Action from Park United's 2-0 win over Faringdon Town (picture courtesy of Your Sport Swindon)

After weeks of games being postponed due to waterlogged pitches, today the problem was frozen pitches as the cold snap at the back end of last week caused a total wipe out of all games in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. Thankfully 3G pitches saved the day in Division One with three games getting the go ahead, all of which were staged on 3G pitches.

Park United, who play their games at Stanley Park, were fortunate to be able to switch their top of the table clash against league leaders Faringdon Town to the 3G pitch at their own venue with their normal grass pitch still frozen. It was the home side Park who took the game to the league leaders right from the start, a ball over the top found Corey Harbour-Burgess clear of the defence but a brave save by Faringdon keeper Jack Gibson, diving at the feet of the pacey forward, ensured it remained 0-0, but not for long. Attempting to bring the ball out of defence Faringdon centre back Liam Hares accidently stumbled on the ball allowing Lewis McCarron to dispossess him, the Park striker unselfishly then passed to his right to Harbour-Burgess who side footed into an empty net to make it 1-0 to Park with just four minutes on the clock. It took 20 minutes for league leaders Faringdon to create their first real chance of the game at the other end.  A long ball out from the back by Gibson was flicked on into the path of Kyle Bowyer, who got the wrong side of the Park back line, but his tame shot was easily gathered by the Park keeper Kierran Ramsey who recently transferred from Premier Division Trowbridge Town.  Harbour-Burgess then had a chance to double Park’s lead when a poor clearance put him through again but his effort from the edge of the box went wide of the post and it remained 1-0. Leading scorer Bowyer was looking like Faringdon’s best hope of getting back into the game and a ball through the centre from Jamie Broadfield put Bowyer once again the wrong side of the home defence, but he fired his shot wide of the far post. Ten minutes before half time Faringdon went close again. A long throw from Broadfield was cleared by the defence but only as far as Will Bazen who lobbed it back into the box, the ball holding up in the wind striking the top of the bar. The ball came back off the bar and fell to Jamie Tuck whose first attempt was blocked and he was then quickly closed down by the Park defence when attempting to get a second shot away and the danger was averted. At the other end Park went close to doubling their lead when a cross in from the left by McCarron was cleared from almost the goal line with an excellent intercepting header before Harbour-Burgess could get on the end of the cross. It remained just the one goal separating the two sides at the break.

The first real chance of the second half fell the way of the visitors Faringdon. A Matt Pill ball into the box was met on the volley by Bowyer but his shot went high and wide and Park retained their slender lead. Having pushed for the equaliser, Faringdon once again pressed the self-destruct button to find themselves two goals behind just before the hour mark. Faringdon were caught in possession just inside their own half and an attempted pass back was under hit allowing McCarron to nip in and intercept and he made no mistake with a left foot shot into the net for 2-0. Harbour-Burgess had caused Faringdon problems all afternoon with his pace and went close to extending Park’s lead when once again he got the wrong side of the back line, but his shot went wide of the post. Three minutes from time Faringdon went close to getting that elusive goal, a corner from Matt Pill was met by the head of Luke Davenport but his header struck the top of the cross bar and went out of play. After that Faringdon had a couple of shots from distance that never really troubled the home side and it finished 2-0 to Park and a second consecutive defeat for Faringdon. The win for Park saw them move to within two points of the leaders with a game in hand. Faringdon will look to bounce back from those two defeats when, as the sole Division One representative left in the Fountain Trophies Cup, they entertain Premier Division Larkhall Athletic Development next week. Your Sport Swindon were at the game at Stanley Park with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlight’s by clicking on the link below or the link from the Your Sport Swindon page of the League website, where you can access all the games covered by Your Sport Swindon.

