Veterans' Season 2025-26

Roundups

Week One Roundup 

North Wiltshire Division

In the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division reigning champions Cricklade Town got off to a winning start with a 5-0 home win over AFC Swindon at the Corinium Stadium with Sam Collier scoring four of the five Cricklade goals, Stuart Hughes getting the other.

Unfortunately, last season’s runners-up Nationwide saw their game against FS Stratton postponed due to FS Stratton being unable to field a side. This season the punishment for such offences will be a three-point deduction and fine with the game rearranged given the pitch facility capacity we now have, bringing the Veterans in line with the other divisions across the league.

Last season Redhouse  had been involved in the title race up until the closing stages of the season and in the end would finish two points behind runners-up Nationwide. They also got their season off to a winning start with a 2-0 victory over Penhill United thanks to goals from Robert Malcolm-Stewart and Nolan Paul.  

After a disappointing season in 2024-25 Royal Wootton Bassett Town are hopeful of having a much better 2025-26 campaign and they started their season with a 4-1 away success against last season’s County Cup finalists ExIntel. On target for the visitors were Andy Gibson, Scott Large, Chris Head and Mark Simpkins, John Horgan with the consolation goal for ExIntel.

Another side securing a 4-1 win in their opening fixture were much fancied Purton Kingsdown who defeated Chiseldon, with all five goals coming in the second half. For Purton Kingsdown there were two goals from Dave Slattery and one apiece for Steven Davies and Paul Cooper, Ashraf Ali with the Chiseldon goal.

The final game of the week in the division was on Thursday night and it saw Swindon Rovers open their season with a 3-1 win over Stratton thanks to two goals from Peter Byrne and one from Taiwo Abolarin, Matt Bown with the Stratton goal.

Mid Wiltshire Division

In the Mid Wiltshire Division last season’s runners-up Durrington, who lost out on the title following a play-off against Melksham Town, made a good start to the current season with a 2-0 away win on Wednesday night at Westbury United, the goals coming through Russell Fuller and Terry Brooks.  

It was a week of 2-0 results with both Radstock Town and Warminster Town winning by the same score line, Warminster Town defeating Barford Hornets who are a new side to the division who have taken on a number of the players from last season’s Amesbury Junior Badgers side.

At the Blue Orange Studios Stadium Radstock Town’s three points were secured in their 2-0 win over Trowbridge Town Tigers thanks to goals from Ben Padfield and Jack Broadway.

On Monday night Calne Town had kicked off the games in the division by winning 4-2 at MOD Lyneham against Bishops Cannings. Two goals from Karl Sharratt plus one from both Craig Day and Chris Robinson did the damage for Calne Town, Adam Bewley and Jack Lenaghan with the Bishops Cannings goals.

North Wiltshire Division

Week Two in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division saw a full schedule of six games played and after the rubber crumbs had settled on the 3G pitches three teams sat top of the table with six points from their two games.

Redhouse were the biggest winners of the week scoring eight unanswered goals against FS Stratton who were playing their first game of the season having postponed their game in Week One. Dave Pratt led the way for Redhouse scoring four of their eight goals with Leigh Brown bagging a brace and Fred Galrito and Michael Jones also getting their name on the score sheet.

Cricklade Town, who have won the title for the last three seasons, sent a message to the rest of the division that they mean to hold onto the title with a hard fought 1-0 win over last season’s runners-up Nationwide, a second half goal from James Tinsley being all that separated last season’s top two sides come the end of the game.

The third side to have a perfect record after their opening two fixtures are Royal Wootton Bassett Town who were 2-0 winners at home against Swindon Rovers thanks to goals from Dean Wason and Kevin Gulliver.

There was an entertaining game on Monday night at Moredon where Stratton hosted Penhill United. Penhill took the three points thanks to a goal in each half, Steve Bunting putting them 1-0 up midway through the first half and Peter Myall adding a second at a similar point in the second half to make sure of the three points as Penhill bounced back from their opening week defeat at the hands of Redhouse.

The other two games in the division both ended in draws in what is already shaping up to be a much more competitive division this season. The game at New College between Purton Kingsdown and ExIntel on Tuesday night saw the two defences on top with neither side able to find the back of the net as it finished 0-0. The point for Purton Kingsdown sees them remain unbeaten from their opening two games in fourth place in the table. 

There were goals in the other drawn game in the division this week with AFC Swindon and Chiseldon sharing four goals and the points as both sides registered their first point of the campaign, Andrew Philpott with both goals for AFC Swindon, Daryl Herring and Adam O’Keeffe with the Chiseldon goals. 

Mid Wiltshire Division

The Mid Wiltshire Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League saw just four of the five scheduled fixtures being played, Westbury United being unable to raise a side for their trip to Melksham Town meaning last season’s champions frustratingly have yet to see action this season, with their game in Week One also postponed. As with the North Wiltshire Division there are three sides with a maximum six points from their opening two games, Radstock Town, Calne Town and Durrington.

Radstock Town followed up last week’s 2-0 home win over Trowbridge Town Tigers with a 4-1 away win over Bishops Cannings at Green Lane on Friday night. Jack Broadway scored a hat-trick with Adam Pugsley getting the other Radstock goal, Mike Booth with the Bishops Cannings goal.

Joining Radstock Town at the top of the table are Calne Town who edged a close game against Barford Hornets by the odd goal at Tidworth on Tuesday night, Chris Robinson and Karl Sharratt with the two Calne goals in a 2-1 win, Lee Bates with the reply for Barford Hornets.

Last season’s runners-up and League Cup winners Durrington are the third side sat on six points from their opening two fixtures, a solitary second half goal from substitute Shaune Smith giving them the three points against Warminster Town.

