Action from Cricklade Town's 4-0 win over Trowbridge Town

(picture courtesy of Alwyn Bodman)

Premier Division

Following a wet and windy afternoon there are once again new leaders of the Premier Division after the latest round of matches in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League on Saturday. Faringdon Town started the afternoon at the top of the table ahead of their visit to Down Ampney. It started well for Faringdon as Kyle Bowyer put them ahead on 25 minutes, the pacey winger dispossessing Down Ampney keeper Jack Wallis to fire into an empty net for 1-0. It remained just the one goal in it at half time. Down Ampney turned things around at the start of the second half scoring twice in the space of two minutes through Paddy Cripps and Charlie McCuish to lead 2-1. It remained that way until 11 minutes from time when Faringdon’s Liam Hares headed home a Matt Pill corner to level matters up at 2-2 to retain Faringdon’s unbeaten record, but the two points dropped meant they lost the leadership of the division. Faringdon will have the chance to return to the top of the division in midweek if they can become the first side to take points off Swindon Supermarine Development when they meet on Tuesday night.

The new leaders of the division on goal difference are Larkhall Athletic Development after a narrow 2-1 home win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.  Larkhall started brightly in the first half of this encounter against a side who were unbeaten away from home prior to Saturday’s game and had much the better of the first half, restricting the visitors to very little offensively and creating some good chances of their own. The opening goal of the game came on the half hour mark, Ben Wickens outpaced his defender on the left wing and squared for Arlo Stone to tap home for 1-0 to the home side. The second half was played in atrocious conditions but was a much more even affair. The crucial goal came on 75 minutes and went the way of Larkhall, Stone and Wickens combining to set up substitute Farley McDowell who finished from eight yards. With five minutes remaining Royal Wootton Bassett should have reduced the arrears, Kit Bond in the Larkhall goal parried a long shot, the rebound fell perfectly for Matt Capel but he could only find the post with the follow up. The visitors did, however,  get a deserved consolation goal for their second half efforts with a stunning 30-yard volley in injury time from George Knight to make the final score 2-1 to Larkhall. The win for Larkhall saw them move a point above Faringdon Town at the top of the table.

Joining Larkhall on 17 points at the top are Melksham Town Reserves who secured their fifth win of the season with a 2-0 away success against Calne Town Reserves thanks to goals from Liam Brooks and Matt Robinson. Melksham’s side is very much built on youth this season as seven of the 14-man squad for the successful trip to Calne were under 18.

Pewsey Vale and Letcombe went into their game at Pewsey having both drawn a high proportion of their opening fixtures, Pewsey had drawn four of their seven opening games whilst Letcombe had drawn three of their opening seven. A close encounter was therefore anticipated ahead of the game, and it proved to be just that with just the one goal in the game, Letcombe’s Luke Faircloth hitting a stunning strike from 25-yards to give the visitors all three points which saw them climb three places in the table to fifth spot.

After going three games without a win Cricklade Town were hoping to get their season back on track when they entertained struggling Trowbridge Town at the Leisure Centre. It was mission accomplished for Ian Rosewell and Troy Prentice’s side as two goals in each half secured a 4-0 home win that saw move up one place in the table to eighth, whilst Trowbridge remain at the bottom with just one win in their openings six games.  Two more goals for Lewis Bexon-Shaw, one coming from the penalty spot, saw him take his total for the season to 11 as he took over leadership of the division's leading scorer chart, Nick Craft and Beau Hicks with the other two Cricklade goals. Alwyn Bodman was at the game with his camera and pictures from the game can be found on the League Facebook Page.

There was an early kick-off at Corsham where a change in Hellenic League fixtures saw Park United kick-off their fixture against Devizes Town Reserves at midday with Corsham then playing their Hellenic League game against Westfields after the Park game. A big thank you to Corsham Town for suggesting and staging the double-header and to Devizes Town for agreeing to the early kick-off.  After losing their two previous games 3-0 Park United returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory of their own, two goals from Corey Harbour-Burgess and one from Max Wyatt giving Park the three points as they climbed three places in the table to tenth spot.

Another side ending a run of two consecutive defeats were Shrivenham with a 3-1 home win over Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves thanks to goals from James Hirst, Oliver Matthews and Zac Skinner, a fifth goal of the season from Harry Guy in reply for Bemerton. The win for Shrivenham saw them climb five places in the table and out of the bottom four.

