North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

There was a full schedule of six games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League and with the top two both winning it is as your were at the very top of the division but it was not such a good week for the teams immediately below the top two sides.

Leaders Nationwide were in action on Tuesday night at Moredon and two goals in each half saw them record a 4-0 win over AFC Swindon. Richie Miles opened the scoring with just three minutes on the clock and a second from Adam Rudman three minutes later put them in command of the game. However, AFC Swindon rallied and prevented any further damage before the break. In fact it remained 2-0 until the final seven minutes of the match, a second for Rudman made sure of the three points which was then followed by a last minute fourth goal from Paul Stonehouse to round-off another good evening for Nationwide, as they temporarily opened up a six-point lead at the top of the table.

The following night saw Cricklade Town erode that lead at the top back to the three points that existed at the start of the week as they won 3-0 at Cirencester against Stratton thanks to goals from Nick Craft, Marcus Hall and Stuart Hughes.  

The same night the two sides immediately below Cricklade were up against each other at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground as Redhouse took on Penhill United. When the two sides had met in the opening week of the season Redhouse had won 2-0 but Penhill came into the game as one of the in-form teams in the division, unbeaten in ten games in all competitions ahead of Wednesday night’s encounter. It was to be a night where the two defences shut up shop, with neither side managing to find the back of the net and having to settle for a point apiece. Both will probably view this as two points dropped in their quest for league honours. The draw sees Redhouse two points behind Cricklade Town with Penhill United one point further back with all of the top four having played 14 games with eight games to play.

Fifth placed Royal Wootton Bassett Town lost ground on Monday night at Moredon when they fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat at the hands of a much-improved FS Stratton side, FS Stratton winning for a second week running, a solitary strike from Tom Brown being enough to give them the three points. The win for FS Stratton saw them climb one place in the table to eighth spot, their highest position this season.

On Tuesday night at New College Chiseldon picked up their third win of the season, Scott Boden and Adam O’Keeffe scoring in a 2-1 win over ExIntel.

The final game of the week in the division was on Thursday night at Moredon and it saw another of the sides who have shown improvement in recent weeks, Swindon Rovers, inflict a third defeat of the season on Purton Kingsdown, Andrew Waller, Sean Lewis and Oliver Moore getting the goals in a 3-1 win, Adi Roper with the Purton Kingsdown goal.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The three games played in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division last week saw wins for all of the top three sides to increase their lead at the top of the table over the chasing pack.

On Monday night Melksham Town moved level on points with Devizes Town at the top of the table with a 5-0 win over Radstock Town. Ian Dowell set Melksham on their way with the opener, his mishit shot finding the back of the net. Radstock pushed hard for an equaliser creating several chances, but Melksham doubled their lead just before the break, Gary Higdon executing an exquisite lob from a fairly tight angle to give Melksham a 2-0 half time lead. The game was put beyond Radstock when substitute Sayeed Ibrahim scored an excellent solo goal, beating his man on the halfway line before letting a powerful effort go from outside the box into the corner of the net. Another substitute Ryan Tyrell then scored with virtually his first touch of the game with a header from close range to make it 4-0 and the same player then completed the scoring with another simple finish from close range to make the final score 5-0 to Melksham.

On Wednesday evening third placed Durrington entertained Barford Hornets  and for the second time this season registered a 6-0 win over the side at the bottom of the table. Ben Reilly had an enjoyable evening as he helped himself to a hat-trick with further goals from Lee Weeks, Jesse Walters and Toby Watson. The win for Durrington saw them move five points clear of Radstock Town the side immediately below them in the table.

The final game of the week was on Friday night at Green Lane with the third Devizes derby of the season as Devizes Town hosted Bishops Cannings looking to register their third win of the season against their near neighbours, having also defeated their Bishops Cannings in the Wiltshire FA Veterans' County Cup as well as winning the first league meeting. The local bragging rights certainly belong to Devizes Town this season, as goals from Daniel Sloan, Chris Allen, Wayne House and substitute Liam Brown secured a 4-0 win, enabling Devizes to restore their three-point lead at the top of the table which had been eroded by Melksham’s win on Monday night. That is now nine straight wins from nine league games for Devizes. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his pictures can be seen on the League Facebook Group Page.

More action from the Devizes derby between Devizes Town & Bishops Cannings (pictures courtesy of David Giles)