North Wiltshire Division

There were four games played this week in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division, and the four games included a shock defeat for the leaders on Wednesday night. The action got underway on Monday night at Moredon with a close game between Stratton and Purton Kingsdown. Unfortunately, both sides were to see a man sent off in the first half of the game. It was Stratton went in front just before half time thanks to an exquisite chip from Matty Bown. However, Purton Kingsdown turned things around in the second half scoring two late goals to take all three points, Steven Davies and Joshua Paddon with the two Purton Kingsdown goals to temporarily move up to second in the table.

Penhill United dislodged them from that second spot the following night with a comfortable 6-0 win over Chiseldon at New College. Star of the show was Peter Myall who scored five of the Penhill goals with Steven Bunting getting the other goal. The five goals for Myall saw him take over at the top of the division’s goal scoring chart.

The same night at Moredon, AFC Swindon and Swindon Rovers shared the points following a 2-2 draw. Pete Byrne put Swindon Rovers ahead with his fifth goal of the season, but Jermy Hope equalised for AFC Swindon on 15 minutes. Swindon Rovers, however, restored their lead four minutes later through Taiwo Abolarin to go into the half time break with a slender advantage.  It remained that way until right at the end of the match. Just as it looked like Swindon Rovers would claim a narrow win, Rob Sawyer scored a final minute equaliser for AFC Swindon to ensure a share of the spoils.

The top two sides at the start of the week, Redhouse and Cricklade Town were both in action on Wednesday night, but the two sides were to have mixed evenings. The shock of the week was the 4-0 home defeat suffered by Redhouse at Moredon. Prior to the game the only defeat Redhouse had suffered in the league all season was a narrow 1-0 reverse at the hands of Cricklade Town, but they were well beaten on the night on Wednesday by visitors Royal Wootton Bassett Town. There were two goals from Chris Head and one apiece from Josh Connolly and Jeremy Newton.

Meanwhile at Cirencester Town, Cricklade Town were home to FS Swindon looking to get their title defence back on track having surprisingly lost twice away from home against Stratton and ExIntel already this season. They got off to a good start against bottom of the table FS Stratton, Sam Collier firing them ahead on five minutes. Nick Craft then added a second to give Cricklade a 2-0 half time lead. A second from Craft midway through the second half made sure of the points for Cricklade who moved joint top of the table with Redhouse on 18 points from eight games.

Unfortunately, the game between Nationwide and ExIntel was postponed as ExIntel became the second side this season to fail to raise a side for a fixture against Nationwide.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Two of the top sides in the Mid Wiltshire Division met on Wednesday night at Bulford when Durrington entertained Melksham Town. In a tight first half Durrington were given a golden chance to put themselves ahead when they were awarded a penalty after a challenge from Ryan Tyrell. However, player-manager Jesse Walters missed the penalty firing the ball over the bar and it remained 0-0 at the break. The deadlock was finally broken early in the second half, Lee Morgan putting Melksham ahead with a clever touch over the Durrington keeper. Gary Higdon then doubled Melksham’s lead and he wrapped up the win with his second of the game, rounding the keeper to make it 3-0 which is how it finished. The two goals for Higdon saw him move level with Devizes Town’s Chris Allen at the top of the goal scoring chart.

The action had got underway in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division on Monday night when Trowbridge Town entertained Barford Hornets. Despite the game coming just two days after the postponement of the men’s Premier Division clash between Trowbridge Town and Larkhall Athletic Development on Saturday, all parties were happy to go ahead, and Trowbridge Town were rewarded with their third league win of the season, defeating Barford Hornets 4-1. The Trowbridge Town goals were shared around with Marc Sheppard, Nick Mead, Mariusz Hosko and Steve Hill all finding the back of the net. The win for Trowbridge saw them move above Calne Town into sixth spot although they have played two more games than Calne.  

The same evening Radstock Town were looking to bounce back from their opening defeat of the season at the hands of Devizes Town when they entertained Warminster Town. A close encounter ensued, and the two sides turned around with the game still looking for its first goal. It remained that way until ten minutes from time when Radstock’s Jack Broadway broke the deadlock to put the home side ahead with his eleventh goal of the season. Radstock then made sure of the three points with a second goal from Alastair Cox five minutes from time to run out 2-0 winners.

Calne Town saw their game against Devizes Town postponed due to the condition of the pitch at Devizes ahead of Saturday’s big top of the table clash in the Western League. Attempts to reverse the fixture were unsuccessful with the pitch at MOD Lyneham also not available.