Stonehouse Town have been in pretty good form in recent weeks, climbing into the top six of the County League on the back of a solid run of results.

On Saturday, they faced a tough challenge, however, as they travelled to Thornbury Town, but they matched the leaders all the way to come away with a highly creditable 1-1 draw.

And it could have been even better, because they took an early lead when Liam Gale fired a brilliant free-kick from just outside the box into the top left hand corner, giving Tom Sheppard in the home goal absolutely no chance.

Just three minutes later a shot from Adam Ireland skimmed past the Thornbury post. The home side started to get more possession as the game went on, and in the 16th minute the visitors’ keeper Adam Clark made two top saves to keep Thornbury out.

The home side eventually equalised on 38 minutes when they won a tackle around 30 yards out and Marcus Wormwell broke into the box on the left, slid the ball across to Craig Lancastle, who ran to the edge of the six-yard box and then squared it back for Wormwell to drive home.

The second period saw the visitors push the home side hard and they certainly had a lot of the ball. On 52 minutes Stonehouse thought they had taken the lead when Gale’s cross was sliced into his own net by Pete Fowler, but the goal was eventually ruled out for offside.

Stonehouse continued to enjoy the greater share of possession, but it was Thornbury who almost snatched the points just before the end when substitute Nathan Irwin flashed a shot just wide.

The weather wiped out half the County League’s scheduled eight fixtures, and Ruardean Hill Rangers must have wished their game was one of those postponed, as they crashed 8-2 at home to Frampton United in a game which saw Kris Bulley score a hat-trick.

The visitors were ahead after 11 minutes when Nathan Dennis fired home. Frampton doubled their tally on 21 minutes when Frazer Wilson netted a second, and 13 minutes later it was 3-0 as Myron Turner dummied his way past several defenders, before sliding the ball through goalkeeper Aaron Underwood’s legs.

The home side got one back on 39 minutes when Shaun Tingle converted a penalty past James Marklove, but Manolo Espada then made it 4-1 on 48 minutes when he scored direct from a corner. Two minutes later Lewis Wilton got on the scoresheet as he latched on to a long ball over the home defence and passed the ball into the net.

On 55 minutes Bulley got the first of his three, pouncing on a mistake to tap the ball in. At the other end Marklove brought off a fine save to deny Robert Adams getting a second for the home side. However, on 76 minutes Ruardean did get a second when Kane Fellows headed home from a corner. Frampton were not finished, and two late goals in the 88th and 90th minutes from Bulley completed the scoring.