Wroughton were unfortunately unable to raise a side for their trip to Shrewton United, the first Premier Division fixture to be postponed for this reason this season.

Division One

With league leaders Fairford Town Reserves without a game the chasing pack had the chance to close the gap at the top of the table and Bradford Town Reserves, Bishops Cannings and Marlborough Town all achieved that objective.

After three games without a win Bradford Town Reserves returned to winning ways in style at home against Pewsey Vale Development  scoring five times without reply. Goals from Ben Doughty and leading scorer Kieran Balchin saw them lead 2-0 at the break. They extended their lead shortly after half time with Balchin getting his second of the game. They made sure of the points with a fourth goal, but it came courtesy of an own goal scored by the visitors. Ashton Buckland then rounded off a good afternoon for the home side with a fifth to make the final score 5-0. The win for Bradford Town saw them climb up to second place in the table, two points behind Fairford but having played one game more than the league leaders.

Purton Kingsdown Reserves had the chance to move within a point of the leaders if they could beat Bishops Cannings on the 3G at Kingsdown School, with Bishops Cannings looking to pick up their first points away from home this season. All their three previous away defeats had been on grass, and they were hoping that the 3G surface at Kingsdown School would be more to their liking. It proved to be just that as they finally picked up some points away from home to maintain their perfect record on artificial surfaces so far this season. An early goal from Ben Haffenden set them on their way and a second just before the half hour mark saw Bishops Cannings go into the break with a slender 2-1 lead. Both sides were to find the net one more time in the second half as Bishops Cannings recorded a 3-2 win, Sam Jones with their third, Josh Atwell and Oliver Rejek scoring for Purton Kingsdown Res. The win for Bishops Cannings saw them climb up to fourth place in the table, three points behind leaders Fairford having also played one more game, whilst Purton Kingsdown Reserves slipped from second place to sixth spot.

Redhouse are in third spot in the table, ahead of Bishops Cannings on goal difference, this following a comfortable 3-0 home win over Lambourn Sports. On Friday the game was in serious jeopardy as the issues with FC Abbey Meads dictating priority use of the Moredon site, even for friendlies, that has resulted in late kick-off times, once again arose. An emergency meeting between the League and the Moredon site resulted in Redhouse now being accommodated at Southbrook Rec, allowing for all future games to kick-off at the standard league kick-off times, also avoiding the issues of the lack of warm-up on the 3G surface prior to a game.  The game itself saw Redhouse return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Fairford Town Reserves and Malmesbury Vics Dev and there were two more goals for the prolific Cameron Shrubb which saw him move onto 14 goals for the season, well clear of the rest of the division. The other Redhouse goal was scored by Tyler Smith.

After their heavy defeat in midweek Marlborough Town bounced back with a comfortable 5-2 home win over Stratton with the five goals being shared around with Kieran Maidment, Harry Gibson, Oli Marland, Jake Farrell and Harry Womersley all finding the back of the net, the latter two both scoring their fourth goals of the campaign. The two Statton goals came courtesy of a Kieren Dunne penalty and one from Ramon Faruq. The win for Marlborough sees them in fifth spot, level on points with both Redhouse and Bishops Cannings but with a game in hand over the three sides immediately above them in the table, and three points adrift of leaders Fairford having played the same number of games.

After their narrow defeat in midweek at the hands of Faringdon Town Development, Shrivenham Development were another side to get back to winning ways with an impressive 4-2 away victory over Great Western on the 3G at New College. Both Bradley Ellis and Jamie McGahey bagged a brace for the visitors, Eugiene Taderera and substitute Aquillor Mpofu with the Great Western goals. Great Western’s cause was not helped by having Justin Hemedy sent off. After winning their first three games, Great Western have now lost two in a row and slipped to tenth spot although they have games in hand over all the sides above them in the table.

Faringdon Town Development  made it two wins in the space of five days with a narrow 2-1 victory over Westbury United Reserves thanks to goals from Peter Fletcher and Taylor Hall.

For exclusive insight from the team managers of our clubs read Your Sport's Swindon weekly coverage of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. For details of how to subscribe see the advert below.