Bels edging ever closer

Bels 4, Rangers 1

THE blue-and-white machine powers ever closer to Bels' third Division One title in five seasons.

And with Saints dropping two more vital points at home to Vale Rec, it is ever more a case of Bels' championship to lose.

This win took Ian Champion's men 11 points clear at the top and few would bet against them representing us come Upton time.

To be fair, the machine only stuttered into life and Bels might have gone behind early on when half of the home side appeared to have the mental choke on, but once Craig Young had put them ahead the leaders were never likely to slip up.

Rangers manager Paul Ockleford afterwards posed the question whether Sam Cochrane should have stayed on the pitch after two studs up challenges in the space of half-a-second with the score still at 3-1, but while he might have had some justification in questioning referee Brent Blondel's decision to show the island defender a yellow card instead of red, Bels might counter-argue that Dave Parrott, the Rangers captain, should have walked.

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