridgwater Grasshoppers 2, Staplegrove Colts 0; Middlezoy Athletic 0, Wiveliscombe 4. 
Division 5 – Bridgwater Wolves 6, Hamilton Athletic Foxes 3; East Bower 7, North Curry 1; Norton Fitzwarren Res 1, The Gallery Res 8.

FIXTURES
Wednesday, September 24 (8pm): KO Cup – Staplegrove Res v Tone Youth. 
Friday, September 26 (8pm): Rowbarton Cup – Tone Youth v Norton Fitzwarren Res; Woolavington v Watchet Town.
Saturday: Rowbarton Cup – Milverton Rangers v The Gallery.
Seward Cup – Norton Fitzwarren v Highbridge Town Res; Bridgwater Grasshoppers v Wiveliscombe.
League: Division 1 – Locomotives v Bridgwater Sports, North Petherton v Porlock, Sampford Blues v Middlezoy Rovers Res, Wyvern Rangers v Staplegrove Res.
Division 2 – Alcombe Rovers v Minehead Res, Morganians v Nether Stowey, Wembdon v Stogursey, Westonzoyland v Dulverton Town.
Division 3 – Exmoor Rangers v Bridgwater Sports Res, Galmington Dragons v Sydenham Rangers, Redgate v Alcombe Rovers Res.
Division 4 – Ash Rangers v Williton, Creech Cougars v Middlezoy Athletic, Porlock Res v Galmington Dragons Res, Staplegrove Colts v North Petherton Res.
Division 5 – The Gallery Reserves v Morganians Res, Bishops Lydeard Colts v East Bower, Bridgwater Sports Colts v Nether Stowey Res, Fivehead v Hamilton Athletic Foxes, North Curry v Bridgwater Wolves.