Bristol Premier Combination December 5th 2025 edition
By Simon Parkinson
WHAT a season Iron Acton and their inspirational captain Joe Hillard are enjoying amid an enthralling scrap for Premier Division pole position.
The skipper grabbed all five of his team’s goals, two of them from the penalty spot, as Iron Acton saw off the significant challenge of reigning champions Winterbourne United 5-3 in a thrilling Lodge Road tussle.
Despite entering this Saturday’s home fixture (2pm) with Nicholas Wanderers in fourth spot, Acton have every reason to approach that and their festive programme in buoyant mood with five victories and only one defeat behind them from their six outings thus far.
It’s not yet going to plan for last season’s play-off final competitors Winterbourne, who nonetheless made a fist of it in the Acton encounter with goals from Mitchell Sheppard, Ben Weaver and Callum Wilson.
It’s certainly tight at the top at this time, with leaders DRG Frenchay, Hallen Reserves and Olveston United all vying for supremacy too.
DRG, with Winterbourne away up next on Saturday (2pm), continued to turn up the heat on the rest as they shrugged off the challenge of competitive Thornbury Town Reserves hosts 5-2 at Mundy Fields through Emiel Aiken’s brace along with Ashley Knight, Sam Haggett and Joseph Loney strikes.
It was no mean achievement against a Thornbury side – Harrison Young and Harry Rimmer were their marksmen – who had won three of their previous four league and cup outings.
With Hallen Reserves without a game, Olveston were looking to take advantage by closing the gap between themselves and their frontrunning rivals at Oaklands Park, where Bristol Barcelona sought a fifth win of their campaign at their high-ranking opponents’ expense.
It was the O’s who left Barca’s Gloucestershire FA HQ smiling, after James Worley and Raul Vasile goals without response proved sufficient to maintain their third-placed status for now heading into Saturday’s mouthwatering away match with Hallen at Moorhouse Lane (2pm).
Nicholas Wanderers, occupying fifth place ahead of their Acton away day, are experiencing a reasonable season as they secured a fourth win courtesy of a 2-1 Dundridge Rec success over Shaftesbury Crusade thanks to Joshua Pearce and Jordan West efforts.
Elsewhere in the Combination top flight, Patchway Town’s difficulties second from the base of the table continued as they went down 5-2 at Scott Park to a visiting Longwell Green Sports Reserves outfit achieving it via Rowan Smith’s treble and Sam Randall and Harrison Neill singles.
Fraser Butt and Luke Thompson netted for Town, who next face an important away test with bottom-placed Shaftesbury at Lockleaze Sports Centre on Saturday (2pm).
The Greyfriars Athletic-Shirehampton Reserves game fell prey to a waterlogged New Road pitch.
There was no shortage of goals in Division One among the four fixtures played.
Nine of them were on show at the Ridings, where hosts Chipping Sodbury Town Reserves had Jacob Owers’ hat-trick and Alex Lumsden, Liam Barrett and Alex Fox efforts to thank for overcoming Pucklechurch Sports 6-3 to maintain the pressure on Old Sodbury and leaders AEK-Boco Reseres above them.
Boco held firm at the summit, with Jacob Leonard at the double and Oleksandr Kohankov, Christian Sweeney and Luke Harding on target in a 5-2 victory at Cribbs A, whose Dexter Hewitt and Pete Roberts gave them something to cheer.
Fourth-placed AFC Mangotsfield put their struggling and depleted Hanham Athletic Reserves guests to the sword by having Chris Astley, Joe Alston, Kris Douglas, Simon Mansfield, Ed Brown and Tim Rice among the goals in a 7-1 Cossham Street crushing of the bottom team.
There was relief and delight for Oldland Abbotonians Reserves at last, as Ellis Clarke and Harry Poole goals were just enough to despatch of travelling Lion, who had Mohamed Rabia scoring in tumbling to a sixth defeat of their own challenging campaign, 2-1 at Castle Road for a first win at the fifth attempt.