Impressive Stonehouse Town moved into the top four of the County League with a 5-2 win at home to Little Stoke.

They almost went ahead in the 16th minute but Liam Gale was denied by a fine save by Amin Jones, who pushed his shot onto a post.

The home side were not to be denied for long however as Andy Maryon headed them in front five minutes later.

Just four minutes later a mistake in the visitors’ defence let Liam Gale in and as he entered the box he was brought down for a clear penalty. Gale himself took the kick and hammered the ball past Jones.

Little Stoke were unlucky when a cracking shot from Kieron Williams struck the crossbar, but in the 37th minute the home side took a 3-0 lead when Adam Ireland hit the ball past Jones from the edge of the box.

Stonehouse hit Stoke hard at the start of the second half when they broke down the left, before Alex Kibble struck an unstoppable 30-yard shot past Jones.

At the other end Adam Clark was called into action to push the ball out for a corner from a Kieron Williams shot. From the resulting corner the ball was cleared up to the left flank and then pushed into the middle, where Adam Ireland made space to fire a shot into the top corner.

An own goal and a low drive by Dean Patterson gave the final scoreline a degree of respectability for the visitors, but there was no doubting that Stonehouse were emphatic winners.

Hardwicke were also among the goals as they thumped second-from-bottom Southmead CS Athletic 5-2 on a heavy pitch.

James Ratcliffe missed a couple of early chances for the home side, before they eventually took the lead on 26 minutes from a cross by Ratcliffe that was headed down by Will Matthews for Craig Harris to score.

Ratcliffe then got on the scoresheet himself when he broke down the right and cut in before firing the ball into the visitors’ net. Just before the break Southmead pulled a goal back when Josh Bowering found himself completely unmarked and drove the ball home.

Pat Vernall got the ball into the Southmead net on 50 minutes but it was ruled out for pushing by Rob Hine, but Hine was soon on the scoresheet himself when he sent a bullet header into the Southmead net.

Hine got a second in the 71st minute, this time volleying in from a Mark Carter pass. The visitors then surprised the home side when Bowering again found space to drive the ball goalwards. Hardwicke keeper Perks got a hand to it but the ball crossed the line. Mark Carter rounded off the scoring for the home side, beating several defenders and slotting home with five minutes to go.

Frampton United are one point and three places above eighth-placed Hardwicke – just three points separate third-placed Broadwell Amateurs from Hardwicke – after their 4-1 win over Henbury.

Ryan Vincent had a great chance for the home side after six minutes but failed to beat the Henbury keeper, and then Nathan Dennis thought he had scored for Frampton but it was ruled out for offside.

The home side did eventually make the breakthrough on 37 minutes when Ryan Vincent set up Manolo Espada. A Kris Bulley goal on 48 minutes made it 2-0 but Henbury hit back through Tom Patterson on 58 minutes.

That was as good as it got for the visitors, however, as Ryan Vincent hit a third for the home side in the 70th minute. Frampton made sure of the points in the 89th minute when Stuart Maule won possession and ran clear to net a fourth goal.

County League results: Frampton Utd 4 Henbury 1; Hardwicke 5 Southmead CS Ath 2; Lebeq Utd 5 Patchway T 2; Stonehouse T 5 Little Stoke 2.