Bishop's Stortford 3

Chertsey Town 1

(Ryman League

division one)

SIX POINTS from two games at the weekend saw Bishop's Stortford continue their impressive surge up the Ryman League division one.

After Trevor Paul's goal gave the Blues a 1-0 win at Bognor Regis Town on Saturday, a 3-1 home win over Chertsey Town on Monday extended Stortford's unbeaten run to nine matches and moved them up to 12th in the table.

The visitors, needing three points to retain any chance of avoiding relegation, started brightly and might have gone ahead on three minutes when Justin Bowen had to clear Trevor Canoville's shot from under the crossbar.

Stortford soon found their feet and opened the scoring when Gary Kimble's 14th-minute free-kick was headed into his own net by Chertsey skipper Richard Evans.

Paul should have doubled the lead but he shot wide after rounding away keeper Graham Benstead, who also had to make saves from Troy Braham and Martin Hayes.

Chertsey went into the interval level after Canoville's cross was converted from six yards by Terry Davies.

The home side dominated the second half, Benstead making fine saves from Bowen and Tim Langer. They regained the lead with 15 minutes left when Langer beat a defender then picked out Vinnie John who blasted home.

The points were made safe when Nicky Winger's run into the box was halted by a handball from Davies and Hayes struck his 15th league goal of the season from the spot.

Saturday's win was Stortford's tenth of the season away from home, in an open contest which saw both goalkeepers performing superbly.

The Blues created several early chances, forcing home stopper John Keeley into saves from Paul and Winger.

Craig Tucker then had to stretch full-length to turn away shots from Tony Stevens and John Pomroy. Tucker was then beaten by Jamie Howell's long-range drive which crashed against the crossbar.

Paul's decisive goal came on 58 minutes when he ran onto Vinnie John's cross and turned the ball in at the far post.

John and Martin Sedgwick had opportunities to extend the lead but both fired over. The last kick of the game saw Alan Morley's fierce shot brilliantly saved by Tucker.

Player boss Hayes said: 'It is good to see we are finishing the season well. The league is looking a little bit more respectable.

'We are heading in the right direction but it is a shame we couldn't start the season like this because it has been a wasted year.'

Hayes is keen to blood some young talent with both Ryan Gunn and Ben Ford set to make their debuts.

Hayes said: 'They are the future of the club and I want to involve them in the last couple of games.'

The Blues are looking to end their season on a high on Saturday when they play their final league match against already-relegated Leyton Pennant at Woodside Park.

The club are holding an open day on Sunday where young players can register for next season's youth teams.

STORTFORD (vs Chertsey): Tucker, Leary, Kimble, Paxton, Bowen, Fannon (sub: Waldron 85min), Langer, Braham (Williams 68), Hayes, Paul (John 45), Winger.