THE MIDDLESEX County League Division One (West) title race was blown wide open by Hounslow Wanderers' 4-2 win over Stedfast United on Saturday.
Just one point now separates the top four, with Cranford-based Stedfast still second behind leaders North Kensington, and Wanderers sitting fourth behind Hillingdon Abbotts.
And with Wanderers playing a cup tie against South Acton on Saturday, they will be praying for goalless draws all-round when North Ken and Hillingdon play double-headers in the league.
Club secretary Greg Egdehill said: "It's been a great start to the year for us after losing four of our last five games last year, but we're still in contention.
"It's tight at the top, but there's a load of double-headers coming round due to all the postponed games, so this is where it starts to get interesting."
The reward on offer for Wanderers would be a first-ever spell in the Middlesex County Premier, having plied their trade in Division One ever since joining the league seven years ago.
Jas Sangha netted twice for them on Saturday, while Abdi Hamadi and Ricky Casse bagged the others.
For Hamadi, it was a first goal for the club in spectacular fashion, striking the ball sweetly from some 35 yards out to open the scoring.
Lee Harper replied with two for Stedfast, who were missing top scorer Matthew Woods, to put them in front.
But they went down to 10 men when they lost a player to injury and had not got any subs.
Sangha took full advantage of his side's numerical superiority, bagging a brace before being denied a hat-trick with a missed penalty. Casse sealed the win with a late header.
[25a0] NICK BARNES kept plugging away to help FC Hatton climb to third in the Chiswick & District Division One with a 2-0 win at Moorland United on Sunday.
Barnes rifled a close-range effort against the bar late on in the first-half, but broke the deadlock for the Sky Blues after the interval.
Anthony Mortley secured the points with a good finish from a well-work move late on, while utility man Dave Eastbury was man of the match.
* A LATE hotly-disputed penalty saw Feltham Cowboys denied all three points against AFC Isleworth in the Chiswick & District League Division One on Sunday.
Cowboys twice took, the lead, firstly through a 25-yard Paul Shepherd free-kick and secondly through a Paul Horner header from a corner.
Twice they were pegged back though, and they had keeper Grant Curran to thanks to taking even a point from the game.
Cowboys have their chance for revenge this Sunday when they take on the same team in the semi-finals of the Feathers Cup.
* STEVE CRANE hit a hat-trick as Hampton Village A edged out Feltham Warriors 4-3 in West Middlesex League Division Three on Sunday.
But it was Tom Crowley who hit the winner in the seven-goal thriller.
Goals from Jordan Whitman and Stuart Fuller saw the reserves into the semi-finals of the Keal Cup with a 2-1 win at The Winning Post.
Mick Godfreys' goal was not enough as the veterans lost 2-1 to Barnes Albion in the Veterans Cup, while the first team went down 3-2 to Chiswick Griffin in the West Middlesex Premier, despite goals from Eliot Atiase and Craig Hancock.
* GOALS FROM Grant Cooper and Ben Hogan gave Hanworth City a hard-fought 2-1 win over Spelthorne Rangers on Sunday.
But it was Harry White who shone for City, making a sparkling debut at the tender age of 16 in the Chiswick & District Sunday League One clash.
In Division Three, City's reserves went down 2-0 to title favourites Sunday Social, but it was a marked improvement on their 10-0 defeat to the same opposition three weeks ago.
* JOE McCARTHY netted his fourth goal in as many games to earn Whitton Celtic a point in their 2-2 draw at Barnes Albion on Sunday.
Whitton fell behind following a defensive but equalised on the stroke of half-time courtesy of an own-goal from a free-kick.
They fell behind again after the break to a freak goal from the halfway line, and then had an 'equaliser' ruled out for off-side.
But McCarthy struck with 20 minutes left to snatch a share of the spoils.
* LARRY FIFIELD flicked a header home to earn St Margarets a point with just four minutes left on Sunday.
Saints had fallen 2-0 behind in their Chiswick & District Premier clash with Hanworth Park before Ernest Owuru pulled one back.
And when Bernard Attoh was pulled down in the area, Paul Summers did the honours from the spot to level matters at half-time.
Hanworth took the lead again with 20 minutes left until Fifield spoiled their party.
SHAKIB RAHMAN struck to earn Indian Gymkhana a 1-1 draw with Marsh Rangers in the Middlesex County Premier on Saturday.
But it was the reserves who had their sights well and truly trained, winning 8-1 at ASW in the League Junior Open Cup.
Tyrell Clement and Jaskaran Padan both notched twice. Manrig Gill, Gurpreet Bansal and Sukh Liddar each netted once, while an own-goal rounded off the rout.
