This week saw four of the five scheduled games in the Under 18 Floodlight Division get played. The only game to fall victim to the issues caused by the weather in recent weeks was the game at Warminster Town where Kintbury Rangers were scheduled to be the visitors.

The action got under way on Monday night when league leaders Royal Wootton Bassett Town made the journey into Berkshire to take on AFC Aldermaston. Despite being bottom of the table, Aldermaston had given Royal Wootton Bassett Town a tough game at the Sustain Stadium earlier in the season and Nick Warren’s side could take nothing for granted in the return. First half goals from Flynn Walters and Jowan Partridge gave Royal Wootton Bassett Town a 2-0 half time lead and they made sure of the points with a third after the break from Rhys Westlake. That is now 12 games unbeaten to start the season for Royal Wootton Bassett Town but with Kintbury Rangers still to play away plus tough looking games home and away to Radstock they still have a lot to do if they are to secure honours this season.

Second placed Kintbury Rangers were left kicking their heals as their game on Thursday night was thwarted by continuing issues with Warminster Town’s pitch caused by the recent wet weather.

On Thursday night Calne Town returned to winning ways with a 6-3 home success over Kingsdown Lions. Samuel Jones gave them an early lead, but Kingsdown were back on level terms shortly after with a goal of their own scored by Josh Atwell. However, Asher Jones restored Calne’s lead on 16 minutes and then Ryan Flynn increased it ten minutes before the break to send Calne into the interval with a two-goal advantage. Two very soon became three after the restart, Joseph Redman with the goal to make it 4-1 to Calne. Kingsdown pulled one back through Tommy Hellewell before Thomas Gates added a fifth for Calne Town. A third for Kingsdown with 20 minutes to go, Hellewell setting up Atwell for his second of the game, saw them get a foothold back in the game. Unfortunately for Kingsdown they were unable to add to their tally and a last-minute penalty for Calne, put away by Asher Jones made sure of all three points for the home side. The win saw Calne Town move above Bishops Cannings into third place, albeit it was to only be for 24 hours.

Melksham Town had beaten Radstock Town on their own ground back in October and were hoping to repeat the feat at the Oakfield Stadium on Thursday night and complete a league double, but Radstock had other ideas. The visitors dominated the game from the start and hit four first half goals to lead 4-0 at the break. A much better second half from Melksham saw them actually win that second half 2-1 but the damage had already been done and it was Radstock Town who left with all three points. Thomas Hobbs led the way for Radstock helping himself to a hat-trick and there were further goals from Bartek Grzywa and substitute Lex Southall. On target for Melksham were Charlie Walder and Dean Kumanga.

On Friday night Bishops Cannings were involved in another entertaining contest on the 3G at Green Lane with Bradford Town the visitors.  Bradford Town started well and took the lead early on following a counterattack led by James Drake who outpaced the home defence before squaring to Luke Masero who slid the ball home. Bishops Cannings upped their game and goals from the division’s leading scorer Jack Smith, netting his 15^th of the season, and further goals from Danny Bowyer and Zak Rawlins saw Bishops Cannings to a 3-1 win. It was not all one way though as Bradford continued to threaten with the pace they possess up front and if they had been able to convert a number of one-on-one opportunities they created with the Bishops Cannings keeper they could quite well have taken something out of the game. The win saw Bishops Cannings move back above Calne Town into third place, five points behind second placed Kintbury Rangers having played one game more.

League Table

Leading Scorers

Results and Next Week's Fixtures

5 February 2023