Martley Spurs 4, Bishampton 0

The elements and misfortune contrived to end Bishampton's recent unbeaten run.

Although the forwards share the blame for missing good opportunities, the conditions had a hand in the first two Martley goals.

To their credit, both teams tried to play good football and they provided entertaining end to end stuff for the brave spectators.

As early as the fifth minute Bishampton should have taken the lead when Greg Mason played the ball to Matt Bicknell whose shot beat the keeper, but struck the foot of the post and went out to safety.

Four minutes later Martley had their first attempt on goal and Luke Willetts brought out a fine save from keeper Rob Bille in the Bishampton goal.

This was the start of some sustained pressure from Martley as they used the conditions better than their visitors.

After 15 minutes Martley took the lead. Following a corner the ball struck a Martley player in the six yard box and as Bille tried to make the save in the mud the ball slipped from his grasp and Cris Collins was on hand to poke the ball home from close range.

Bishampton replied immediately and a good run by Mark Onens took him past three defenders before crossing the ball into the six yard box. But when an equaliser looked certain the ball bounced agonisingly past Mark Brimmell's outstretched leg and was cleared by the Martley defence.

Both teams continued to attack and in the 34th minute Martley had their second piece of good fortune. The ball was played to the edge of the Bishampton area and as defender Adrian Newbon moved across to control the ball, it unfortunately stopped in the surface water, which allowed Collins plenty of time to take the ball on and score.

As with the first goal Bishampton's response was immediate. As they went on the attack the ball was played into the Martley penalty area to the unmarked Stuart Hubball, but as he went to shoot first time the ball held up in the water. Unfortunately for him it delayed his shot and allowed keeper Phil Lane vital seconds to get into position before pulling off a fine save by turning the ball around the post.

Five minutes before half time Martley went three up and Bishampton could blame no one but themselves. A free kick was played into the area and Benny Jeynes, unmarked at the far post, scored with ease.

The second half continued in the same vein, with both teams attacking when in possession, but it was Martley who scored again to put the game out of the reach of the visitors.

A long ball was played out of defence for Collins to collect. Looking well offside Collins went on to score after a mix-up and the referee allowed the goal to stand. This seemed to drive the visitors on and in the final 15 minutes they should have scored several goals themselves, with Onens chipping the goalkeeper only to see it hit a post. Bicknell was next to suffer when his shot was cleared off the goal line and the rebound hit the bar before the next shot was brilliantly turned over by Lane.

Max Woodward saw his two efforts flash just past the post and at the other end Bille had to be alert on two occasions in a pulsating finish to the game.

Next match Perrywood v Bishampton on Saturday.