Devizes Town got their season up and running with a 3-0 away win over Trowbridge Town Tigers at Selwood Academy on Monday night, Ryan Banks, Jonathan Scott and Robert Mitchell getting the goals for the visitors.

Action from Devizes Town's 2-1 win over Warminster Town (picture courtesy of David Giles)

North Wiltshire Division

The top match in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League this week was the meeting of last season’s champions Cricklade Town and the team who had finished in third place, Redhouse on Wednesday night at Cirencester Town. Last season Cricklade had done the double over Redhouse but both teams went into their game on Wednesday night on the back of two straight wins with neither side having conceded a goal in their opening two fixtures. A close contest was anticipated, and it proved to be just that as a solitary second half goal from Dean Wilson was all that separated the two sides on the night. The win for Cricklade sees them sit top of the table two points clear of second place Purton Kingsdown after three games.

Purton Kingsdown climbed a couple of places into second spot in the table with a 5-1 win over AFC Swindon at Moredon on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Paul Cooper, Steven Davies, Dave Slattery, Pat Slattery and Lee Hayward, Andrew Copland, last season’s top scorer for AFC Swindon, with their goal.

The same night last season’s runners-up Nationwide registered their first points of the season with a 4-1 win at New College against a Chiseldon side who have so far just the one point from their opening three fixtures. Adam Rudman led the way scoring a hat-trick for Nationwide with Paul Stonehouse getting the other Nationwide goal, Tom Chaston with the Chiseldon reply.

A last-minute goal from Chris Price gave Penhill United all three points in their game against previously unbeaten Royal Wootton Bassett Town on Wednesday night at Moredon. Earlier Peter Myall had scored for Penhill and Dan Wernham for Royal Wootton Bassett Town and just as it looked as though both sides would have to settle for a point Price popped up with the winner for Penhill.

The week’s action in the division had started on Monday night with the Stratton derby as FS Stratton hosted their stablemates Stratton at Moredon. Goals from Vince McMackin and Craig Kent secured the three points for Stratton as they picked up their first points of the season to climb a couple of places in the league table.

The week’s action in the division concluded on Thursday night at Moredon when Swindon Rovers entertained ExIntel. It was a close encounter settled by a solitary strike from Alex Rudd in the first half, Rudd firing in low from the right-hand side of the area to the far post the balling going in off the post. Whilst both sides created chances that was to be the end of the night’s goal scoring action as ExIntel picked up their first win of the season. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlights by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was also a full schedule of games played in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division this week, the first time this has happened this season. Reigning champions Melksham Town got their season off to a winning start at MOD Lyneham on Monday night, Gary Higdon scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Calne Town.

Last season’s runners-up Durrington are the early leaders of the division after they recorded their third straight win of the season, a 4-1 home victory over Bishops Cannings with Terry Brooks scoring a hat-trick with Ben Reilly getting the other Durrington goal, Mike Booth with the Bishops Cannings goal just before half time that has seen the two teams turn around level at the break.

Radstock Town sit in second place in the division but dropped their first points of the season when they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Barford Hornets, Jack Broadway with the Radstock goal, Geoffrey Wells with the Barford Hornets goal that saw them secure their first point of the season.

Westbury United were another side to get their first points of the season with a 2-1 away win on Monday night against Trowbridge Town Tigers thanks to goals from Blake Kendall and Wayne Wheeler, David Sykes with the Trowbridge Town goal.

Friday night saw Devizes Town make it two wins from two games to start the season with a hard fought 2-1 win over Warminster Town at Green Lane. An own goal gave Devizes a 1-0 half time lead and a second half goal from Chris Allen with just one in reply for Warminster from Greg Lewis making sure of the three points that sees Devizes Town in third place in the table. David Giles was at the game with his camera, and his excellent pictures can be viewed on the League Facebook Group page.

North Wiltshire Division

It was a busy week in the two Veterans’ divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with a full schedule of eleven games, in the end, being played.

In the North Wiltshire Division there are new leaders after reigning champions Cricklade Town fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of Stratton on Monday night at Moredon. Last season Stratton had beaten Nationwide to put a huge dent in their title aspirations and it will be interesting to see if this victory over Cricklade has a similar impact on the champions for the past three seasons. Two goals from Shane Dodson secured the three points for Stratton, Adam Smith with the Cricklade goal.

The new leaders of the division are Purton Kingsdown who the following night secured a 2-1 win at New College against Swindon Rovers thanks to two goals from Aaron Maximen, Peter Byrne with the Swindon Rovers reply. Purton Kingsdown are now unbeaten in four games but that record could be tested next week when they meet Nationwide.

Redhouse made it three wins from their opening four games to move up to second place with a narrow 2-1 win over Chiseldon on Wednesday night thanks to goals from Michael Jones and a sixth of the season from David Pratt, Ermal Molle with the Chiseldon goal.

Nationwide made it two wins on the bounce with a 4-1 win over AFC Swindon on Thursday night at Moredon. Adam Rudman led the way for Nationwide helping himself to a hat-trick with Neil Snow getting the other Nationwide goal.

The same night Royal Wootton Bassett Town also made it three wins from their opening four games with a 1-0 win over bottom side FS Swindon. Royal Wootton Bassett Town missed a host of chances on the night but a solitary goal from Chris Head was enough to give them the three points.

Biggest scorers of the week were Penhill United who scored five on Tuesday night against ExIntel, running out 5-2 winners. Peter Myall scored a hat-trick with Aaron Webb bagging a brace, two goals also for Lee Jones in reply for ExIntel.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Durrington started the week at the top of the table with maximum points from their opening three games, but that perfect record was well and truly demolished by visitors Devizes Town on Wednesday night, Devizes winning 5-1 to maintain their own perfect record with their third win in three games. Chris Allen led the way with a hat-trick for Devizes with Mark Dolman getting the other two goals.

