Crowthorne and Sandhurst

More road improvements will soon be in place on some of the main roads in Binfield and Crowthorne when resurfacing and road improvements take place shortly.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council's highways maintenance team will be working on Terrace Road North, between Tilehurst Road and B3018 Church Lane from March 20 for three days. They will be removing the existing road surface and replacing with new running surface. A diversion route will be put in place.

A similar operation will be taking place in Crowthorne on Napier Road, Cambridge Road and Wellington Road and Furze Hill Close, Crowthorne. It is planned to start on March 22 and will last for six days. Temporary traffic management will be put in place.

To minimize the effect of the Crowthorne road closure the resurfacing will be undertaken under restricted working hours 9:30am to 4:00pm.

The diversion route for Terrace Road north will be from Tilehurst roundabout, Terrace Road North, Forest Road and Church Lane to Church Hill or this route reversed.

During the closure access to property will be maintained from at least one end of the closure depending on the positioning of the surfacing operation. These delays will be kept to minimum.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council

Sandhurst manager Pete Browning believes March will be a vital month for his team as they look to make their season a success.

Sandhurst have two vital cup matches, including a Berks and Bucks Cup semi-final against Aylesbury Vale, and five league games that will make or break their season.

They picked up their first league win in five attempts last Saturday and Browning is hoping that will be the catalyst for a successful month.

He said: "We've got games on pretty much every Saturday and Tuesday this month and a lot will be decided by the end of it.

"We've got the cup semi-final that everyone is looking forward to but also some massive league games that we have to win if we want to sneak into the top six.

"When you look at the sides we are going to play like Cobham, Cove and Feltham, they are all games that we can win so we will know a lot more about the season come April."

This Saturday the Sandhurst Fizzers travel to Cobham for a match which Browning expects to be very physical.

He said: "They're a side that are very hard to grind down. Although they don't have that much quality they work very hard for themselves and don't concede many goals.

"They get men behind the ball so we will have to be at our best to break them down and get the win."

Sandhurst will welcome back some key personnel for the clash which will see them close to full strength.

Matt Hopton and Ricky McNamara have been away due to work commitments but will return while Darren Wilson (flu) and Grant Nesbitt (groin) are also expected to be fit.

Sandhurst Town ................3 Chessington & Hook..........1

THE Sandhurst Fizzers bounced back from going a goal down early on to record their first league win in five games thanks to a double from striker Mark Anderson.

Sandhurst were poor in the first half and were lucky to go into the break 2-1 up.

But after a stern talking to from manager Pete Browning they improved in the second period.

It was a much needed win for Browning's team who have been on a worrying run of form which has seen crash out of the Challenge Cup and fall a couple of places down the league.

The manager said: "It was a long overdue league win but the first half was possibly the worst we have played for a long time.

"It looked like we were waiting for something to happen and it did, we went behind. But we managed to get two goals before the break and went in 2-1 up, which we didn't deserve.

"The players got a bit of a talking to at half-time and they came out and showed a much better attitude in the second half and won pretty easily.

"It was a strange game, to be honest, because we didn't play well but Chessington, who are normally pretty tough, seemed to roll over a bit. It wasn't the Chessington side we are used to playing."

The visitors went in front on 10 minutes after a quick break down the right saw Sandhurst caught napping.

But the Sandhurst Fizzers levelled things up midway through the first half when a long clearance upfield from Andy Ewen found Pete Mulvaney who coolly lobbed the keeper.

And they went in front just before the break when Danny Wilde stormed down the right before crossing for Anderson to score.

The second period saw a much improved performance from the home side and they began to dominate their opponents.

They added a third with just over 20 minutes remaining when Wilde again crossed for Anderson to plant a superb header into the net.

Sandhurst:Ewen, Bland, Roberts, Fisk, Fairminer, Hutchings, Wilde, Rowe (Stairs), Atkin (Yates), Anderson, Mulvaney (Bartholomew).

ic Berkshire ~ Sandhurst

Merstham FC eventually got their Premier Challenge quarter-final cup-tie played on Tuesday night and it was worth the wait as they beat Sandhurst 3-2

Merstham midfielder Mark Hunter silenced the Sandhurst supporters in the 88th minute by shooting in a quality cross from team mate Jamel Carr.

The visitors had made a great start, pressuring the Sandhurst defence. Then the unthinkable happened: A mis-timed back pass from Sandhurst defender Aaron Roberts left keeper Paul Cann to collect the loose ball, but unfortunately the ball bobbled off the hard and frosty pitch at the last moment, giving Merstham's Meshach Nugent the opportunity to tap in a first minute lead.

Sandhurst were troubled by the early goal allowing Carr time to strike a thunderbolt shot seconds later forcing a tremendous save from Cann.

Merstham's good start began to ease off and Sandhurst began to play and in the 15th minute deep sloppy defending gave Mark Anderson too much time on the ball.

The striker saw a gap to curl in a left foot strike just outside the box and, with keeper Colin Harris out of position, it was more than a welcoming invitation for an off the post equaliser.

Sandhurst dominated possession, a counter attack by the Fizzers forcing keeper Harris to handball outside his area. He was only shown a yellow for the careless mistake.

Merstham's Rob Hill was denied a goal after keeper Cann stuck a foot out for a corner. But there was no stopping Hill; the corner was knocked on by team mate Russ Morgan which fell nicely for the on form defender who made sure he beat the keeper the second time round.

Frequent bombardment by the home side began to tire Merstham out and a cross into Merstham's goal area forced keeper Harris to react, but at the same time he managed to push the ball backwards into his own net.

A difficult situation for Merstham to grasp that unfortunately for them found Sandhurst back level at two a piece.

With the anguish of extra-time looming both benches looked to their substitutes in order to try and turn the game around.

This paid off for Merstham when, in the 88th minute, a storming run down the right by Carr found himself one on one with a Sandhurst defender.

The nippy midfielder passed his marker with the use of a little showboating before picking out Hunter in space. Hunter struck the ball cleanly first time, the powerful shot hit the inside of the crossbar and rolled down the inside netting.

Merstham now meet CCL Division One outfit Hanworth Villa in the semi-final.

ic Surrey Online ~ Sandhurst