Wessex round-up: Priory back in pole position after ruling (From Bournemouth Echo)

Wessex round-up: Priory back in pole position after ruling

7:00am Friday 18th January 2013 in Non league football By Echo Reporter

CHRISTCHURCH have taken over on top of the Wessex Premier Division – without kicking a ball.

Priory are without a game this weekend, but with the frosty weather closing in, Graham Kemp’s side are likely to remain at the summit into next week after championship rivals Downton were docked six points for fielding an ineligible player.

The Robins were yesterday punished for fielding Matt Gurd in league matches against Alton and Priory in December, with the results expunged and the fixtures set to be replayed later in the season.

The Wiltshire side racked up victories in both encounters and lose six points as a result, leaving Priory top of the table by a point.

Kemp told the Echo: “Although it was a genuine mistake by Downton, I feel we are there by right. The rules are the rules and, theoretically, they could lose against us when we replay the game, which would make things interesting.”

•  Boss Simon Browne has tasked his Hamworthy United players with trying to right a wrong when they host Wessex Premier rivals Totton & Eling at the County Ground tomorrow (3pm).

Hammers conceded two late own goals and let slip a 2-1 lead when they went down 3-2 against the Millers at Little Testwood Farm in September.

Hammers manager Browne said: “We probably owe them one and I will tell the players that it is payback time. When we lost at Totton in September, it was an unjust defeat. We took our chances and played well until the final few minutes.

“Two minutes of madness cost us and we will be looking to put that right.”

Midfielder Jan Muller, who has returned following a three-week break in Germany, is the only addition to the Hammers squad.

Hammers: (from) Knights, Murray, Staines, Horlock, Ayling, Hester, Lanahan, Sturgess, Wyatt, Shovelton, Bradley, Pekun, Penny, Carlile, Muller.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Poppies host Money-fields and Verwood welcome GE Hamble to Potterne Park (3pm).

In Wessex One, Ringwood travel to Fleet Spurs.

Poppies: (from) Jones, Lepage, Watt, Batchelor, Hales, Lammali, Ward, Warren, Joyce, Phillips, Saadi, Martin, Lockyer, Corby, Burgis, Vaughan.

Potters: (from) Lynch, Elysee, J Smith, J Lovell, Kelly, Saxby, Dyer, Webb, Satterley, Gajic, Jones, Murray, Evans, O’Connell.