Melksham Town’s game against Bishops Cannings was eventually played on Thursday night when visitors Bishops Cannings were unable to fulfill the scheduled Monday night encounter. Thank you for both teams for coming up with a solution between them that allowed the game to still be played in the same week. Melksham had already seen two fixtures lost this season and are now behind with their fixtures and were keen to see the game go ahead. They made it two wins from two games with a 4-1 victory thanks to goals from Matthew Cooper, Gary Higdon, Daniel King and Adam Young, Mike Booth with the Bishops Cannings goal.

On Monday night Warminster Town picked up their second win of the season with a 2-0 home win over Trowbridge Town Tigers. On target for Warminster were Steven Corbin and substitute James Vincent.

The same night Radstock Town maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 1-1 draw at home against Calne Town, a sixth of the season from Jack Broadway for Radstock, with Chris Robinson getting the Calne Town goal with his third of the season.

The final game of the week in the two veterans’ divisions was on Friday night and saw Westbury United register their second win in three games with a 3-1 victory over Barford Hornets thanks to two goals from Dale Rowland and one from Philip Hampson.

North Wiltshire Division

There are now no unbeaten teams in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League after Purton Kingsdown were beaten 3-0 by Nationwide on Thursday night at Moredon. Pete Monks started the scoring with a goal as early as the sixth minute of the game and two further goals in the first half from Bradley Mildon gave Nationwide a 3-0 half time lead. That was to be the end of the night’s scoring as Nationwide inflicted the first defeat of the season on Purton Kingsdown.

Redhouse  are the new leaders of the division after a 3-1 win against AFC Swindon on Tuesday night at Moredon. Two goals from Nolan Paul plus one from David Pratt did the damage for Redhouse as they secured their fourth win in five games, Robert Sawyer with the AFC Swindon goal.

Cricklade Town  joined Redhouse at the top on 12 points with a 3-1 win of their own on Wednesday night at home against Royal Wootton Bassett Town thanks to goals from Stuart Hughes, Adam Smith and Dean Wilson, Chris Head with the solitary reply for Royal Wootton Bassett Town who fell to their second defeat of the season.

The action in the North Wiltshire Division had got underway on Monday night at Moredon when ExIntel  picked up their second win of the season scoring four unanswered goals against FS Stratton. Junior Small set them on their way to the victory with the first goal, Richard Clark then added a second, before two goals in a minute from James Joyce in the second half completed the scoring for ExIntel.

Stratton are looking to be a different proposition this season, and they picked up their third win of the season with a narrow 2-1 victory over Chiseldon on Tuesday night at New College thanks to goals from Barry Cleminson and Vince McMackin, Matt Hollingshead with the Chiseldon goal.

The other game played in the division in the week saw Penhill United  and Swindon Rovers share the points following a 1-1 draw both goals coming in the second half,  Jamie Ashby scoring for Penhill and Peter Byrne scoring for Swindon Rovers.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were four games played in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with both Devizes Town and Durrington maintaining their lead at the top of the table with victories. Durrington won 1-0 away at Calne Town whilst Devizes Town were comfortable 5-0 winners against Barford Hornets thanks to a hat-trick from Chris Allen and further goals from Daniel Sloan and Jonathan Scott to maintain their 100% winning start to the season. With four sides engaged in County Cup games next week Devizes will meet Barford Hornets again in the return league fixture next Friday.

Another side with a perfect record so far this season are Melksham Town who made it three wins from three games with a 3-0 away win over Trowbridge Town Tigers. Two more goals for Gary Higdon took his tally for the season to six, with Dan Kovacs getting the other Melksham goal.

The final game played was on Friday night at Green Lane and it was visitors Warminster Town who returned home with all three points following a 3-2 win over Bishops Cannings. On target for Warminster were Carl Clarke, Chris Steele and James Vincent, David Mountford and Mike Booth with the Bishops Cannings goals.

The game between Radstock Town and Westbury United was postponed with Westbury unable to raise a side for which they will be fined and deducted three points.

Wiltshire FA Veterans' County Cup

It was the First Round of the Wiltshire F.A.’s Veterans’ County Cup last week with five First Round ties taking place.

Monday night saw two all Mid-Wiltshire Veterans’ Division ties and both games would prove to be tight affairs. At Melksham Town the visitors were Calne Town and a solitary goal from Melksham’s Lee Morgan would be all that separated the two sides come the end of the evening. Melksham will now be away to another Mid Wiltshire Division side in the next round in the shape of Barford Hornets.

It was an even closer game between Trowbridge Town Tigers and Warminster Town with two teams all square at 1-1 come the end of normal time, Clifford Sakyi with the Trowbridge goal. In the resulting penalty shootout, it was Warminster Town who held their nerve to win 6-5 on penalties to progress to the Second Round where they will be away to fellow Mid Wiltshire Division side Westbury United.

The other three ties all involved sides from the North Wiltshire Division and there were to be a couple of surprise results. On Tuesday night at Moredon, AFC Swindon, who have yet to win in the league were 3-1 winners against Swindon Rovers. First half goals from Jason Cobb and Phil Tearle saw AFC Swindon lead 2-0 at the break and a second from Tearle five minutes into the second half effectively sealed the win for AFC Swindon. Swindon Rovers did pull one back from Andrew Waller ten minutes from time, but it was too little too late as AFC Swindon went through to the next round. AFC Swindon will be away to County Cup holders Cricklade Town in the Second Round.

The following night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground Royal Wootton Bassett Town were home to FS Stratton who they had beaten 1-0 in the league two weeks ago, with FS Stratton another side yet to win in the league this season, in fact they have yet to register a point in the four league games they have played. However, they were to avenge that earlier defeat thanks to a solitary goal from Tom Brown that saw them through to the last 16 of the County Cup competition.