Bishops Cannings play all of their games on the 3G at the Wiltshire FA headquarters at Green Lane so their game against Purton, who started the day in fourth spot in the table, was never in doubt. It started well for the visitors who went in front through an individual goal from Mani Roper, Roper beating a couple of defenders before slotting home. Bishops Cannings got themselves back on level terms just after the half hour mark with a well taken goal by Samuel Brewer. Last week Levi Cox had scored a late goal to confirm Purton’s win over Faringdon and the veteran striker was at it again this week scoring twice to put Purton 3-1. Purton dominated the second half and could and should have had more, with player manager and top scorer Matty Bennett once again missing several good chances as had been the case last week. Purton were to add one more goal before the end through Joe Herbert to run out 4-1 winners. The win saw Purton climb above Devizes Town Reserves, whose game against Pewsey Vale Development had been one of the four games postponed, and into third spot in the table.

The third game of the day that was played was on the 3G pitch at Kingsdown School where a young Kingsdown Development side entertained Marlborough Town. Marlborough started the day in sixth place in the table and came into the game in good form having achieved back-to-back wins in their previous two games. It started well for them as they went 1-0 up early on through the Division’s leading scorer Jake Farrell with his 23^rd goal of the season.  A defence splitting pass from midfield found Farrell whose well placed first time shot beat the on-rushing Kingsdown keeper to give Marlborough the lead. Dan Burke then went close to extending the Marlborough lead with a shot from the edge of the box that went just over the bar. The young Kingsdown side were also creating chances at the other end and they got themselves back on level terms from a set piece. A low free kick from the left hand side from Callum Tregunna eluded everyone in the six yard box to nestle in the far corner of the net to make it 1-1 as the teams turned round at the break all square. Early in the second half Kingsdown went close to going in front, a scramble in the box seeing an initial shot blocked and the follow-up shot from the rebound going just wide of the post. At the other end Burke went close for Marlborough when Kingsdown conceded possession on the edge of their box and a neat pass from Farrell put him in on goal but his low shot went just wide of the post. Kingsdown continued to create chances of their own. Following another low free kick into the box from Tregunna the attempted clearance rose high in the air and a spectatcular overhead kick was saved with his feet by the Marlborough keeper. It would be the visitors Marlborough though who would get the vital second goal. A well worked move down the left hand side gave Farrell an opportunity on goal but his powerful low shot was well saved by the Kingsdown keeper. Unfortunately for Kingsdown the ball went straight to Harry Womersley who had a simple tap in for his seventh goal of the campaign. Womersley then thought he had scored a second when he fired in from just inside the box after the ball had fallen to him following an Andrew Neale free kick, however, a flag from the assistant referee saw the goal disallowed. Man of the match Farrell was causing the Kingsdown defence problems all afternoon and he went close on several occasions to extending Marlborough’s lead but Kingsdown remained very much in the game. Marlborough finally made sure of all three points against the hard working young Kingsdown side with a third goal scored by Alfie Dawson, Dawson notching his first senior goal for the club in only his second appearance of the season much to the delight of his teammates and the Marlborough bench. Burke also had a glorious chance for another Marlborough goal late on when through one-on-one with the keeper but the chance was spurned and it finished 3-1 to the visitors. The win for Marlborough saw them climb above Bratton in the table into fifth spot. Your Sport Swindon were again at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlight’s by clicking on the link below or the link from the Your Sport Swindon page of the League website, where you can access all the games covered by Your Sport Swindon.

Your Sport Swindon were at two of our three games played yesterday and as noted above highlights from both games can be viewed by subscribers using the links from this page or the links on the dedicated Your Sport Swindon page on our website, which has links to all the games in our league that they have covered. In addition to the match highlights, by taking out a subscription you will be given access to the exclusive interviews with the team managers of our sides which also incorporate the preview for the forthcoming games at the weekend. Subscribe now for just £5 a month or £25 annually using the links on Your Sport Swindon's own website.

Note To All Clubs

In total 12 games were postponed on Saturday across the two divisions but in two instances the home clubs failed to contact either the League Fixture Secretary or the Referee's Secretary as required under league rules. Moreover, a further four home sides, whilst contacting the League Fixture Secretary, failed to contact the Referee's Secretary. Club's are reminded that they must contact these two league officers when postponing games in order to avoid being fined under league rules. Simply posting something on social media is not sufficient to meet the postponement notification requirements.

19 January 2024