THERE'S no such thing as a cakewalk when you play Soudley, says Woolaston manager Mike Guest. "They always make it tough and you have to earn your points," he reflects.

Before the kick-off just a single point – 19 to 18 – separated the teams and they were also locked together on wins with five apiece for the season. So a tough and evenly balanced match was forecast, and so it proved.

"It was a cracker, " said Guest. "We have had some great games against Soudley and this was one of them. They are always competitive and they were again on Saturday but I thought we played very well and earned our win."

In his second season as manager, Guest reckons a top four place is still within his team's grasp.

"We have a very useful side but occasionally suffer because of first team calls. We especially miss goalkeeper Martin Bates because we have to get an outfielder to play in goal. He is a strong player for us and as a club we are very lucky to have two very good keepers. There's very little to pick between them."

Bates, he said, was a leading member of the team and did much to keep Soudley at bay on Saturday. He was named by Guest as joint man-of-the-match sharing the honour with Jordan Newbury.

Newbury was the first to find an opening in Soudley's defence before space was created for Richard Thomas to net number two and send Woolaston's manager happily on his way home.

After a promising cup run and with team form on the up, Guest is tipping his leading scorers, Rob Wakefield and Jason James, to lead the assault on the leading clubs and take Woolaston into the top four.

Meanwhile he wants to thank local businessman Brian Bennett for sponsoring the team kit and Clayton Guest for taking over as manager when required.