Sonning 1st XI 4 – 1 West Hampstead 2nd XI

Following on from last week’s successful visit to Cantley Park, where they took control of the league after beating South Berkshire 1st XI, Sonning hosted a West Hampstead 2nd XI to The Doom Bar Arena.

Conscious of what could be a potential banana skin after the previous weeks’ efforts, Sonning pressed hard from the off. Noel Plant’s goal bound shot striking a foot after little over a minute, Ian Gallagher converted the resulting penalty flick to see Sonning 1-0 up almost immediately.

The Sonning midfield, featuring the returning Ian Finlayson pressed home this advantage and after dominating possession for a spell, Plant got himself on the score sheet for 2-0.

The second half saw more of the same with Sonning seeing the bulk of possession and another chance was finished by James Manser, who deflected home a straight ball from Finlayson after a driving run from deep.

West Hampstead saw a spell of dominance after this and pulled one back after some slack marking led to a simple crash ball and clinically finished deflection at the near post for 3-1.

It was not to affect the final result and it was Plant who got his 2nd of the day and 4th in 2 games who got the final say. His sliding deflection from a well weighted Ian Gallagher cross finished things off and put some gloss on the result for 4-1.

The only sour note from the day was league top scorer leaving the field from injury early in the second half. Sadly X-Rays confirmed a broken finger that could see Leach out for a reasonable spell. First team coach Neil Pursell was unavailable for comment, but in an official press release, club doctors have confirmed that they expect Leach to make a complete recovery.

Sonning sit 3 points clear at the top of the table but a visit to friends and rivals Wycombe sits between them and seeing Christmas and the mid-season break from their position at the summit. #COTN

Squad: Ben Sully, Nick Leach, Jonty Rider (c), Sam Terry, Pat Thomas, Neil Pursell, Ian Finlayson, Steve Ridley, James Lockhart, Jon Sharp, Callum Richardson, James Manser, Huw Thomas, Ian Gallagher, Noel Plant

Goalscorers: Ian Gallagher, James Manser, Noel Plant (2)

MOTM: Noel Plant

DOTD: Steve Ridley