Kingsdown who defeated league leaders Kintbury Rangers 3-2 in midweek

The last full round of midweek games in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League took place this week although in the end just six of the eight scheduled games went ahead with a few surprises along the way.

The one team who were not scheduled to have a game due to there now being an odd number of teams were Amesbury Town and no doubt they will have enjoyed their day off, particularly when the scores came through with both their two main rivals at the top of the table losing on Tuesday night.

League leaders Kintbury Rangers were at home to Kingsdown, and they did not get off to the best of starts when seven minutes in JJ Lofthouse-Smith was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box and a penalty awarded which was put away by Aiden Miller to give Kingsdown a 1-0 lead. Kingsdown had much the better of things in the early stages, but Kintbury went close to getting back on level terms on 17 minutes, a through ball seeing Will Frank through on goal but his effort was well saved by Dan Lawrence in the Kingsdown goal. Kintbury gradually grew into the game and got themselves back on level terms just after the half-hour mark, George Armstrong with the goal, his 13th of the season, to level things up at 1-1. With Kintbury temporarily reduced to ten men due to Will Frank sent to the sinbin, Kingsdown sought to take advantage of the extra man and push for a second goal. That second goal did finally come deep into added time at the end of the half, Alex Fenton heading in from close range to make it 2-1 to Kingsdown. There was still time for one more chance for Kintbury to level matters up before half time but the chance was spurned as Kingsdown went into half time with a slender 2-1 lead. Kingsdown extended their lead ten minutes into the second half, Ollie While finishing off following some great build up play from the visitors. Given their lofty position Kingsdown would have expected Kintbury to come back strong in the closely stages but it did not really materialise and whilst Kintbury did score a second through skipper Carl Jenner late on in reality they had been well beaten on the night. The win for Kingsdown sees them sit eighth in the table which has now been adjusted for the withdrawal of Frome Collegians. Kintbury remain top of the table on goal difference but now no longer have a game in hand over Amesbury. 

Pewsey Vale had a midweek trip to Malmesbury Victoria Development and travelled on the back of four straight wins and seven victories in their opening eight games. However, Malmesbury is never the easiest of places to visit with all Malmesbury’s points so far this season coming on home turf. In a tight encounter the match would ultimately be decided on 38 minutes by a stunning effort from distance from Dale Richards which was enough to see Malmesbury record their third win of the season and maintain that good home record as they climbed to 13^th spot in the table. For Pewsey a second defeat of the season sees them sit in third spot, three points behind Kintbury and Amesbury but with a game in hand.

Another side who have been on a great run of form of late are Melksham Town Reserves who went into their home fixture with Wroughton on the back of six straight wins and eight games unbeaten.  That fine run of results was finally ended on Tuesday night as Wroughton left the Oakfield Stadium with all three points following a 3-0 win, all three goals coming through Jonathan Peachey-Score who took his goal tally for the season to 14. The win for Wroughton saw them move up to sixth spot. Despite the defeat Melksham stay fourth but missed out on closing the gap to the top three.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development sit fifth in the table after they secured a 4-1 win over Shrivenham on Tuesday night with all five goals coming in the first half. With their first team having a lack of games in recent weeks the home side strengthened their side by fielding six first team players in their starting line up on Tuesday night and raced into a 4-0 lead before allowing Shrivenham to pull one back before half time. Louis Spalding set them on the way to the win getting on the end of a Matt Jones free kick. Spalding then went close to getting a second when his shot from the edge of the box came back down off the crossbar, but Harry Walters was on hand to fire in the rebound for 2-0. Walters then went from scorer to provider setting up Scott Chilcott for 3-0. Spalding then added a fourth for the home side in a rampant first half. Shrivenham did manage to get themselves back in the game when a ball deflected back to Dan West in the Royal Wootton Bassett goal was deemed to be a pass back. The resulting indirect free kick saw the ball tapped back to Tom Ponting who fired in to make it 4-1 at the break. It was a different story to that first half after the break as Shrivenham took the game to the home side creating numerous chances but a combination of some good saves from the Bassett keeper and a fair share of luck for the home side saw Shrivenham fail to add to that one goal as it ended without any further goals. Your Sport Swindon were there with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights from the game by clicking on the link below or using the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League website.

After a mini-blip Blunsdon returned to winning ways on Tuesday night with a hard fought 1-0 away win at Calne Town Reserves, Jamie Pidgeon with the only goal of the game which ended Blunsdon’s run of defeats which had stretched to three ahead of Tuesday night’s game at Calne.

The final game in midweek took place on Wednesday night in Bath when Shrewton United returned from Odd Down with all three points following a comfortable 6-1 away win against Odd Down (Bath) Development. However, few would have predicted that final score at half time as the two sides went into the half time break with matters all square at 1-1. In a tight first half Shrewton went in front six minutes before the break, Tom Mundy setting up Ben Mulvany to head home. The response from Odd Down was almost immediate a free kick at the other end saw Tyrone Mulholland fire home to send the two sides into the break all square. Shrewton had the better of things in that first half but Odd Down had grown into the game as the half progressed and it was set up nicely for the second half. That second half though was to turn into a one-sided affair. Ten minutes into the second half two goals in the space of two minutes from George Plank put Shrewton 3-1 in front. It got even better for Plank as he notched his third of the game to put Shrewton 4-1 ahead. Jordan Cross then added a fifth, tapping in from a corner before Ben Mulvany rounded-off a good night for the visitors with a sixth Shrewton goal to make the final score 6-1. The win saw Shrewton climb out of the bottom three. Odd Down remain rooted to the bottom of the table having also seen the only point they had gained so far this season taken off them when the record of Frome Collegians was expunged.

23 September 2023