BARKHAM Athletic returned to the top of the Thames Valley Church League table with a hard-fought 2-1 win over title rivals Greyfriars.

Jake Shelley and Rob Waterhouse were on target for the home side, who will look to build on this win heading into the festive period when they host Norreys on Saturday.

YMCA Newbury were given a real scare by Wycliffe United, but held on to take all three points in a nail-biting 3-2 win.

Fraser Carter and Seb Carter were both on the scoresheet for Wycliffe, but Newbury saw them off in the narrowest of margins with goals from Alex Wood, John McCann and Karim Gaye.

Newbury move up to third in the table and look a real threat to Barkham.

Brookside continued their revival as they beat Reading Saints 4-2.

Despite goals from Stefan Apter and Anton Maze for Saints, Brookside fought back with goals from Joe Hare, Sam Carlisle, Harry Parker and Freddie Kirby, with Callum Davies playing a starring role in the win.

West Reading and YMCA United shared the points in an entertaining 3-3 draw.

Goals from Chris Thorngate and Joe Henry, along with a Jordan Onreat-Wells penalty, were enough to see West Reading take a point off of the home side, who are sliding down the table after an impressive start to the season.

Referee Paul Jenkins has been lauded having completed five years of refereeing in the league, and more impressively, 40 years in total as a referee at Sunday League level.

He has been described as 'one of the best referees in the Church League and a hugely respected figure'.

WOODLEY United Ladies were beaten 6-4 by Bournemouth in a dramatic Southern Region Premier Division tussle on Sunday.

Rosie Page-Smith opened the scoring in the second minute when she received a pass from Jodie Penny and fired low inside Bournemouth’s Katie Scadding right post.

The game was level in the 11th minute when the lively Jade Hockey scored, but United responded two minutes later and restored the lead through Page-Smith’s close-range header from a Maddie Sawyer cross.

Sawyer made it 3-1 from 25 yards before Rosie Eden cut the gap and Hannah Bennett equalised.

Eden made it 4-3 to Bournemouth just before the break, only for Ellen Surtees to level eight minutes from time.

However, the Cherries again responded with Aimee-Rose Collier restoring the lead two minutes later and Katie Kingshott completed the scoring in the 86th minute.

Newbury Ladies Development were battered 6-0 in their Thames Valley Counties League Division Two South game with Milton United.

Sam Richards was the stand-out performer for Newbury.