A tough draw in the next round sees FS Stratton at home to North Wiltshire Division league leaders Redhouse who were involved in the final game of the week in the County Cup on Thursday night at Moredon. It was the tie of the round with two teams at the top end of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division, Nationwide and Redhouse up against each other. A tight affair was predicted, and it proved to be just that, goals from Michael Jones and David Pratt giving Redhouse a narrow 2-1 win.

The remaining ties in the Second Round of the Veterans' County Cup see a big local derby game between Devizes Town and Bishops Cannings which is scheduled to take place at Green Lane. ExIntel are home to Stratton in an all-North Wiltshire Division tie, with the final tie being the only inter-divisional game as Purton Kingsdown host Durrington, in what looks on paper to be the tie of the round.

Mid Wiltshire Division

As a result of the County Cup there was a limited schedule of league games with just two games played in the Mid Wilts Division, with Westbury United also calling off for the third time this season due to being unable to raise a side, the latest victims of their late postponement being Durrington. With Westbury already deducted six points and fined another deduction and fine will result from this latest postponement.

The two games that did get played saw Radstock Town and Devizes Town consolidate their positions at the top end of the table. A hat-trick from Jack Broadway and one from Steve Gilham saw Radstock Town win 4-2 at home against Bishops Cannings, Adam Bewley with both goals for Bishops Cannings. The win for Radstock saw them move up to third place in the table.

The week in the Veterans’ divisions was concluded on Friday night as Devizes Town registered the biggest win so far this season in either Veterans’ division with a 12-0 home win over Barford Hornets at Green Lane. Chris Allen led the way helping himself to four goals, Mark Dolman and Daniel Sloan both bagged a brace with further goals from Jonathan Scott, Ryan Banks, Ashley Lock and Liam Brown. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his excellent photos can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

North Wiltshire Division

Two or three games, depending on your point of view, were played this week in the North Wiltshire Division. On Monday night Stratton and Chiseldon met for the second time this season in the league and the first meeting the previous week had been a tight affair that had been settled by the odd goal in Stratton's favour, Stratton winning 2-1. However, Chiseldon were to quickly avenge that defeat in another tight game which saw the two sides share seven goals but on this occasion it was to be Chisledon who edged it by the odd goal. On target for Chiseldon in the 4-3 win were Adam O’Keeffe. Tom Chaston, Daryl Herring and Mark Gulliver.

On Tuesday night Cricklade Town were looking to move back top of the table when they met ExIntel at New College but things did not go to plan for last season’s champions as they fell to their second defeat of the season, an early goal from Alex Rudd eight minutes into the game being enough to give ExIntel the three points which saw them move to within two points of their beaten opponents with two games in hand.

The final game league game was on Wednesday night at Moredon when Purton Kingsdown entertained Penhill United. Unfortunately, there was no appointed league referee for the game and, whilst the two sides played a game with a neutral spectator taking charge of the match, there is currently a dispute between the two sides as to whether they agreed for the official to referee the league game or a friendly. The game that was played saw Purton Kingsdown win 2-0 thanks to goals from James Tinsley and Joshua Paddon. The League Management Committee now need to decide whether the result stands or whether disciplinary action needs to be taken against the team causing any postponement and not following the protocol set out in the league rules regarding postponed games. Clubs are reminded of the provisions of Rule 23(B) as to what needs to happen where there is no match official and also the provisions of Rule 20 (E) regarding what happens when a game is postponed.

  Veterans' League Cup

Season 2025-26

Week 7 Roundup

Veterans' League Cup

After the previous week’s action in the Wiltshire FA County Cup, this week it was the turn of the Veterans’ League Cup to take centre stage with games taking place in both the First and Second Rounds of the competition.

First Round

There were six games played in the First Round with the first two games taking place on Monday night. There was an all-Mid-Wiltshire Division tie at Selwood Academy where Trowbridge Town Tigers staged what will hopefully be their final game at the school this season, with future games set to be at Woodmarsh starting with their next league fixture. It was to prove to be a disappointing night on the 3G at Selwood as two goals from Craig Hayward gave Barford Hornets a 2-0 away win. Barford Hornets will now be away to Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the next round.

The other tie played on Monday night was an inter-divisional affair at Moredon in Swindon between Stratton from the North Wiltshire Division and Radstock Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division. Whilst the journey was a long one the 4-1 away win for Radstock Town made that long journey a worthwhile one, James Billing, Adam Pugsley, Jack Broadway and Thomas Redwood with the Radstock goals, Jason Tatum with the consolation goal for Stratton.

The following night Stratton’s stablemates FS Stratton were in action, again against a side from the Mid-Wiltshire Division in the shape of Calne Town. Once again it would be the Mid-Wiltshire Division side who came out on top thanks to goals from George Brown and Gary Newman in a 2-0 win. Calne Town’s reward is an away tie against fellow Mid Wiltshire Division side Radstock Town in the Second Round.

The same night there was guaranteed to be a side making it through the round from the North Wiltshire Division when Chiseldon and AFC Swindon  met at New College. When the two sides had met at the start of the season in the league it had finished all square with the two sides sharing four goals and it was to prove to be another close game with a solitary goal from Adam O’Keeffe settling the tie in Chiseldon’s favour. Chiseldon will now be away to ExIntel in the Second Round.

The remaining two First Round ties saw another two sides from the North Wiltshire Division progress to the Second Round. On Wednesday night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground, Royal Wootton Bassett Town bounced back from their surprise defeat at the hands of FS Stratton in teh County Cup with a comfortable 4-0 home win over Mid Wiltshire Division side Bishops Cannings. Chris Head was the star of the show helping himself to a hat-trick with Mark Simpkins getting the other goal for the home side.

