DIVISION 1B Littleport Town Reserves boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop by taking all three points in Saturday s encounter with fellow strugglers Gransden Chequers. Lee Anderson s goal kept them on level terms, and substitute James Kent came on to s

DIVISION 1B

Littleport Town Reserves boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop by taking all three points in Saturday's encounter with fellow strugglers Gransden Chequers.

Lee Anderson's goal kept them on level terms, and substitute James Kent came on to score the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory for the bottom side.

PREMIER DIVISION

Fordham secretary John Pryke admitted that he was "gutted" after watching his team draw 2-2 against higher-ranked Histon A.

Mark Blair fired them in front, but Histon managed to get back on level terms shortly afterwards.

Substitute Ben Howe put Fordham in the driving seat again with a second goal, but in the closing stages a rare mistake from goalkeeper Jimmy Watson gifted the hosts their equaliser.

Littleport Town entertained Newmarket Town Reserves, but it was the visitors who grabbed all three points by virtue of scoring the only goal of the game.

SENIOR DIVISION B

Ely City Reserves went back to the top of the table on goal difference after a narrow victory at the expense of Castle Camps.

They found themselves a goal down in the first half, but got back on level terms within five minutes as Chris Lupson tapped home an Andrew Francis corner.

City introduced substitute Rob Parker during the second period, and within 10 minutes he managed to grab the 2-1 winner for the home side.

Haddenham Rovers helped Ely's championship cause considerably by holding Fulbourn Institute Reserves to a 1-1 draw away from home.

Kenny Holmes, Geoff Buck and Aaron Collins all tested the Fulbourn goalkeeper during the opening exchanges, and Rovers deservedly took the lead when Holmes ended his recent goal drought with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

"We outplayed them for most of the game," said Haddenham correspondent Les Thistlethwaite afterwards, but in the final quarter-of-an-hour it was Fulbourn who forced the pace and the inevitable equaliser came with just 10 minutes remaining.

Soham United are all but mathematically doomed after losing by the odd goal in nine at home to Cherry Hinton.

"If we had played for 90 minutes," said United player-manager Andy Parker afterwards, "we'd have got something out of it."

As it was, Soham briefly restored parity in the first half through Ali Mohammed, but then trailed 3-1 at the break before conceding two more at the start of the second half.

Chris Lam (2) and Mohammed again reduced the deficit to a single goal before the final whistle, and although Lee Heading struck the bar in the closing stages it all proved to be too much for Parker's young troops.

Ely Crusaders consolidated third position in the table by winning 3-1 at the expense of JM Sports, a team that until recently were haunted by the spectre of relegation.

The opening 45 minutes was goalless, but Crusaders took the lead at the start of the second half when Lee Moll followed up Ben Fuller's parried shot.

JM equalised soon afterwards, but Moll was on target almost immediately to restore Ely's advantage.

Moll then completed his hat-trick with 15 minutes remaining, but Crusaders have left it too late to resume their challenge for one of the two promotion spots.

DIVISION 2B

Stretham Hotspurs and Sutton United shared the spoils in an exciting local derby on Saturday.

Sutton hit the post twice early on and then took the lead, but Simon Rudnicki equalised from the penalty spot after Ben Page had been tripped in the area.

United went 2-1 in front following a free-kick, but Lee Iball earned Stretham a share of the spoils with a delightful lob which made the final score 2-2.

Matthew Keys and Sam Oliver were the players on target for the visitors.

Ely City A also drew after Neil McKnight's opener was cancelled out in the 1-1 home encounter with Bluntisham Rangers Reserves, but Isleham United surrendered the points in their visit to Huntingdon United RGE.

Andy Brown scored the only goal of the second half, but his side already trailed by three goals at that stage and consequently went down 3-1.

DIVISION 3B

Fordham Reserves overcame a poor first half display to take all three points at the expense of visiting Brampton Reserves.

They had the elements in their favour during the opening 45 minutes but trailed 1-0 at the break after Scott Day and Carl Rutterford both limped off.

Fordham took control of the game with a three-goal blitz in the second half, prompted by Grant Pearson's sensational equaliser.

Ollie Foreman and Ian Butterworth (penalty) were the other players on target during that purple-patch, and substitute Ian Jellyman made the final score 4-1 near the end.

The Vine defeated Cottenham United A 2-0 away from home, but Little Downham Swifts appear resigned to relegation after an 8-0 mauling at Lakenheath Reserves.

Soham United Reserves shared the spoils 2-2 with leaders Wisbech St Mary thanks to goals from Clive Boucheron and Craig Whyatt, and this result allowed Witchford '96 to make ground with a 4-0 defeat of Huntingdon United RGE Reserves.

Aaron Spencer missed a couple of chances early on, but with five minutes of the first half remaining he rounded the goalkeeper to make the half-time score 1-0.

Witchford conceded a penalty when Ally McDonald was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, but the spot-kick rattled against the post and was cleared.

Spencer added a second goal soon after that let-off, and he then completed his hat-trick before Colin Coulson completed the rout with a low shot into the corner.

DIVISION 4B

Sutton United Reserves confirmed their reputation as the draw-specialists in this section by coming from behind to share the points with Willingham Reserves.

They faced defeat as Willingham took the initiative, but Richard Martin levelled the scores with an acute-angled drive which made the score 1-1.

Mepal Sports won 7-1 at Wicken Amateurs, and Ely Crusaders also secured three points at the expense of Swavesey Institute Reserves.

Ian Starling found space to convert Jim Rolph's free-kick after just five minutes, but Swavesey got back on terms with 10 minutes of the first half remaining.

Joe Teale made it 2-1 to Crusaders with his first ever goal for the club, and two minutes later player manager Johnny Fuller finished off a fine move to secure victory.

DIVISION 5B

Josh Woodroffe grabbed his first goal for Littleport Town A as his team won Saturday's derby encounter with Isleham United Reserves.

Matt Bilinski struck twice for Isleham after 'Port had established an early lead, but Neil Green, Jamie Doswell and Woodroffe saw the visitors through to a 3-2 success.

SUNDAY FOOTBALL

Ely Park Rangers saw their hopes of Senior Division football evaporate with a 3-1 home reverse at the hands of Girton Eagles in Division 1A, but Ely Park Rangers Reserves maintained a grip on the 2A title by winning 5-1 at Exning Athletic.

Stephen Tuck finished off a corner from Dave Cornwell to break the ice, and Martin Blakeley made it 2-0 from the penalty spot just before half-time.

Blakeley went on to complete his hat-trick with another spot-kick and one from open play, and his cross was turned into the net by a defender after Exning had pulled a goal back to make it 4-1.

Triple-S crashed 5-0 at home to champions-elect Tally Ho in the Senior Division, whilst in Division 4A there was an easy 7-1 victory for AFC Witchford at Cambridge Cosmos Reserves.

Clive Lee opened the scoring with a cracking volley, and Jonathan Chase's long-range lob doubled Witchford's advantage before half-time.

Michael Ward then confirmed his reputation as the league's top scorer with a four-goal second half haul, and Chase grabbed his second of the match to complete the rout for title-chasing Witchford.