SOUTH Petherton struck double figures for the second time this season as they extended their unbeaten run in the Premier Division to five with a 10-1 home victory over Ilminster Town Colts.

The first half was an evenly- contested affair and when the interval was reached with the score 1-1, few of those watching could have imagined that they were in for a feast of goals after the break.

Danny Rendell gave Petherton the lead within five minutes of the start, but Ilminster played their part in an entertaining encounter and scored a well-deserved equaliser midway through the half with a 30-yard bullet of a shot by Adam Male.

Once Rendell netted his second goal of the afternoon soon after the break, there was only one side in it.

The hosts quickly added to their total with strikes by Paul Holt, Lee Richards, Hayden Smith and a five- goal burst from Richard Hebditch who had his two-week-old daughter watching him from the sideline.

When the Division One fixture between leaders Barrington and Farway United was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, Winsham United had high hopes of reclaiming top spot as they entertained local rivals Forton Rangers.

But the much-improved visitors had other plans and reached the interval with a two-goal lead, thanks to efforts from Andy Stevenson and Lee Richardson.

Mark ‘Skid’ Scott added a third goal early in the second half when he diverted a Tom Brown header into the net and Justin James made it 4-0 before Tom Stead struck the goal of the game with a superb, unstoppable shot for the hosts.

Central midfielder Ryan Mushman was the winners’ man of the match.

Chard United ended a sequence of five defeats with a 4-1 success at Luso-Chard.

However, they had to come from behind after Igor Costa put the home side ahead in the 17th minute.

Jamie Brown made it all-square on the half-hour mark and United went in at the break with a two-goal advantage following a goal each from Rob Milsom and Lee Hames.

Brown completed the win for the visitors in the second half, but they ended the match with ten men after Milsom was dismissed after receiving two yellow cards.

With only one defeat from their last seven outings, Millwey Rise continued their impressive form as a Sam Dibling brace brought a 2-1 win against Lyme Bantams.

Paul Richards netted a hat-trick for Division Two leaders Drimpton as they beat Thorncombe 7-3.

Joining him on the score sheet were Craig Studley, Adam Tanner, Chris Rowswell and Terry Farrell. Thorncombe replied with a Warren Gabbidon brace and a single from Bryan Garrett.

The winners extend their lead at the top to nine points over Crewkerne Town Reserves who went down 6-3 at home to Beaminster Reserves.

This was only the visitors’ second win in nine starts, but they were worthy winners with goals coming from Owen Ward (4) and Josh Hunter (2) to lift them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

Crewkerne found the net through Mike Traynor, Paul Gold and Tom Broome.

Charmouth claimed their biggest margin of victory for 11 seasons when they were 13-4 winners against Ilminster Town A.

Dan Rumsby led the scoring spree with seven goals, while Elliott Gillings netted three times, Ali Harvey twice and Paul Grinter once. Zac Martin struck a hat-trick for the Blues whose tally was completed by Nic Andrews.

Jake Bearpark and Tom Gollop were on target for Uplyme who gained their first point since September by holding Combe A to a 2-2 draw. Neil Reed and Ian Banfield were the Combe marksmen.

Division Three leaders Barrington Reserves had to work hard to preserve their unbeaten record, twice coming from behind to salvage a point from a 3-3 draw against visitors South Petherton Reserves.

Luke Bridle, Jimmy Rees and Ashley Gibson hit a goal apiece for Petherton, with Barrington’s point- saving goals coming from Luke Woodard, Simon Lock and Thomas Perry.

The match between Shepton Beauchamp Reserves and Merriott Dynamos also ended with honours even.

Shepton led 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Steve Rowland and Dave Suckling, but Merriott hit back after the turn around to claim a share of the spoils with strikes by Luke Culver and Kieran Davies.

Millwey Rise Reserves suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they lost 7-1 at Hawkchurch.

Andy Dymond found the net twice in the triumph that was completed with goals from Mark Herrod, Luke Harding, Jamie Harris, Gavin Herrod and Josh Short. Tom Bastin scored the losers’ consolation.

In an evenly-balanced match that could have gone either way, Winsham United Reserves picked up their first maximum points in two months in an odd goal in seven win at Chard Rangers Reserves.

Willis Lawrence gave Winsham a fifth minute lead and despite having the advantage of the slope and dominating for long spells they could not add to their scoring in the first half.

After the break, goals from Richard Foote and Andy Griffin saw Rangers go ahead. Jordan Fowler levelled the scores with a superb 25-yard effort only for Chard to regain the lead with ten minutes remaining with a second goal by Griffin.

Winsham never gave up and two late goals from close range by player/manager Richard White brought them victory.

Another evenly-contested encounter took place at Uplyme where the home side’s reserves went down 3-2 against their counterparts from Crewkerne Rangers.

Scott Isaacs (2) and Aaron Hole found the net for the visitors, while the hosts replied through Niall Waterhouse and Ryan Prendeville.