Dorchester Town reach ten straight Southern League wins as Hungerford lose with eight men

Dorchester Town did not start well at Sands Road on Saturday. By their own player/coach's account they were slow for the first 20 or 25 minutes and went 1-0 down, but they won 3-1 at Sporting Club Inkberrow, their tenth consecutive league victory, and finished the weekend top of Division One South after 11 games.

The run had a midweek stage too. On Tuesday they beat Melksham Town 3-0 at The Avenue to go back to the top, with Matty Burrows scoring twice. Burrows had earlier been voted the club's September Player of the Month, and the club said his goals included one against Hartpury the previous Saturday, a game Dorchester Town won 2-1 with an Ethan Taylor penalty in the 93rd minute. "Whatever level of football you play, that is some achievement," Will Spetch said afterwards. Their Tuesday trip to Barnstaple Town has since been postponed because of a Devon FA County Cup tie.

The most extraordinary afternoon in the division came at Meadow Lane. Hungerford Town lost 1-0 at Westbury United, ending their unbeaten league run, after being shown five red cards among players and staff. Ryan Clarke saved a first-half penalty, Ramarni Medford-Smith hit the post and the bar, and Hungerford were down to nine men when Mortimer-Taylor scored in the sixth minute of added time. Medford-Smith was off for treatment at the time, leaving them briefly with eight. Hungerford's own post-match line was that their players "showed unbelievable character in impossible circumstances".

Elsewhere in the south, Bideford came from behind to win 3-2 at Bishops Cleeve, whose winless run now stands at four. Weymouth won 3-0 at Barnstaple Town after a 1-0 home win over Westbury United on Tuesday, and Shaftesbury won 2-0 at Bristol Manor Farm after their 5-4 midweek win against Slimbridge. Slimbridge then drew 3-3 with Willand Rovers, who equalised with the last kick through a direct free kick from Bailey Kempster. Larkhall Athletic won 2-0 at Melksham Town, and Hartpury and Exmouth Town drew 1-1.

In Division One Central, Biggleswade Town ended a run of four straight defeats with a 3-1 win over Aylesbury United, Archie O'Donnell scoring twice on his debut. Haringey Borough beat Didcot Town 2-1, Thame United beat Welwyn Garden City 2-1, Winslow United won 3-1 against Flackwell Heath and Milton Keynes Irish beat Hadley 1-0. Marlow lost 2-1, ending their unbeaten run.