The final game in the First Round was on Thursday night at Moredon and it saw Purton Kingsdown record a big 7-2 win over fellow North Division side Swindon Rovers completing a league and cup double over Rovers having also beaten them 2-1 in the league. James Tinsley led the way scoring four of the Purton Kingsdown goals with Patrick Slattery, Paul Cooper and Rory Sproule also getting on the score sheet, Matthew Garrett and Taiwo Abolarin with the Swindon Rovers goals. Purton Kingsdown will now be away to Mid Wiltshire Division league leaders Devizes Town in the next round.

Second Round

The top five teams last season from each of the two divisions had been given byes to the Second Round of the League Cup and, given the way the draw panned out, it was possible to stage four of the Second Round ties in the same week as the First Round games.

On Monday night Redhouse, the league leaders in the North Wiltshire Division, made the long journey south to take on Warminster Town in a rare outing on grass for the Swindon based side given that all the teams in the North Wiltshire Division play on 3G surfaces. It was to prove to be an unhappy experience as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat, goals from Tom Baxter and James Vincent securing the win for Warminster, Dave Pratt with the Redhouse goal, his eighth of the season.

The top game of the Second Round was on Wednesday night at Bulford in what was a repeat of last seasons final between Durrington and Nationwide. Last season it was Durrington who had come out on top to lift the League Cup but this season’s meeting between the two sides went the way of Nationwide, as they avenged that cup final defeat thanks to goals from Neil Snow and Mason Worthington in a 2-0 win.

The same night last season’s County Cup winners Cricklade Town progressed to the last eight of this season’s League Cup competition with a 3-0 home win over Penhill United at Cirencester Town. On target for Cricklade were Stuart Hughes, Adam Smith and Dean Wilson. Penhill’s cause was not helped by having former Cricklade player Stuart Hemsley sent off.

The final tie in the Second Round was on Friday night at Green Lane where Melksham Town had a comfortable passage through to the Quarter Final stage with a 7-0 win over Westbury United. Leading scorer Gary Higdon added four more to his tally to move into double figures for the season, Lee Morgan scored from the penalty spot but also missed another, with Dan King and Matt Cooper getting the other two Melksham goals.

All the results so far in the cup and the remaining Second Round games to be played are shown below:

North Wiltshire Division

The title race in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division this season is shaping up to be very interesting in with no teams still unbeaten and with seven sides looking like they could yet mount a challenge for honours.

The current leaders of the division are Redhouse who maintained leadership of the division in Week 8 with a 3-1 win over Purton Kingsdown, another of the fancied sides this season. Two goals from leading scorer David Pratt saw him move into double figures for the season with Chris Howe getting the other Redhouse goal, Paul Cooper with the reply for Purton Kingsdown.

Cricklade Town remain level on points with Redhouse thanks to a 4-0 win over Swindon Rovers at Cirencester, two goals from Steven Algar and one apiece for Adam Smith and Sam Collier giving Cricklade the three points. Cricklade have played one more game than Redhouse.

ExIntel sit third in the table, and they were another side scoring four goals in Week 8. They defeated  Chiseldon at New College thanks to two goals from Richard Wells and one from both Richard Clark and Lee Jones in a 4-1 win that sees them sit two points behind the top two.

Nationwide were the third side to score four in Week 8 and, like leaders Redhouse, have dropped just three points so far this season, those dropped points coming in their opening game of the season against Cricklade Town. On the Thursday night at Moredon two goals from Richie Miles plus one apiece from Pete Sealey and Neil Snow gave Nationwide a 4-0 win over Stratton to make it four straight wins since that opening game defeat.  They sit three points behind the top two with a game in hand over Redhouse and two games in hand over Cricklade Town.

The action in Week 8 had got underway on the Monday night at Moredon where goals from Dean Wason and Donatas Stanevicius secured a 2-0 win for Royal Wootton Bassett Town over AFC Swindon  which sees them sit fifth in the table, also just three points adrift of the top two with a game in hand over Cricklade.

The following night, again at Moredon, it was honours even in the game between FS Stratton and Penhill United, Chris Angell scoring for Penhill and the FS Stratton goal coming courtesy of an own goal.

There were no games played in the division in Week 9 due to the school half-term holidays.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were just two games played in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League in Week 8 of the season with a waterlogged pitch resulting in the game between Warminster Town and Calne Town being postponed and Westbury United again being unable to raise a side for their scheduled game at Green Lane against Devizes Town.  

The two games that did get played saw Melksham Town  make it four wins from four games with a 7-0 win over Barford Hornets. It was a good night for Dan Kovacs who scored four of the goals, Gary Higdon bagged a brace with Matthew Cooper getting the other goal.  

In the other game played Radstock Town  maintained their unbeaten record but dropped points when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Durrington, that is now the third draw in six games played for Radstock. Jesse Walters and Keith Darling were on target for Durrington with Radstock replying with second half goals from Robbie Cunningham and James Billing.

There were again just two fixtures played in Week 9 in the Mid Wiltshire Division due to half-term. However, the two games included the big top of the table clash between two sides who went into the game with perfect league records, Devizes Town and Melksham Town. Devizes had won all of their opening five fixtures whilst, as noted above, Melksham had made it four wins in four games ahead of this week’s encounter at Oakfields. A close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that with Devizes Town winning 2-1 thanks to two goals from Mark Dolman. Dolman put his side 1-0 up with a lob from the edge of the area. He then made it 2-0 capitalising on a defensive mistake that allowed him through one on one to side foot home. It remained that way until five minutes from time when a push on Aaron Ledgister in the box saw the award of a penalty to Melksham which Lee Morgan scored to make it 2-1. Melksham pushed for an equaliser and pinned Devizes back for the final five minutes of the game, but Devizes defended well to hold on for an important win in the title race. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his photos can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

The other game being played this week was Trowbridge Town Tigers  at home to Bishops Cannings, a game which had been put back a week to enable the veterans’ side to play their first game under the new floodlights at Woodmarsh. It was to prove to be a happy opening night for the Tigers at their new home venue as they won 3-2 to record their first league win of the 2025-26 Season thanks to two goals from Nathan Holloway and one from Jacob Mazan, Adam Bewley and Mike Booth with the Bishops Cannings goals.

