THE Stiffs wait for a first league win of the season goes on.

A 2-1 defeat at AFC Bradley means that Ade Giles side have lost seven on the spin in Division Two, but after a much-improved showing and with fixtures against fellow strugglers Aces Reserves and United FC on the horizon they will be hopeful that December will start with a change of fortune.

Stiffs were the better side in the first half but were unable to take any of their chances as the score line remained goalless at the break.

Wanderers broke the deadlock on 70 minutes through substitute Dave Sykes, who scored from close range and shortly after they doubled their lead thanks to another close-range effort from Steve Jackson.

Steve Lewin pulled a goal back for the Stiffs late on and despite their best showing of the season to date they were unable to conjure up an equaliser that their effort deserved.

Calne Eagles completed a league double over Aces Reserves with a resounding 7-1 win.

Eagles scored six of their goals in the last 30 minutes, which made the game look easier than it actually was for the away side.

Calne took the lead after 42 minutes when Adam Welch scored with a superb turn and finish from 15 yards out. This was after Aces' debutant Tom Sigee had been denied by a sharp save from Andy Windsor.

In the second half the game remained tight. Calne looked the more dominant side, but Aces, who certainly seemed to have a stronger team than earlier in the season, always looked dangerous on the counter attack.

With almost exactly an hour played Karl Sharratt doubled Calne’s lead and this led to floodgates opening. Adam Welch scored his second after he broke the Aces’ offside trap to make the score 3-0.

Tireless striker Mickey Taraskevics also got on the scoresheet before David Gaskin pulled one back for Aces from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining. However, within a minute Sharratt scored his second.

In the closing stages Taraskevics scored his second of the match and Welch completed his hat-trick, which takes his tally to 21  goals in all competitions.

Summer signing Welch, who played last season as centre back for Castle Combe, only suggested that he was willing to play up front for his new team in preseason, when he was told that they were perhaps a little short of striking options.

It has been a change that has been hugely beneficial so far for Calne Eagles.

Trowbridge Wanderers Reserves found themselves 2-0 down at home to Zeals FC, but turned things around and claimed a 5-2 victory that saw them leapfrog both Melksham Town A and Westbury Town to move top of the table.

Zeals were the better side for the opening 25 minutes and took an early lead through Joao Rodrigues.

Glen Sherlock's whipped corner was met firmly by Rich Wyatt whose header came crashing down off the crossbar but Joao 'JP' Rodrigues was on hand to tuck it away.

Rich Wyatt was again involved in the second when he was brought down 25 yards out.

Up stepped the composed Aaron Carter whose thunderbolt free kick flew into the top corner to give Zeals a deserved two-goal advantage.

Trowbridge Wanderers had other ideas. They got a goal back when Zeals keeper Shane Rendall tipped a shot onto the post but Mark Maguire followed up and scored from close range.

They equalised within minutes, when Jamie Dennison headed in after great work down the right. Dennison scored again before the break to turn the game round and give Trowbridge a 3-2 half time lead.

Zeals battled hard to get back into the game but despite all their efforts they couldn't break down the excellent Wanderers defence.

At the other end, Rendall pulled off a fantastic one=handed save to tip a shot that was heading for the top corner, over the bar.

His handling was excellent all game, and with 15 minutes to go his bravery saw him collide with the goal post but save superbly and keep the ball in his hands.

After checking if he was okay, their was some confusion over what had been given.

Rendall had put the ball down and was preparing to take a goal kick, but when he was closed down by a striker he picked the ball up resulting in an indirect free kick inside the six yard box.

Trowbridge scored from the resulting free kick with a great strike from Ashley Styles and killed off any thoughts of a Zeals comeback. 

Troy Hawkes then scored a fifth late on to send Wanderers to the top of the table.