Belve in driving seat (From Dorset Echo)

Belve in driving seat

9:04am Thursday 19th March 2009 in Local Sport By Dill Butcher

BELVEDERE player-manager Bobby Darch hailed his side’s 2-0 triumph over Premiership title rivals the Duke of Albany at Redlands as a “fantastic all-round team performance”.

The result now leaves the champions in a commanding position to clinch their third successive league crown.

The Belve remain in second place, three points behind leaders the Britannia but with four games in hand and the Duke – considered their greatest threat – now lie eight points adrift of them in fourth spot.

The visitors looked fired up in the early exchanges and after just five minutes they found the all-important opening goal from a perfectly worked set-piece.

Alex Halloran chipped in a free-kick from the left edge of the box to the back post where Paul Cole had time and space to head back across keeper Anthony Luque for the in-rushing Leighton Hanson to stroke home. The Duke responded well and their best chance arrived just five minutes later when Luke Tomlin picked out Danny Andrews whose close-range volley was neatly pushed away by Paul Bosworth.

Later, Halloran picked up Liam Miles’ miss-placed pass but hammered a shot three feet over, then the Duke’s Darren Samways linked up well with Russell North but his final shot flew straight at Bosworth before the final action of the half saw Rob Maxted’s bullet free-kick well-held by Luque.

Despite camping in the Belve half for long periods of the second half the hosts were finding it increasingly difficult to break through a resolute defensive line and chances came at a premium.

A near post header from Josh Burton saw an alert Bosworth again push the ball to safety and in one of just a couple of half-chances Darren Samways, having escaped the shackles of Nigel Evans, could only trickle a shot wide of a post from the edge of the box as the Duke challenge fizzled out.

In one of their only purposeful second half attacks the Belve added a second in the 89th minute when a touch of class from Cole saw the striker slip past two defenders down the left flank before squaring to Maxted for an easy finish at the back post.

For the Belve, the victory went a long way to banishing both the memory of an early-season Shaun Taylor Charity Shield collapse against the Duke and also last weekend’s disappointing county cup semi-final exit.

A jubilant Darch said: “We were straight out of the blocks and fired up – I only had to mention to the lads about last week and the Charity Shield.

“We tore into them and deserved to win but special praise has to go to the defence. With Andy Holder, Dave Paice and Nigel Evans playing so well we have only conceded nine goals in the league all season and they put up another brick wall.”

Meanwhile, Simon Shapcott netted a fine hat-trick as the Kingswood continued their incredible run of form with a comprehensive win over the Lugger at Redlands.

The contest remained tight for the opening half-hour before a tactical switch saw Shapcott move up front from defence and help the hosts to a 3-0 lead by half-time.

The makeshift striker bundled in the opener with his knee before Brendan King and Ricky Limm increased the tally following two excellent crosses from Paul Lambert.

And when Shapcott made it 4-0 early in the second half, finishing off Steve Lambert’s cross, a rout looked on the cards.

Shapcott went on to complete his treble moments later before setting up Paul Lambert for the sixth.

Lugger heads had completely dropped by now and that allowed Steve Lambert to grab a late brace and complete the scoring.

Over at the Marsh the Brit held on to top spot when they recorded a 3-1 victory from a thrilling encounter with early season pacesetters the Rodwell.

Ollie Stanton’s lob over Martin Rutland handed the Weymouth outfit a deserved seventh minute lead but the islanders levelled through an Adam Dell penalty after Chris Squibb had been brought down by the keeper.

Brit boss George Eley ensured his wingers Jordan Bowler and Elliot Gould became far more of a threat in the second period – the momentum changed and it was livewire Bowler whose stunning 22-yard free- kick edged the visitors in front.

Late on a last-ditch tackle from Bob Carlyle denied Stanton an equaliser before the Brit found a clinching third goal as Bowler played in Anthony Carlyle who finished clinically.

A solitary 40th minute strike from Danny Dancer was enough for the Tuatara to defeat a patched-up AFC Black Dog in another closely fought contest.

Late first half pressure from the T-bar finally saw them sneak ahead when Simon Meadows spotted Dancer’s well-timed run and the striker beat the advancing Neil Robinson with a finish into the far corner.

A late chance for the Dog saw Rob Golsby’s flicked effort rebound off the inside of an upright, trickle across the line and hit the other post before rolling to safety as the T-bar held onto the points.

In the Championship, leaders Galaxy Windows were left stunned as they succumbed to a surprise 2-0 defeat to Queens Park Venue at the Grove thanks to a double strike from Dean Williams.

The visitors found the opener in the 28th minute as Williams swooped on a left-side centre that the home defence had failed to clear, and the same player completed the scoring on the hour.

When, in the 78th minute, Olly Tillson was sent from the field for persistent dissent the Galaxy challenge had long since faded.

That was not the only shock in the division however, as the Dorothy smashed eight past high-flying visitors the Market House who were clearly fielding an under strength side at Budmouth.

Carl McClements’ volley opened the scoring and as the Dot took the game by the scruff of the neck the floodgates quickly opened.

McClements soon added his second – the Dot’s 100th goal of the campaign – and when he slid home to complete a first half hat-trick the prolific striker had brought his tally to 43 goals in all competitions. Wayne Gifford then found the bottom corner before Darren Bishop headed home to make it 5-0 going into the second period.

The Dot completed a good morning’s work with three more goals after the break through a brace from Stanton and a Gifford penalty.

Finally, the Rock were forced to work hard for the points against a resurgent Old Castle with player-boss Colin Judge forced to ring the changes at the break with the score still goalless.

Indeed the boss took matters into his own hands and scored both the Rock’s goals in an eventual 2-0 success – the second being a spectacular overhead kick. RESULTS: Weymouth Sunday League Premiership: Britannia 3 Rodwell 1, Duke of Albany 0 Belvedere 2, Kingswood 8 Lugger 0, Rendezvous 2 George 7, Tuatara 1 AFC Black Dog 0.

Championship: Alex 2 Chapelhay 5, Dorothy 8 Market House 0, Galaxy Windows 0 Queens Park Venue 2, Golden Lion 4 George 2, Rock 2 Old Castle 0, Southill 4 Clean Connections 0.