Unfortunately, after struggling to raise a side on a number of occasions this season, Westbury United  have now withdrawn from the league and their record has been expunged from the Mid Wiltshire Division league table, leaving the division with just nine sides.

Next week sees the Second Round of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans' County Cup with seven ties set to take place, which means there will just be the one league fixture played next week, which is in the Mid Wiltshire Division, with Trowbridge Town Tigers set to host Calne Town.

Wiltshire FA Veterans County Cup

Last week the spotlight in the two veterans’ divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was on the Second Round of the Wiltshire FA Veterans County Cup, with seven of the eight Second Round ties scheduled to take place. The cup action commenced on Tuesday evening with three scheduled ties, although in the end only two went ahead with Durrington conceding their tie away at Purton Kingsdown, the only cross-divisional fixture of the round.

The two ties that went ahead on Tuesday included the all-Mid Wiltshire division tie between leaders Melksham Town and Barford Hornets. Having defeated the Hornets 7-0 when they met in the league last month, the game very much went to form with Melksham Town securing a comfortable 5-0 victory to progress to the quarter-final stage of the competition. Gary Higdon was once again amongst the goals, scoring twice with further goals coming through Kai Miller, Luke Turvey and Joe Fowler.  

The other game played on Tuesday night was an all-North Wiltshire Division tie between ExIntel and Stratton. This was a much closer affair decided by a solitary goal from ExIntel’s Marc Sheppard which was enough to see ExIntel progress to the last eight.  

There was again just the one of two scheduled ties played on the Wednesday night with Westbury United’s withdrawal from the league seeing Warminster Town awarded their tie by the Wiltshire FA.

The game that did take place was another all-North Wiltshire Division affair at Moredon with Penhill United  and Chiseldon sharing four goals, with penalties needed to decide matters. Adam O’Keeffe and Edward Erekosima were on target for Chiseldon in normal time with Pete Myall getting both of the goals for Penhill United to take his tally for the season to seven. In the penalty shootout it was Penhill who held their nerve to win 3-1 and progress to the quarter final stage.

The following night Redhouse and FS Stratton were involved in the third all-North Wiltshire Division tie of the week and the current leaders of the division, Redhouse, had a much more comfortable passage through to the next round scoring seven times in a 7-2 win. Nolan Paul led the way scoring a hat-trick, Michael Jones bagged a brace and there were further goals for Chris Howe and Mark Glover.

The final tie of the week was on Friday night at Green Lane with the ‘Devizes derby’ between Devizes Town and Bishops Cannings. Devizes currently lead the Mid Wiltshire Division whilst Bishops Cannings are at the other end of the table, and the game very much went to form with Devizes running out 9-1 winners. There was a hat-trick for Chris Allen with Josh Brigham, Ryan Banks, Rob Mitchell, Jonathan Scott and Daniel Sloan all getting their name on the scoresheet, the final goal coming courtesy of an own goal.

Mid Wiltshire Division

As a result of the cup action there was just one league game played across the two divisions and that was in the Mid Wiltshire Division and it saw Trowbridge Town Tigers pick up their second win of the season, Marc Sheppard scoring the only goal of the game against Calne Town which saw them open up a five point gap over Barford Hornets. Alwyn Bodman was at the game with his camera and more of his photos from the game can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

Wiltshire FA Veterans County Cup

The one outstanding game in the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup was played on Tuesday night and it saw Cricklade Town complete the quarter final line up with a comfortable 6-0 win over AFC Swindon. Sam Collier led the way scoring a hat-trick with further goals from Adam Smith, Marcus Hall and Stuart Hughes.

The Wiltshire FA have now made the draw for the quarter final games which are scheduled to take place in week commencing Monday 8^th December. The last eight in the cup competition sees five sides from the North Wiltshire Division and three from the Mid Wiltshire Division. There is one all Mid-Wiltshire Division tie which sees Warminster Town home to Melksham Town. The other Mid Wiltshire Division side, Devizes Town, will be involved in the only cross-divisional tie when they play host to Penhill United from the North Wiltshire Division. The other two ties are both all-North Wiltshire Division ties with the tie of the round being the match up of current league leaders Redhouse with the cup holders Cricklade Town. The other all North Wiltshire Division tie sees Purton Kingsdown home to ExIntel.

North Wiltshire Division

The action in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ division got underway on Monday night at Moredon and it saw Redhouse go three points clear at the top of the table with a hard fought 2-1 win over Stratton. Goals from Fred Galrito and Joe Herbert did the damage for Redhouse, Matthew Barnes with the Stratton goal.

There were two games on Wednesday night. At Moredon a Steve Bunting hat-trick helped Penhill United to a big win over ExIntel, Matthew Horsell and Peter Myall both scoring twice also in a 9-0 win, the other two goals coming through Jamie Ashby and an own goal. The win for Penhill saw them move up into fourth place in the table, four points behind Redhouse but having played one game more.

The same night Nationwide made it five straight wins in the league with a 4-1 away success over Royal Wootton Bassett Town at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. Richie Miles led the way helping himself to a hat-trick with Neil Snow getting the other Nationwide goal, Jeremy Newton with the solitary reply for the home side.

The final game of the week saw the defences on top as both Swindon Rovers and Chiseldon failed to find the back of the net and had to settle for a point apiece following a 0-0 draw. 

Mid Wiltshire Division

Three of the four scheduled fixtures in the Mid Wiltshire Division went ahead, unfortunately the only game set to be played on grass, the game between Melksham Town and Warminster Town, fell victim of a waterlogged pitch.

