Premier Division

With two of the Premier Division sides in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League involved in county cup action there were just eight fixtures played in the Premier Division this weekend. Having seen their game postponed the previous week league leaders Shrewton United took their frustration out on visitors Down Ampney on their return to action, scoring eight unanswered goals to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the table and avenge the 3-2 defeat they had suffered at the hands of Down Ampney at the start of the season. Justin Bennett led the way scoring a hat-trick to double his tally for the season, the division’s leading scorer Kian Tydeman adding another two to his total taking his tally for the season to 26, with further goals from Sanjay Samuda, Liam Palfreeman and an own goal completing the scoring. Shrewton are now at the halfway stage with their fixtures and have scored an impressive total of 70 goals in their 17 games, averaging over four goals a game and look a good bet for the title, even at this early stage.

Larkhall Athletic Development started the day in second place in the table and were home to an improving Shrivenham side who came into the game unbeaten in their previous six league games. Larkhall themselves were on an even better run, unbeaten in 13 league outings, that run including a 5-1 win at Shrivenham in the first meeting of the season between the two sides. Shrivenham would avenge that earlier defeat by becoming the first side to win on the 3G at the Plain Ham in the league this season, as a hat-trick from Brad Hirst and one from Kieran Sutton secured an impressive 4-1 away win to put a dent in Larkhall’s title aspirations, Harvey Kendrick with the Larkhall goal. The defeat for Larkhall combined with results elsewhere saw them drop one place in the table whilst Shrivenham remain in eighth place.

Back at the end of September Purton Kingsdown caused something of a shock when they defeated Swindon Supermarine Development, who sat top of the table at the time, on their own ground in a midweek evening fixture under the floodlights. That was only the second league defeat of the season suffered by Swindon Supermarine who had won their opening ten games. The reverse fixture on Saturday at the Red House was to be a different story though. Rowan Doyle, who had made his return from injury the previous Saturday, scored twice in a man-of-the match performance that saw his side avenge that earlier defeat with a 3-0 victory. The win for Supermarine saw them move back second in the table, a 15^th goal of the season from Tom Phillips with the other Supermarine goal. Mike Wray was at the game with his camera and highlights and also pictures from the game can be accessed from the League Facebook Group page.

Melksham Town Reserves made the short journey to Trowbridge Town looking to complete a league double over their opponents and maintain their challenge for honours at the top of the table. They led 1-0 at the break thanks to a Tom Dowell goal but improving Trowbridge Town turned things around in the second half, as a penalty from Jake Hiscocks and an injury time winner from Aaron Seviour gave Trowbridge a vital 2-1 win that saw them move above Wroughton in the table. After a poor start to the season Trowbridge now seem to be getting their act together on the pitch under the new management team, securing back-to-back wins for the first time this season in front of another three figure crowd. Melksham Town Reserves remain in fourth spot despite the defeat.

Pewsey Vale lost ground on the leading sides when they were held to a 1-1 draw away at bottom of the table Calne Town Reserves, the seventh time Pewsey have drawn this season in 18 league games. On target for Pewsey was Rory Sellick with Jack Smith getting the Calne Town Reserves goal. Pewsey dropped one place in the table as a result of failing to secure the win, whilst Calne remain bottom of the table, six points behind Wroughton.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town climbed above Pewsey Vale into sixth place with an impressive 5-0 away win at Devizes Town Reserves who had been in good form in recent weeks. Prince Nyongolo and Max Spackman scored in the first half for the visitors before Charlie King, Kassa Anderson and Flynn Walters netted after the restart in what was the visitor’s biggest win of the season so far.

There was an entertaining first half at the Weir Field where Wroughton and visitors Cricklade Town produced five goals to see Wroughton lead 3-2 at the break. It was the visitors who went in front in the first minute of the game, recent signing Israel Onibudo cutting in from the left to hit a stunning strike into the far top corner of the net to give Cricklade the lead. Wroughton got themselves back on level terms from the penalty spot after Shane Hibbert was brought down in the box. Jonny Davoille took the responsibility for the spot kick but his initial effort came back off the frame of the goal after a save from Harrison Ellis in the Cricklade goal, but luckily for Davoille it fell to him, and he made no mistake with the second attempt. Wroughton then went ahead for the first time in the game, Jamie Pidgeon with a well taken goal to give Wroughton a 2-1 lead. They were to extend that lead from another penalty. This time Hibbert took responsibility for the spot kick and made no mistake firing into the bottom left hand corner of the net for 3-1. There was to be one more goal in the half and once again it was to come from a stunning strike from Onibudo. Awarded a free kick on the left-hand side just outside the box, Onibudo fired the free kick into the far top corner of the net to make it 3-2 with his second of the game and with all to play for in the second half. There was to be just the one goal in the second half, and it went the way of the visitors Cricklade Town to give them a share of the points, Nick Craft scoring his ninth goal of the season to level matters up at 3-3. The point for Cricklade sees them sat on 17 points in eleventh place but they are just two points ahead of third from bottom Trowbridge Town in a congested bottom half of the table which sees six teams separated by just two points in the battle to avoid the drop. Results elsewhere meant Wroughton dropped a place in the table to seventh position but have games in hand over all the teams around them in the table.   More pictures from this game can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

Park United climbed out of the bottom four as they returned to winning ways with a 4-1 home victory over Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves to avenge the 3-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of the same opponents back in August. In an excellent performance from the home side which could have seen them win by more there were two goals for Ben Pring plus one apiece for Jamie Cunning and Zac Hillier, with Tom Edwards getting the Bemerton goal.

Charles Twelftree Trophy Third Round

Two Premier Division sides were involved in Berks & Bucks County Cup action in the Third Round of the Charles Twelftree Trophy but both Letcombe and Faringdon Town had what looked to be tough away fixtures and they proved to be just that. Letcombe traveled into Reading to take on Westwood Wanderers from the Thames Valley Premier League who have won all eight of their league games played to date. A good first half showing from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side saw Letcombe lead 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Sean McGuire and Oscar Griffiths but two second half goals for the home side, with the winner coming right at the death, saw Letcombe exit the competition but Westwood knew they had been pushed all the way.

Meanwhile, Faringdon Town were away to Abingdon United Development from the Oxfordshire Senior League and who are another side going well in their league, sat third in the table with six wins from their opening seven league fixtures. It was to prove to be another close game which ultimately required penalties to settle matters. Faringdon Town went 1-0  up thanks to an own goal on the half hour mark and it remained that way at the break. However, Abingdon were back on level terms within a minute of the restart after Faringdon keeper Jack Gibson failed to hold a shot on goal and an Abingdon striker pounced to level matters up at 1-1. That was to be the end of the afternoons scoring meaning penalties were needed to decide the tie. After 16 penalties were scored by the two sides a save by the Abingdon keeper from Faringdon’s ninth penalty saw the home side make it through to the next round. This  means there are now no teams from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League left in the competition after Shrivenham had lost in the previous round.