28th December 2025 - Broadwell win Derby, Sharpness leave it late to regain summit
Mark Simpson
Over 200 spectators were at the Boxing Day derby in the Forest with Broadwell coming out on top. Sharpness regained top spot from Tewkesbury Town who weren’t in action. The bottom four are starting to come adrift of the rest with Ruardean Hill and Totterdown six points behind Tytherington and three points ahead of Hanham and Cribbs.
At the Ruardean Rec. Ruardean Hill Rangers took on Broadwell Amateurs in the Boxing Day derby and both teams were weighing each other up for the first ten minutes and on fifteen minutes it was Broadwell’s attack that created some space out wide but there was nobody in the box to make contact with the cross, and straight after Hill with a long free kick saw Fin Jones with a free strike at goal but his shot was pulled wide. A long throw from Broadwell’s Jack Knight saw Ethan Dunscombe flick the ball at the front post against Underwood’s crossbar and a minute later Ruardean Hill’s Steve Clark was free in the box but his shot was brilliantly saved by Jack Watkins. Right on half time the ball dropped to Kris Barnard who smashed it into the top corner to give Broadwell the lead. Into the second half Ruardean Hill’s Luke Brown found a bit of space 25 yards out and let fly shooting narrowly wide. On the hour Broadwell should have gone two up after a great run from Jamie Belfitt teed up Dunscombe but he swept over from close range. On 70 minutes Tom Landon tried his luck from distance but was narrowly wide and despite Ruardean Hill’s attempt to find an equaliser Broadwell saw out the rest of the game for a 1-0 win.
Totterdown United welcomed Sharpness on a cold windy day at the Bristol Barbarians RFC for the final game of 2025. The wind made it difficult for both sides and it was a fairly scrappy, but end to end, first half. Sharpness would build an attack which was well defended by Totterdown for them to try and exploit space on the counter with good bursting runs from Frank Tobin. Sharpness started the second half the brighter of the two sides, apparently after receiving the hairdryer treatment during the break, but this was thwarted by Connor Flicker whose free kick was deflected and wind assisted and looped over Pete Dykes head for 1-0 to Totterdown, this led to him needing treatment for an injury or embarrassment, nobody was sure! Sharpness gained control and possession and with ten minutes remaining Bryant pounced on a ball that dropped between the defence and keeper Martin and toed it in for 1-1. Then, in the 97th minute Totts Ollie Lovell had a shot superbly saved by Dykes. But it wasn’t over, with everyone waiting for the final whistle Sharpness gained a corner which was cleared only to be put back across the goal and there was Ben Hemmings to scuff and squeeze the ball over the line for a 105th minute winner for Sharpness leaving Totterdown feeling a little hard done by.
It was a tight game at Hardwicke where Tytherington Rocks hosted Quedgeley Wanderers in perfect winter conditions, both teams up for the game after the short Christmas break. The first half was a well contested with neither team able to make a breakthrough, although a good save from Rocks keeper Luke Baker kept them in the game. The second half was much the same until the 78th minute when a mix up in the Tytherington defence left a tap in for Marszalek to give QW the lead. Tytherington pushed for an equaliser but were hit on the break in the 91st minute with Osabuohien doubling Quedgeley’s lead for 2-0 and three points.
A longish trip for Henbury & Rockleaze to Kayte Lane to take on Bishops Cleeve Development. Cleeve opened up a windy event with a goal after only 37 seconds following a ball dummied by New for the oncoming Cuzner to slot home. The opening exchanges continued in the same fashion with Cleeve pushing forward to add more. It was, however, H&R who scored with a superb solo goal by Jones who proceeded to dance past five Cleeve players. The half didn’t change in momentum with Cleeve pressing for more goals. Following chances for Ellerton and Davis, the latter put the hosts back ahead with a brilliantly slotted goal. Two quickly became three with Debonis latching onto New’s headed flick beating keeper Trett to slot home. The second half was less eventful than the first and for all Cleeve’s bluster they couldn’t find another goal to put the game out of sight. The only real event of the second half was a goal for H&R with Sawdon scoring from a poorly cleared free kick late in the game. This did set up a nervy finish for Cleeve but they held on for a vital three points and a 3-2 win.
Bromley Heath United and Stoke Gifford SGS United had to contend with a swirling wind and bobbly pitch at Pomphrey Hill. Gifford got to grips with the difficult conditions much better in the early stages. They looked much more dangerous and were almost rewarded for their efforts on 15 minutes when a move ended with a close range shot from Guiseppe La Porta well saved by Ferguson. But, within a few minutes Gifford’s Dan Twomey pounced on a poor Bromley clearance to deservedly take the lead. The rest of the half played out with few clear-cut chances with Gifford continuing to be the dominant side and deserving their lead. Bromley’s management team obviously had words as they came out for the second half all guns blazing and looking a different team. The wide players started to look dangerous going at the Gifford defence and one of the runs ended with Harley Lock hitting the crossbar with a great effort after cutting inside. It wasn’t long before Bromley forced a deserved equaliser when a clever corner kick from Ollie Hanham seemed to go straight in for 1-1. It was now all Bromley and they took the lead on 65 minutes when a well-placed free kick on the edge of the area completely wrong-footed Jack Sheppard in the Stoke goal. Bromley continued to apply pressure with a succession of corners and attacking moves and took a 3-1 lead on 75 minutes when the dangerous Jack Waldron went past his man to provide a cross for Mason Lewis to finish from close range. Stoke Gifford pulled a goal back when they were awarded a penalty which Pat Kosciolek converted. But Bromley wrapped the win up five minutes from time with a well worked free kick from Harry Cole finished off by Jack Waldron and a 4-2 Bromley win.
At Vicarage Road Hanham Athletic took on Wick who won the game 3-1. Mikey Golding netting for Hanham and Bayley Rudge, George Lloyd and Louis Short the scorers for Wick.
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