Tewkesbury Town had a chance to close the gap on runaway leaders Cheltenham Civil Service and they took their opportunity in style, writes Rob Morrison.

They thumped Shurdington Rovers 7-1 and now trail Service – who were in County Cup action at the weekend – by 11 points in Division One of the Cheltenham League, sponsored by Bristol Street Motors Cheltenham Ford, and have still have two games in hand.

Upton Town are another team still in the mix, although they were pushed all the way by RSG before edging home by the odd goal in five.

There’s no stopping the Beeches in Division Two even though Saturday’s opposition was provided by third-placed Hanley Swan.

The two teams had met two weeks earlier when the Beeches had handed out a hammering. This time it was a lot closer, but the points still went the same way as the leaders triumphed 3-2.

Andoversford Reserves made it two wins out of two after losing their opening nine games as they followed up their 3-1 success over Prestbury Rovers with a 4-0 thumping of Pittville United.

Andoversford remain bottom but they are now only three points behind Prestbury who are ninth in the 12-strong division.

In the only other game in the division, Southside Star moved into the top four with a 4-0 win over Bredon Reserves.

St Pauls United remain top of Division Three even though they did not play on Saturday because their scheduled opponents, FC Lakeside Reserves, were unable to raise a team.

AFC Renegades started the day in second and with two games in hand against St Pauls, they have the opportunity to overtake their closest rivals if they keep on winning. They faced a challenge this weekend against a Brockworth Albion Reserves team who found themselves in fourth spot at kick off. Once again Renegades showed they were up to the challenge as they took the points with a 3-1 win.

A 2-1 win at Falcons saw Windyridge move into third place at the end of last month although they have played as many as four games more than some of the teams around them. They faced an in-form Cheltenham United team who had shrugged off a poor start to win their last two games.

However, United’s run came to a halt as they slipped to a 5-2 defeat.

With just three wins from nine matches, it has not been the season that Cheltenham Civil Service II would have been hoping for. A 7-2 win in the County Cup the previous weekend, which included an Aaron Walker hat-trick, set them up very nicely for their match against Kings Reserves.

Kings started the day in bottom spot and while there were four places between the teams they were separated by just three points. This was a big game for both teams and Service showed their credentials as they hit six goals without reply.

Charlton Rovers would have been keeping a close eye on the Kings match. Kicking off against FC Barometrics III, they sat between Service and Kings and knew that victory could propel them up the table. They didn’t disappoint as they won 3-2.

In the final game in the division, Leckhampton Rovers faced Falcons Reserves. If other results went their way, a win for Rovers could see them in second spot. Falcons, meanwhile, were looking for a win that would help them up the table and they duly delivered with a 2-1 win.

In Division Four, Prestbury Rovers went into the weekend as one of only two teams in the four divisions who have won all their league matches – the other being AFC Renegades – and they looked to make it nine out of nine against Bishop’s Cleeve Development Reserves.

Cleeve’s form has been patchy this season, winning just two of their matches, but an emphatic 7-0 cup win the previous week was a confidence boost before facing the leaders. They may have been confident but they were unable to stop Rovers making it nine from nine as they recorded a 4-0 win.

Woodmancote United moved into second place at the end of November when they beat bottom club Charlton Rovers III 7-2. The two teams met in the reverse fixture this week and United were odds on favourites to do the double over their opponents. They duly delivered with a 6-0 win.

Welland Reserves have games in hand on the teams around them, so they have plenty to play for. They went into their game against Cheltenham Saracens III with a 10-point advantage over their hosts but by full time this was reduced to seven as Saracens won 3-1.

Malvern Vale FC are another team competing at the right end of the table although their recent form has been a little hit and miss and they faced a real challenge in the shape of Gala Wilton III. Gala were two places and three points below their hosts and with two games in hand would have seen this match as a real opportunity to lay down a marker. They were unable to do it, however, as they were beaten 6-1 by the Worcestershire-based team.

Mid-table Smiths Athletic Reserves were looking to kick on as they faced Fintan Reserves, but they were to be disappointed as they lost by the odd goal in seven.

After eight matches Andoversford III had only four points, but that was still four more than bottom club Charlton Rovers. They stretched that advantage to seven – and moved up one place to 11th in the 13-strong division – with a 2-1 win over Winchcombe.

GFA Intermediate County Cup: Cheltenham CS Res 5 Barnwood Utd Res 1, FC Baros Res 2 Wickwar W 1, Gala Wilton Res 4 Harrow Hill Res 1, Milkwall 2 Tewkesbury T Res 6, Tuffley R 3rds 1 Fintan 2.

GFA Junior County Cup: Andoversford 1 Dowty D 1 (Andoversford won 4-2 pens), Bishop’s Cleeve A 4 Stonehouse T 0, Cheltenham CS 2 Barnwood Utd 0, Newton 4 Kings 0.