The action in the Division got underway on Tuesday night with a big battle at the bottom end of the table between Barford Hornets and Bishops Cannings, both teams going into the game still seeking their first win of the season. It was to prove to be Bishops Cannings evening as a hat-trick from Daniel Scarlett and a fifth of the season from Adam Bewley saw Bishops Cannings get that first league win of the season at the eighth attempt in a 4-2 win.

The following night Durrington picked up their fourth win of the season to move up to second spot, two goals from Toby Watson and one from Jesse Walters securing a 3-1 home win over Trowbridge Town Tigers, Mariusz Hoszko with the goal for the Tigers.

The final game of the week was the big one with the two remaining unbeaten sides in the division doing battle at Green Lane, with league leaders Devizes Town up against Radstock Town. It would be Devizes who retained that unbeaten tag as two goals from Chris Allen and one from Josh Brigham gave them a 3-0 win to maintain their perfect start to the season, as they made it seven wins from seven league games to sit eight points clear at the top of the table. That is now 16 goals already for Allen this season to give him sole leadership of the goal scoring table for now. The defeat for Radstock sees them sit a point behind Durrington in the table having played one more game.  

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. 

North Wiltshire Division

The title race in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League is shaping up to be one of the most exciting since the Veterans’ category was established. After this week’s round of matches there are just three points separating the top six sides. There are also now new leaders of the division after Penhill United  went top as a result of a narrow 2-1 win over AFC Swindon whilst Cricklade Town were dropping points and Redhouse were left frustrated by ExIntel calling their game off due to being unable to raise a side for the second week running. On target for Penhill in that win over AFC Swindon were Jamie Ashby and Steve Bunting, Phil Tearle pulling one back for AFC Swindon ten minutes from time, all three goals coming in the second half of the encounter at Moredon on Wednesday night.

The previous night Cricklade Town had travelled into Swindon to take on Purton Kingsdown at New College looking to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Things didn’t quite go to plan as they had to settle for just a point as the two teams fought out a 1-1 draw, Josh Paddon scoring for Purton Kingsdown and Nick Craft getting the Cricklade Town goal. Cricklade slipped to second spot, a point behind Penhill but with a game in hand. Purton Kingsdown meanwhile sit sixth in the table, three points behind the leaders and also with a game in hand.

Nationwide moved up to third spot in the table and are the side who have dropped the least number of points but have games in hand after two teams have failed to raise a side for fixtures against them. Their latest success came on Thursday night at Moredon against Swindon Rovers. An early first minute goal from Bradley Mildon giving them a 1-0 half time lead and then a second from Adam Rudman a minute after the restart securing all three points in a 2-0 win. Nationwide are two points behind leaders Penhill but with three games in hand.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town sit in fifth spot, two points behind leaders Penhill with a game in hand, after they were 2-0 home winners over Stratton at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on Wednesday night, Mark Simpkins and Scott Large with the goals in this one.

The action in the division had got underway on Monday with a game at the bottom end of the table between FS Stratton  and Chiseldon. It was to prove to be FS Stratton’s night as two goals from Luke McQuillan and one from Calum Dunn saw them come from behind to win 3-2, Craig Kelly and Mark Guliver on target for Chiseldon. Despite the win FS Stratton remain bottom of the table for now as a result of their points deduction for failing to fulfil their opening fixture of the season. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.           

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were just three games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division with pitch conditions seeing the one game scheduled to be played on grass between Radstock Town and Melksham Town postponed. No such issues with the three games being played on 3G pitches which saw both Devizes Town and Durrington pick up big wins with Devizes extending their lead at the top of the table and Durrington move up into second place behind Devizes.

Devizes Town were involved in the Devizes derby on Friday night with Bishops Cannings their opponents. Having defeated their near neighbours 9-1 in the Wiltshire FA County Cup three weeks previous,  Devizes completed a quickfire league and cup double over Bishops Cannings running out 7-0 winners to make it an impressive 39 goals from their eight league games to date. Mark Dolman led the way helping himself to a hat-trick, John Scott bagged a brace with further goals from Ryan Banks and Adrian Webb.

On Tuesday night Durrington had made the short journey to Tidworth and returned home with all three points following a 6-0 win over Barford Hornets. The win for Durrington sees them eight points adrift of the league leaders having played the same number of games and a point clear of Melksham but Melksham have two games in hand and look to be Devizes Town’s main rivals for the title this season.

The action in the Mid Wiltshire Division had got underway on Monday night at MOD Lyneham where a second half goal from Chris Robinson was enough to give Calne Town the victory in a tight game against Trowbridge Town Tigers. The win for Calne was their third win of the season and saw them move above both their beaten opponents and Warminster Town into fifth place in the table.

North Wiltshire Division

It is pleasing to report that there was a full schedule of games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League and it remains as tight as ever at the top end of the table with three of the title contenders all dropping points.

The new leaders of the division are Cricklade Town who went top of the table following a comfortable 6-0 win over Chiseldon at New College thanks to hat-tricks from both Sam Collier and Adam Smith. Results elsewhere meant that Cricklade now sit a point clear at the top of the table.

Previous leaders Penhill United were up against the side who had dropped the least number of points this season, Nationwide, who sit outside the top three for now due to opponents not fulfilling their scheduled games. A close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that as the two sides had to settle for a point apiece following a 1-1 draw. Bradley Mildon gave Nationwide the lead in the eighth minute, and it was a lead they held until nine minutes from time when Luke Wareham equalised for Penhill to ensure a share of the spoils. The two points dropped saw Penhill lose the leadership of the division to Cricklade, and they remained two points ahead of Nationwide but having played three games more. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlights of the game by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below:

The third title contender to drop points were Redhouse as two second half goals from Taiwo Abolarin saw Swindon Rovers hold Redhouse to a 2-2 draw, Joe Herbert and Michael Jones with the goals for Redhouse. Results elsewhere meant Redhouse dropped to fifth place in the table but are just three points behind league leaders Cricklade Town with a game in hand.

