REIGNING league champions Crewkerne Town may have been beaten in two cup competitions by Shepton Beauchamp this season but they showed they are not about to relinquish their league crown without a fight.

In the latest meeting of the two sides they kept their unbeaten league run intact by returning home with all three points following a 2-0 success.

Town went ahead in the tenth minute when a long throw-in was flicked on to Dave John who made no mistake with a well-placed effort.

Despite losing Mike McCormack and Pete Symes to injury in the opening period the visitors went on to increase their advantage on the hour with a goal from Liam Riste.

The victory moves Crewkerne up to third in the table and four points behind the top two with four games in hand. They are also two points better off than at the same stage last season.

West & Middle Chinnock slip to fourth after they were beaten 4-1 at home by South Petherton. Richard Hebditch did most of the damage as he bagged three of the goals, with the other coming from Stuart Witt. Ollie Hutching was Chinnock’s lone scorer.

Beaminster had beaten Lyme Regis reserves 2-1 earlier in the season and on Saturday they completed the double by hitting six goals without reply at the Davy Fort.

Josh Hunter added to his already impressive goal tally by netting a hat-trick, and the scoreline was completed with singles from Robin Jones, Ryan Sweetland and Ashley Hall.

A 9-2 defeat at home to Combe St Nicholas reserves sees Ilminster Town Colts still in search of their first league point.

Craig Every struck three times for the winners whose triumph was completed with doubles from Stuart Bicknell and Matt Corrick, while Jordan Allen and Sam McCaffrey added a goal apiece. Kev Crouch and Adam Male were on target for the losers.

Barrington underlined their intentions of a quick return to the top flight as they went back to the top of the Division One table by beating fellow high-flyers Millwey Rise 2-0 and extending their sequence of wins to 14.

The evenly-contested first half ended without score, but Barrington’s breakthrough came ten minutes into the second period as Andy Whitefield struck his 22nd goal of the season and victory was assured in the 83rd minute when Guy Dare scored with an overhead kick.

Chard United claimed their first maximum points in more than a month as goals from Kamil Wilk, Liam Male, Jamie Brown and Alex Ives brought a 4-2 win over Lyme Bantams who have taken only one point from their last four outings.

Forton Rangers conceded a goal after just two minutes in their match at Pymore, but when Ethan Jefferson equalised direct from a corner and then Andy Stevenson put them ahead, the visitors appeared to be on course for their second win of the season against the Dorset side.

However, the hosts hit back to level the scores before Jefferson regained the advantage for Forton, who had to be content with a share of the spoils when Pymore equalised once again with less than five minutes remaining.

Netherbury hit six goals without reply at home to bottom team Farway United and stay in fifth place.

In Division Two, Waytown Hounds gained revenge for an opening day defeat against Crewkerne Town reserves by beating the town side 3-0 with strikes by Jon Legg, Ethan Guppy and Steve Masters.

Dan Rumsby found the net three times in Charmouth’s 4-3 victory over visitors Crewkerne Rangers who replied through Simon Denslow, Sam Caddy and Jack Male. Paul Minors was the winners’ other scorer.

While the reserve sides of Barrington and Chard United were without a fixture, Kingsbury made full use of their match at Dowlish & Donyatt to move back into pole position in Division Three with a 5-1 triumph.

Shane Reeks hit three of the winners’ goals and he was ably assisted by Ben Norman and Jake Russell who bagged a goal each. Jon Bartlett hit the losers’ consolation.

Shane Crocker gave Shepton Beau-champ reserves a sixth minute lead at Thorncombe reserves when he scored from close-range following a pin-point cross from Jordan Brain.

The home side had a number of opportunities to level the scores before the interval as Stu Packer, (in his first match since his return from Chard United), fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

Similar chances fell to Wayne Stanton and Craig Tovey, with both failing to find the net.

With a minute of the half remaining it appeared the Thorns had equalised as Matt Shattock received a long clearance and ran past his marker before hammering the ball into the roof of the net from 18-yards.

After consulting the linesman, referee Lance Turner ruled that the goal was scored from an offside position, even though it was Stanton who was offside and he was at least 25-yards from the scorer.

The Thorns upped the tempo after the break and Packer forced Shepton keeper Terry Crocker into making a fine save to keep his goal intact and then Tovey hit the post with a shot from a narrow angle. Crocker had to be at his best again moments later to save from Dan Isaacs.

All this pressure counted for nothing when Josh Fade claimed a loose ball on the edge of the area and lifted it over Andrew Sochon to give Shepton a two goal lead after 73 minutes.

Thorncombe’s last chance of getting some consolation for their efforts fell to substitute James Johnson three minutes from time, but his low strike rebounded off the legs of Crocker.

The five match winning run of Hawkchurch came to an end at South Petherton reserves where the visitors went down by the odd goal in seven.

Andy Moody (2), Mark Padfield and Phil Hooper were on target for the hosts, while a Rowan Short brace and a Jack Larcombe single was the Hawks reply.

Division Four basement boys Chard United All Stars suffered their heaviest away defeat of the season with a 10-0 drubbing at Crewkerne Rangers reserves.

Aaron Hole led the scoring spree with a hat-trick, while Steve Bryant netted twice.

The rout was completed with singles from Nick Bachrach, Sam Healy, Darren Carter, Martin Russell and an own goal.