Colden Common strengthened their grip at the top of Wessex Division One with a 3–1 comeback win over play-off hopefuls Cove.

Cove took the lead when Ash Upson met Armani Riley’s corner with a towering header at the back post.

They nearly doubled their lead soon after. Noah Ayres fired a low effort past James Egeland-Jensen but the flag was raised for offside, before Will Okine-Peters came within inches of making it two, his powerful header crashing against the crossbar from close range.

But the Stallions responded almost immediately. Just two minutes after Okine-Peters’ effort rattled the woodwork, Colden Common broke quickly on the counter. Brad Lethbridge picked out new signing Joe Johnson, who showed great composure to lob goalkeeper Stuart Norman and score his first goal for the club.

Colden Common pushed for a second before the break. Cal Archer saw his header strike the post, while Charlie Hitchings and Will Erdinc both tried their luck from distance but failed to test Norman.

Cove threatened again early in the second half. Okine-Peters found Charlie Oakley on the right, but he could only fire wide, before Higgs’ deflected strike forced a superb save from Egeland-Jensen after the ball deflected off Cam Stone.

Those missed chances proved costly. Hitchings soon picked out Sam Woodward in acres of space and the forward made no mistake, curling a composed finish into the bottom corner to give Colden Common the lead. The goal marked Woodward’s sixth in just seven appearances for the club.

Cove’s afternoon then took another turn for the worse when striker Kay Hampson was shown a straight red card following a challenge on Stone, reducing the Wasps to ten men.

Colden Common capitalised late on, adding a third through Stone after a well-worked move.

The hosts could even have added a fourth, with Woodward denied by a fine save before Johnson fired wide.

After the match, manager Steve King praised his side’s second-half display.

“I thought we controlled the second half and got the goals we deserved against a fellow promotion chaser,” he said.

 “The sending off didn’t change the game, we kept moving the ball quickly and I’m really pleased with the third goal.”

Colden Common are next in action with a trip to Miller Park, where they face strugglers Totton & Eling.

Wycombe Wanderers made a dramatic comeback with two goals from Meira Ashby, the second of which put her side ahead in the 63rd minute.

Winchester’s Chelsie Hay opened the scoring in the 16th minute and doubled the lead shortly after, giving the flayers a comfortable 2-0 lead and the hope of being able to equal in points with the opponents in the league table. 

HT: Winchester City Flyers 2 – 0 Wycombe Wanderers 

A first goal for the visiting team came in the 57th minute through Kayla Potter, giving the Wanderers a renewed belief in being able to win the game. Just minutes later, Meira Ashby struck twice, in the 61st and 63rd minutes, completing the turnaround and securing the comebackthat keeps the Wanderers comfortably at the top of the table. 

FT: Winchester City Flyers 2 – 3 Wycombe Wanderers 

The Winchester Flyers take the loss and remain behind Wycombe Wanderers in the league standings, meanwhilethe wanderers stay in first place for yet another week. The result adds pressure on Winchester to keep pace, while it further strengthens Wycombe’s position as title contenders.

Next up for Winchester is another home fixture, this time against Southampton Women’s FC 

Waycombe Wanderers will face Abingdon United FC in their next match.

Both teams head into their upcoming fixtures with very different momentum.  Winchester will be looking to regroup and be able to keep their first-half performance into the full 90 minutes, while Wycombe will aim to keep building on what they have been doing and maintain their place at the top of the table

Ivan Juric has left his role as Southampton first team manager following the club’s relegation on Sunday.

The Croatian joined the Saints on an 18-month deal in December following Russell Martin’s dismissal but lasted just 107 days in charge.

Juric oversaw just two victories in his 16 matches in charge with Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham confirming Southampton’s relegation to the Championship.

With seven matches still to play, Saints’ relegation is the earliest in Premier League history, breaking the joint-record set by Derby County and Huddersfield Town in 2007-08 and 2018-19 respectively, who both went down after 32 games.

The club confirmed the process of searching for a new manager is now under way and said: “With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.”

First team coach Simon Rusk is set to take charge of the team for the remainder of the season with player Adam Lallana to act as his assistant.

Southampton currently sit on 10 points at the bottom of the league and require a further two points to avoid breaking the record-low set by Derby County, who finished the 2007-08 season with 11 points.