SUNDAY saw the resumption of games in thesoccersite.co.uk Malvern League after a lengthy Christmas break, which, combined with bad weather in December, meant many teams had not played for four weeks.

League leaders Bell Inn 98 took advantage of Cross Keys being without a game to increase their lead at the top of the table when they visited Keyz 04. After their best display of the season, they took all three points with a comprehensive 5-0 victory. Early pressure from Bell Inn 98 led to them taking an early lead when defender Graham Lowen put the ball into his own net.

In the 25th minute, Lee Hooper rounded the keeper to make it 2-0 and a 30-yard thunderbolt from man-of-the-match Ashley Jones made it 3-0 before half-time. In fact Bell Inn stand-in keeper Pat Locke did not have to make a save at all in the first-half.

Keyz 04, with the advantage of the slope, did come more into it early in the second-half but their revival was short-lived as they conceded a penalty in the 60th minute and Chris Grubb made no mistake from the spot. The home side's cause was not helped when they were reduced to 10 men when Mark White was red-carded. Dave Bundred made it 5-0 when he beat three players in a superb run down the right wing before calmly chipping the keeper from the edge of the area. Any threats from Keyz 04 forwards were well dealt with by Jim Argent, who celebrated his 51st birthday with an outstanding display at the back for Bell Inn.

If it was goals you wanted to see, Ross Road, Ledbury, was the place to be as the two games there produced 28 goals.

Oak Allstars moved up to third in the table when they 'visited' fellow Oak side Academy. After a first-half which saw the young Academy side perform well and only concede two goals, both from Jamie James, the second-half saw Allstars well on top. They hammered home a further nine unanswered goals to take the points with an 11-0 victory.

Their second-half goals came from Chris Stone, Neil Gardiner, Anthony Bradford, two each from Jamie James, Jamie Gladwin and Tim Rutherford.

There were even more goals in the other match between Oak Misfits and Keys Victoria. When these sides met in the cup, it took an injury-time winner to separate them. Whilst Misfits continued their improving form, visitors Keys Victoria slipped back to their old ways and the result was an overwhelming 17-0 victory for the home side, which saw them climb two places to eighth in the table. Their goals came from Jason Emery, Chris Goodrum, Richard Sykes, Rhys Watkins, two from Martin Loveridge, hat-tricks from Terry Boswell and Zeki Koral plus a five-goal haul from Asa Smith.

Morgan Aero 8 moved up to fourth with a 5-3 victory over visitors Fromes Hill. Morgan's goals came from Martin Philpotts, Conrad Arnold, Mike Griffin and two from Matt Ilsley with Hill's goals coming from Darren Lynch, Jason Bourne and Shaun Taylor.

Ganglands visited Belmont Keys and four goals from the league's leading scorer Wayne Cadmore were enough to give them a 4-2 victory, with Rob Jones netting both Keys' goals.

In the days only other game, Ledbury Rangers took the points with a 5-1 victory at Fromes Hill Reserves. Rangers' goals came from Stewart Eastoe, Terry Bramley, Blackie Smith and two from Jamie Phillips, with the home side's response from Aaron Richards.