Shrewton Utd go close for what would have been a fifth goal in a blistering first half at Royal W. Bassett Development
Premier Division
The wet weather at the back end of the week saw three games postponed in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League on Saturday due to adverse pitch conditions, with the games at Purton Kingsdown, Trowbridge and Wroughton all called off.
No such issues for league leaders Shrewton United with their game at Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development being played on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. The league leaders travelled to the north of the county without the division’s leading scorer Kian Tydeman and his fellow strike partner Justin Bennett to play an in-form opponent. Shrewton had won the first fixture between the sides at the end of September 3-2 thanks to a late winner and since that narrow defeat Royal Wootton Bassett had gone on an eight-game unbeaten run in the league that had seen them move up to fifth place in the table. However, any thoughts that Shrewton would miss their prolific strike force were quickly dispelled as a blistering start from the visitors saw them go 2-0 up in the first ten minutes. Soloman Sale was making his first appearance of the season for Shrewton and put his side ahead on five minutes as he capitalised on a defensive mix up to score his first goal for Shrewton since netting the winner against Shrivenham at the back end of last season. Three minutes later it was 2-0 after the home side conceded possession in their own half and an excellent cross from the right from Jake Hardy to the far side of the box found the head of Charlie Utterson whose perfectly placed header back across goal gave Adam House in the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal no chance. It got even worse for the home side on 24 minutes and once again the home side were the architects of their own downfall. Sanjay Samuda intercepted a loose ball out from House, rounded Omar Sisay before slotting the ball past House into the far bottom corner of the net for 3-0. A minute later it was effectively game over for the home side as Shrewton scored a fourth, Utterson went from scorer to provider, playing in Lewis Cross who rounded House before slotting into an empty net to make it 4-0 to the visitors with just 25 minutes on the clock. Royal Wootton Bassett managed to get to half time without conceding again but the visitors had just been too hot to handle in that opening half and the game was as good as over as a contest at the break.
With the hard work having been done in that opening half Shrewton could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the gas but they continued to probe for more goals, but whatever manager Mark Simpkins said to his Royal Wootton Bassett Town side at half time, coupled with the introduction of Mani Mesas and George Staten, saw the home side put in a much improved second half showing as they looked to get back into the game. Whilst in the first half it had been a case of Shrewton being clinical in front of goal, the second half saw the other side of their game as they worked tirelessly to deny the home side any chance of getting back in the game with some well organised defensive play. The home side did finally pull one back 17 minutes from time, leading scorer Prince Nyongolo being set up by an excellent through ball from Mesas for his eleventh goal of the season. The well disciplined Shrewton defence made sure that there would be no further goals for the home side though as it finished 4-1 to see Shrewton move nine points clear at the top of the table. More pictures from the game are available on the League Facebook Group Page.
Sanjay Samuda and Lewis Cross scoring goals number three and four for Shrewton United in their 4-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development
The other game involving sides at the top end of the table was in Swindon as Swindon Supermarine Development, who started the day in third place in the table, took on sixth placed Pewsey Vale. The two sides had met on the opening day of the season where a solitary goal from Casey Spencer-Harding had seen Swindon Supermarine Development return home with all three points. It was to prove to be another close contest on Saturday in the return fixture with the two defences on top as the sides fought out a 0-0 draw. The point was enough to see Swindon Supermarine Development move back second in the table, those nine points behind leaders Shrewton United. Pewsey Vale meanwhile remain in second place a point behind Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development with a game in hand.
Shrivenham are the form team in the division, and they made it ten games unbeaten in the league, eight of which have been won, with a 5-0 away success at Cricklade Town, avenging the midweek home defeat they had suffered at the start of the season. The goals were shared around the side with five different scorers, with Marshall Thompson, Kieran Suttton, Robbie Hendry, Bradley Hirst and Ruben Lewis all finding the back of the net, 16-year-old Lewis scoring on his first team debut. The win saw Shrivenham climb above Letcombe in the table to seventh spot, level on points with Pewsey Vale. Cricklade Town meanwhile dropped into the potential relegation positions for the first time this season and are now without a win in 13 games in all competitions after making a good start to the season.
Devizes Town Reserves continued their rise up the table with a second consecutive narrow 2-1 victory, their latest success coming away from home against Down Ampney who, like Devizes, had been promoted at the end of last season. Both Devizes goals were scored by Freddie Wyatt with Connor Hibbs with the Down Ampney goal. Devizes are now up to eleventh spot in the table; four points clear of the potential relegation positions.
There was also one game played in the Fountain Trophies Cup with the game between Bemerton Heath Harlequins and Melksham Town Reserves, getting the go ahead following a morning pitch inspection and thanks to the efforts of the groundsman at Bemerton. There was to be no happy ending for last season’s beaten finalists Bemerton though, as second half goals from Olly Clarke and Ollie Farrell, the latter getting his fourth in this season’s competition and his 15th of the season in all competitions, seeing Melksham join Letcombe in the last eight of this season’s cup competition.
Division One
Four of the six games in Division One survived the wet weather and three of the remaining games saw six of the top seven teams in action against each other. It would prove to be a good afternoon for league leaders Fairford Town Reserves as they opened up a three-point lead at the top of the table after a 5-0 home win over Bradford Town Reserves. Oliver Bradbury with a hat-trick, with further goals from Miles Arnold and Ashton Wallace doing the damage for Fairford who bounced back from last week’s defeat at Great Western.
Marlborough Town had started the day level on points with Fairford but fell to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Purton Kingsdown Reserves thanks to a goal in each half for the visitors. On target for Purton Kingsdown were Taylor Burt with his seventh of the season and Stefan Edwards. The win for Purton Kingsdown saw them move level on points with their beaten opponents in what is now a tight top of the table with just four points separating the top five sides.
The other game involving sides at the top of the table was at Green Lane on the 3G pitch where Bishops Cannings and Malmesbury Vics Development produced a high-scoring game, with the home side Bishops Cannings eventually edging it by the odd goal in a seven-goal game. Bishops Cannings made a whirlwind start scoring all of their four goals in the first half hour of the game with both Oliver Barnes and Syzmon Raczek bagging which saw them go 4-0 up. However, Malmesbury scored two in reply to go into the half time break trailing 4-2 and still in the game. Bishops Cannings were then reduced to ten men when Sam Ferguson was sent off 23 minutes from time. Despite playing the closing stages one man down there would be just the one goal in the second half for Malmesbury as it finished 4-3. Rob Collier scored two of the Malmesbury goals with Tommy Bloomfield also getting on the score sheet. The win for Bishops Cannings saw them move up to second place in the table, level on points with Marlborough Town and Purton Kingsdown Reserves but second by reason of their superior goal difference, all three teams having played 14 games, one more than leaders Fairford Town Reserves. Malmesbury Vics Development meanwhile sit one point behind in fifth place.
The final game played on Saturday was at the other end of the table between Faringdon Town Development and Stratton. When the two sides had met earlier in the month in the Fountain Trophies Cup, they had produced a close encounter with the tie settled by a one goal margin in favour of Faringdon. It was to prove to be another close encounter in this league fixture with the two sides having to settle for a point apiece following a 2-2 draw, Thomas Passey with both goals for Faringdon Town Development and Kieren Dunne and Ramon Faruq with the Stratton goals. Both teams remained where they started the day in the table with Stratton one point further ahead of Pewsey Vale Development and Faringdon Town one point closer to Pewsey.
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29 November 2025
