DYLAN Gould's stunning volley was the difference between the teams as Paulton Rovers beat Oldland Abbotonians 1-0 at home in a hard fought encounter at The Winterfield Stadium in the Premier Division of the Jewson Western Football League in midweek.

Rovers would have gone into this game in good confidence. The visitors had only one victory under their belts going into the game so far this season and the early signs were this should be a comfortable game for the hosts who were chasing their fourty win of the new campaign.

Some early pressure in forcing two corners with Tom Bradley heading over from the second followed by a tenth minute strike from Kitan Jaiyeoba which Kieran Perrin in the Oldland goal had to parry away, seemed to suggest Rovers were already on top.

But Oldland, with only one victory in the league this season, grew into the game and started to move the ball around quickly and with plenty of purpose.

In the 14th minute they forced a free kick just outside Rovers' box which was swung in and headed home at the far post but the flag was raised for offside and the ‘goal’ was disallowed.

The game settled somewhat with both teams pushing forward and Rovers generally restricted Oldland to long range efforts.

The breakthrough game in the 27th minute when a long throw into the Oldland box was defended away but only as far as Wayne Nderemani on the left.

He swung in a cross that was headed away but straight to Dylan Gould who was lurking on the edge of the box. He hit the ball first time on the volley, catching it perfectly and giving Perrin no chance to keep it out.

The rest of the half began to get a little fractious with some strong challenges starting to go in. The ref decided that none were worth carding which only seemed to aggravate the situation further.

The opening fifteen minutes of the second half continued in much the same vein. Tempers flared in the 58th minute when Wayne Nderemani was taken down under a very heavy challenge followed moments later by Kye Simpson getting the same treatment when closing in on goal. Dylan Gould was sin-binned for dissent in the melee that followed.

The resulting freekick was placed just over the bar by Kyle Witt. The numerical advantage gave Oldland some confidence and they went close to an equaliser in the 65th minute. The game continued to be a stop start affair as the tackles flew in but Kye Simpson found some space in the 85th minute but his shot was partially blocked and the ball limped tamely to the keeper.

Oldland went close again soon after but some desperate defending kept the ball out. Rovers held on to take the points but were well aware that league table positions sometimes lie!

After an excellent all round performance at left back, Wayne Nderemaniis was named Paulton’s Man of the Match and was presented with his award by Steve Cray (production director) of the club’s main sponsors CFH Doc.

Victory enabled Paulton to move up to third in the table, only three points behind the early leaders Saltash, while defeat left Oldland in 18th spot, just one place above the relegation zone.

Jon Green