County League

Hanham Athletic 1

Frampton United 2

FRAMPTON boss Mat Blythe saw his side end the County League season on a winning high at Hanham.

As it stands, Frampton will finish runners-up to champions Lebeq, but rivals Stonehouse could pip their Gloucestershire rivals to second if they win their three remaining games and pass the two-goal deficit that Frampton hold.

"It wasn’t the free-flowing football we’ve seen recently," admitted Blythe after their final game.

"The pitch was a difficult surface, but we kept plugging away and got a 2-0 lead. We conceded late on from a corner, but the lads held out for a deserved win.

"We’ve only lost one game away from home all season in the league and that was to the league champions. It’s a great achievement and a real testament to group. Hopefully we’ve done enough to secure second, but Stonehouse can still pip us on goal difference with their games in hand.

"Overall, I’m delighted with the way we’ve played and conducted ourselves throughout the season and feel we’ve steadily improved as the season has gone on.

"We’ve played some great football at times and introduced several younger players into squad at various times which is always pleasing from a coaching point of view. We’ve got the Charity Cup final to look forward to against Stonehouse on April 18 at Shortwood."

At Hanham, Frampton took the lead on 30 minutes from a Josh Beadle corner from the right that was met by hot-shot Ryan Vincent.

At the other end, Emanuel Burnett had a clear shot on goal, but hit it well wide. The home side had another chance to level on 41 minutes but Craig Sperring’s header went straight to keeper Steve Sparrow, then a minute later Sparrow just managed to punch an Ellis Cow header away.

The home side looked a little better at the start of the second-half and Jamie Fry turned and shot at goal, but there was not enough power on the shot. Hanham were having a lot more of possession but in the 78th minute Frampton broke away and Jonathan Lewis who had come on as a sub neatly chipped the ball over Hawkins to make it 2-0. The home side did manage a goal back in the 89th minute when Jack Baber headed in at the far post from a Tom Welling free-kick.