WITH previous leaders Cheltenham Civil Service out of action King's Stanley claimed top spot in the Gloucestershire County League with victory at Ellwood.
It may have been a different outcome if Ellwood had scored the penalty that was taken by Derek Roberts and brilliantly saved by Ashley Gale early on.
As it was, Matt Addis put the home side one up after 35 minutes to go into the break with the lead.
The visitors were not behind for very long as Luke Barstow headed home from a corner early in the second half.
A second from Andy Roberts on 60 minutes put Stanley into the lead, and five minutes it was 3-1 thanks to Jake Davies.
Sam Prior's goal on 75 minutes put Stanley in a very comfortable position, but five minutes from the end Addis netted his second of the afternoon for Ellwood.
Chipping Sodbury were held to a draw at home to Frampton United and are now level on points with Civil Service but have played four games more.
Gala Wilton hosted Rockleaze Rangers on a very bumpy pitch, the home side going ahead after 15 minutes when a corner was swung into the box from the right and debutant Joe Kelly headed it past helpless keeper Burgess.
It was 2-0 when Greig Artus headed home at the far post but Rangers got a goal back in the 63rd minute via a good break down the right by Luke Fricker and a superb cross for new signing Alex Fox to head home off the post.
Rangers were now looking the better side and they got their just reward on 85 minutes when Ed Freeman's defence-splitting pass found Fox to make it 2-2.
Third from bottom Bishop's Cleeve Reserves met Patchway Town, the team just below them, and it ended in a 0-0 stalemate with very few chance throughout the 90 minutes.
Kingswood's visit to Bristol Telephones turned out to be a very fruitful afternoon as they came away with the three points and a 5-2 scoreline.
Telephones got off to a dreadful start when their goalkeeper was unable to take the field, forcing outfield player Troy Watts to don the gloves.
Ryan Mudd put Kingswood one up in the first minute and Simon Clark added a second before Mike Grist headed home from a corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors at the break.
Dan Griffiths scored to make it 3-1 to Kingswood and a double strike from Frank Hitchings put the visitors well in control. Dhani Goulding then scored for the home side but they were well and truly beaten on the day.
Berkeley Town will need to pull something special out of the bag if they are to pull away from the bottom of the table by the end of the season.
Their 2-1 defeat at home to Thornbury Town leaves them five points adrift, and they fell behind on 25 minutes when Craig Lancastle cut into the box and fired a low shot into the corner of the net.
The visitors went 2-0 up on 43 minutes when the ball was squared to the edge of the box for Toby Bennett, but Berkeley pulled a goal back on 59 minutes when Joe Blakeney fired into the bottom corner.
Results: AEK Boco 2 Hanham Athletic 1, Berkeley Town 1 Thornbury Town 2, Bishop's Cleeve Reserves 0 Patchway Town 0, Bristol Telephones 2 Kingswood 5, Chipping Sodbury Town 1 Frampton United 1, Ellwood 2 King's Stanley 4, Gala Wilton 2 Rockleaze Rangers 2, Yate Town Reserves 2 Southmead CS Athletic 3.
Fixtures of Saturday, February 21: Ellwood v Chipping Sodbury Town, Frampton United v AEK Boco, Hanham Athletic v Berkeley Town, King's Stanley v Patchway Town, Kingswood v Southmead CS Athletic, Rockleaze Rangers v Bishop's Cleeve Reserves, Thornbury Town v Bristol Telephones, Yate Town Reserves v Henbury.
Les James League Cup semi-final: Cheltenham Civil Service v Gala Wilton.
