Premier Division

The wet weather from pretty much all week continued on Saturday with only five fixtures surviving. Four of the five games that survived were on 3G pitches, with all but one of games scheduled to be played on grass postponed due to waterlogged pitches. The exception was at Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves, where the groundsman must have worked some sort of miracle to get their fixture against Shrivenham played. The efforts of the club were rewarded with a 1-1 draw and a vital point against a top five side, the point being enough to see Bemerton climb out of the relegation zone for now. Nathan Marland fired visitors Shrivenham ahead, but James McSorley scored a deserved equaliser for Bemerton after good work by Dean Reynolds to ensure a share of the spoils. Bemerton pushed for a winner but were unable to add to their tally and had to settle for the point. Shrivenham remain in fourth place in the table, six points behind third placed Swindon Supermarine Dev having played two more games.

Replacing Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves in the relegation zone are Down Ampney who were away at fifth placed Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. The home side started the stronger and put the visitors under early pressure and went in front when Evan Bexan-Shaw scored his second for his new club following his transfer from Cricklade Town. Having fallen behind Down Ampney started to impose themselves on the game and created several chances before they got themselves back on level terms with a well taken individual goal from Charlie McCuish. Picking the ball up on the right-hand side of the 18- yard box, he shielded the ball from his marker before turning towards goal creating enough space for himself to fire a low powerful shot into the far corner of the net with a perfectly placed effort for 1-1. It remained all square at the break with all to play for. The second half saw both teams playing some neat football but as the game wore on the home side began to get on top and create several opportunities. However, it would take a penalty to restore their lead, a powerful run into the box from substitute Sam Case saw him upended close to the six-yard line with the referee immediately pointing to the spot with no complaints from the Down Ampney defender on the penalty award. Charlie King scored twice from the penalty spot in the recent 2-2 draw with Pewsey Vale and again took responsibility for the spot kick, making no mistake to put the home side 2-1 in front. Royal Wootton Bassett Town continued to look the more likely to score again and they made sure of the three points late on when Case fired home from just inside the 18-yard box to make it 3-1 to complete a league double over Down Ampney having won 4-1 back in August. The win for Royal Wootton Bassett Development saw them move to within a point of fourth placed Shrivenham but having played more games than any other side in the divisions. Pictures from this game can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

More action from the RWBT Dev win over Down Ampney. Charlie McCuish shooting for the equaliser & RWBT keeper Adam House stretching for a cross into the box.

With league leaders Shrewton United and the team immediately below them Swindon Supermarine Dev seeing their games postponed, second in the table Larkhall Athletic Development had the chance to close the gap to the league leaders and increase their points advantage over their other rival for honours this season when they took on Purton Kingsdown on the 3G pitch at the Plain Ham. Larkhall started quickly with Harvey Pritchard forcing a good save from the Purton Kingsdown goalkeeper. The first goal came on 22 minutes Pritchard beating his man and squaring for James Horrocks to tap home. 1-0 soon became 2-0, Angus Williamson following up a direct free kick to fire home his eleventh goal of the season. Larkhall extended their lead five minutes before the break, a foul on the edge of the box allowed Jack Goodall to fire home to give Larkhall a 3-0 half time lead. Purton Kingsdown came out for the second half with a more resilient mindset and made it tougher for the home side. However, Larkhall were to extend their lead, some great work from Ben Wickens allowing the returning James Okell to tap home 20 minutes from time to make it 4-0. Purton Kingsdown were able to grab a late consolation goal scored by Ollie While as it finished 4-1 to Larkhall. The win saw Larkhall move to within four points of league leaders Shrewton United but having played two more games than the leaders with the two sides set to meet at Shrewton next Saturday in a massive game at the top of the table.

Action from Larkhall Athletic Dev's 4-1 win over Purton KIngsdown

(pictures courtesy of James Riccio)

Division One

The two games that survived in Division One were both played on 3G pitches and included the top game of the day in the division between fourth placed Bishops Cannings and second in the table Marlborough Town. Both teams came into the game on the back of defeats last week keen to return to winning ways and get their quest for honours back on track. They produced an entertaining encounter on the 3G at Green Lane. Bishops Cannings went in front on ten minutes thanks to an own goal but were pegged back with an equalising goal eight minutes before half time. Bishops Cannings were to go into the break ahead though, and once again it came courtesy of an own goal. It didn’t take long for Marlborough to get back on level terms, the visitors scoring within four minutes of the restart.  However, almost straight away Bishops Cannings reclaimed the lead, Ethan Howard firing home in the very next attack to put Bishops Cannings back in front. Howard then extended Bishops Cannings lead just after the hour mark and when Oliver Barnes added a fifth for Bishops Cannings it was effectively game over for Marlborough. They did manage to pull one back 12 minutes from time but it was too little too late as Bishops Cannings saw out the closing minutes without conceding again to take the three vital points and damage Marlborough’s title aspirations in the process. The win for Bishops Cannings saw them move up to third spot in the table, three points behind their beaten opponents but with two games in hand. Marlborough remain ten points adrift of leaders Fairford Town Reserves with both teams having just five games still to play and it is now going to be a tough ask for Marlborough to finish above Fairford given the fixtures both sides have to play.

Action from Bishops Cannings 5-3 win over Marlborough Town at the top end of Division One (pictures courtesy of David Giles)

The other game to survive the weather was on the 3G at Moredon and it saw a Swindon derby encounter between Redhouse and Great Western, two sides who have come up from the Swindon & District League in recent seasons. The local bragging rights certainly belong to Redhouse as a hat-trick from the division’s leading scorer Cameron Shrubb and two from Jack Duffy secured a 5-1 win for Redhouse, Ethan Miller with the Great Western reply. The win for Redhouse saw them move to within two points of their beaten opponents.

All the other scheduled games in the two divisions were postponed due to waterlogged pitches. All the postponed games have already been re-arranged and with a shortage of Saturdays for some teams’ games are now having to be scheduled for midweek already. Let’s hope for some drier weather in the coming days to allow a full schedule of games to go ahead next weekend.

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