THE title race for both divisions of The Soccer Site Malvern Football League become clearer last Sunday as Dynamo Ledbury, in division one, and Keyz 04, in division two, both lost and fell out of contention.

In division one, last year's champions Bishops Frome entertained Dynamo Ledbury, with both sides knowing that defeat would eliminate them from any chance of the title. After a sticky start it was Bishops Frome who kept their hopes alive with a 5-2 victory, despite Dynamo Ledbury actually scoring four of the goals.

After a fairly even start Bishops Frome took the lead, courtesy of a header from Martin Punt of Dynamo who found the back of his own net. It went from bad to worse for Punt when he collided with his own keeper, Mark Davies, and the ball fell to the feet of Frome's Neil Berry, who was left with the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net.

Dynamo Ledbury battled in the second half and soon pulled a goal back when, following a Dynamo corner, the ball was knocked about in the area before Tom Locke smashed it home from the edge of the six-yard box. Dynamo had their tails up and pulled level when a poor clearance from a free-kick saw the ball fall at the feet of Tom Hurrell on the edge of the area and he made no mistake with his shot.

Dynamo Ledbury pushed forward looking for the lead but their title aspirations evaporated almost immediately. Again it was an own-goal that gave Bishops Frome the lead when the head of Lee Jones was responsible for diverting the ball past the hapless Davies. This goal was a turning point as Bishops Frome grew in confidence and their football improved. It soon became 4-2 when Jason Westmacott netted from the penalty spot.

Bishops Frome wrapped it up with the goal of the game, when Chris Jefferson beat a defender and then dummied the keeper before firing home.

This victory means that Bishops Frome need just a point from their visit to Oak Allstars on May 1 to retain their title, while Oak Allstars need to win both their final games against Cross Keys next Sunday and Bishops Frome to snatch the title.

In the other division one game, Talbot Head entertained Bell Inn 98 and were comfortable 8-1 winners. This was thanks to goals from Adam Webb and Matt Cooke with two from Andy Rogers and four from Danny Briscoe before he was substituted in the 50th minute. Bell Inn 98's consolation goal came from Chris Grubb.

In the second division, Belmont Keys kept their title hopes alive with a hard-earnt victory by 2-0 at Dilligaf United.

In a good game, Belmont Keys were made to work hard by Dilligaf before two goals in two minutes in the second-half saw them take the points. The first goal came from Matt Pearce, who headed home a cross whipped-in by Gavin Smith to be quickly followed by a goal from Joe Gillett, who calmly placed a laid-back pass from Rob Jones into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards.

Belmont's day was marred by a bad injury in the closing moments to leading scorer Dave Perera who caught his studs as he turned and was taken to hospital with a cruciate ligament injury. Prompt attention from his teammates made him comfortable and the league committee wish him well in his recovery and hope to see him playing again at the start of next season.

Perowne Park Rangers recorded a convincing 8-0 victory at Malvern Victoria with two goals each for Peter Jones, Mike Dean, James Cale and Stuart Greaves. This result means that even a draw in their final game at Dilligaf United on May 1 will give them the title by courtesy of a one-goal advantage in their goal difference.

Keyz 04 saw their title hopes disappear as they crashed 2-8 at home to a Ganglands side that were given a big boost for next weeks President's Cup final against Perowne Park Rangers with both their 'army' men Gordon Mansell and Wayne Cadmore netting hat-tricks. Their other goals came from Lewis Moss and Richard Taylor. Keyz 04's scorers were Graham Lowen and Andy Lancett.

This result means in Ganglands 13 league games a total of 96 goals have been scored, an average of over seven goals per game.

In the semi-final of the Worcester Infirmary Sunday Junior Cup, Cross Keys bowed out on penalties 3-4 after finishing 0-0 after extra-time at Nunnery Wood.

The home side started the stronger and Cross Keys were grateful to their keeper and man-of-the-match Craig Humphries who pulled of a string of fine saves in the first 20 minutes. As the game went on Cross Keys got stronger and should have taken the lead just before half-time when Steve Brookes found Damian Lloyd clear only six yards out, but he fired over.

The second-half saw Cross Keys deal comfortably with any threat from Nunnery Wood with Andrew Fletcher having an outstanding game in the centre of defence. Rob Cullen had the chance to snatch victory in the final moments of normal time but despite only having the keeper to beat his shot was off target and cleared the bar.

Chances were few and far between in extra-time although Nunnery hit a post and with five minutes to go Dale Humphries' shaved the crossbar with a fine 25-yard effort. It was to be heartbreak for Cross Keys when they missed the first sudden death penalty to go out of the cup.