No dropped points issue for Purton Kingsdown, one of the other title contenders, who climbed up to third spot in the table with a 5-1 victory over Royal Wootton Bassett Town at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. There were two goals for both Aaron Maximen and James Tinsley with Josh Paddon getting the other Purton Kingsdown goal, Sam Lawro with the solitary reply for the home side who now sit in sixth place four points behind the leaders after a fourth defeat of the season.

It was a good week for the Stratton club as both their veterans’ sides picked up victories this week. On Monday night Stratton edged a close encounter with ExIntel 2-1 thanks to goals from Jason Tatum and Alan Leng, James Joyce getting the ExIntel goal. Then on Tuesday night FS Stratton made it two wins on the spin to climb off the bottom of the table, two goals from Richard Franklin giving them a 2-0 win over AFC Swindon who replace FS Stratton at the foot of the table.

Mid Wiltshire Division

For the second week running there were again just three games played this week in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with the big game at the top of the table between Devizes Town and Melksham Town being postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Trowbridge Town proactively ensured their game on Monday night against Radstock Town went ahead by switching the game to the 3G at Selwood Academy. The two sides then proceeded to play out something of a goal fest as the two sides found the back of the net ten times between them, Radstock eventually emerging victorious 6-4. Alastair Cox led the way scoring a hat-trick, Jack Broadway bagged a brace with the other goal coming through Robbie Cunningham.

Plenty of goals also in the game the following night between Barford Hornets and Warminster Town with Warminster Town picking up their fourth league win of the season. A hat-trick from Chris Steele and further goals from Daniel Dicks and Dale Rowland securing a 5-2 win for Warminster with Craig Howard and Alex Brown getting the two goals in reply for Barford Hornets.

Calne Town also picked up their fourth win of the season on Friday night, making the short journey back home from Devizes with all three points following a narrow 2-1 away win over Bishops Cannings. The two goals for Calne were scored by Dan Allison and Paul Maddox, Adam Bewley with the Bishops Cannings goal.

Wiltshire FA Veterans' County Cup

It was the quarter finals of the Wiltshire FA Veterans’ County Cup this week involving five teams from the North Wiltshire Division and three from the Mid Wiltshire Division. After the quarter finals were completed, there is now just the one side from the Mid Wiltshire Division left in the County Cup that side being Melksham Town Reserves. Melksham were up against fellow Mid Wiltshire Division side Warminster Town in a game switched to Melksham’s ground to enable the tie to go ahead due to a waterlogged pitch at Warminster. It started well for Melksham at the Oakfield Stadium as they went in front from the penalty spot early on in the game, Lee Morgan converting the penalty awarded after Ian Dowell had been tripped in the box. Gary Higdon thought he had extended the lead shortly after when he lobbed the advancing keeper. However, the Warminster keeper got a hand to the shot outside of his box, which enabled a Warminster defender to clear the ball off of the line. The keeper was slightly fortunate to only receive only a yellow card for his interception. Melksham were to extend that lead though shortly after, Luke Turvey firing home with an excellent finish from a fairly tight angle to make it 2-0. Warminster, however, pulled themselves back into the game with the very last kick of the first half to make it 2-1 at the break. The second half saw Warminster push for an equaliser but, despite chances at both ends, neither side were able to find the back of the net again as it finished 2-1 in favour of the two times winners of the cup Melksham, who progressed to the last four.

The other Mid Wiltshire Division side in action in the County Cup quarter finals were league leaders Devizes Town who were another side to concede home advantage to enable their tie to go ahead, the match against Penhill United being switched to the 3G at Moredon away from the grass at Nursteed Road.  A close game ensued which was decided in the end by a solitary goal scored by Penhill’s Peter Myall two minutes into the second half, his third in this season’s County Cup competition, which saw Penhill join Melksham Town in the last four.

The other two ties were all North Wiltshire Division affairs although, in the end, just one of the two was played with ExIntel being unable to raise a side for their game against Purton Kingsdown, giving Purton Kingsdown a free passage into the semi-final. Indeed, Purton Kingsdown have made the last four of the competition without having kicked a ball so far in the cup, having also been awarded their tie in the last round against Durrington, who were also unable to raise a side, and having been one of the eleven sides given a bye in the First Round.

The tie that was played was the big game of the round between cup holders Cricklade Town and Redhouse. When the two sides had met in the league it had been a tight affair with just the one goal in the game, Cricklade securing the three points thanks to a second half goal from Dean Wilson. Another close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that with the game again decided by a one goal margin. Once again it was Cricklade’s night as two goals from Nick Craft helped them to a 2-1 win to complete a league and cup double over Redhouse, Fred Galrito getting the Redhouse goal.

The Wiltshire FA have already made the draw for the semi-finals which will be played in the first week of the New Year with holders Cricklade Town drawn away to Purton Kingsdown in a game to be played at New College on Tuesday 6^th January, whilst Melksham Town will also travel into Swindon to play Penhill United the following night at Moredon.

Full details of the County Cup rounds so far this season is shown below:

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

In addition to the cup games there were three league games played in the North Wiltshire Division and two in the Mid Wiltshire Division.

In the North Wiltshire Division Nationwide went level on points with Cricklade Town at the top of the table with a 3-1 win over FS Stratton, all four goals coming in the first half. On target for Nationwide were Bradley Mildon, Adam Rudman and Mason Worthington, Richard Franklin with the goal for FS Stratton. Nationwide have a game in hand over Cricklade but with just three points separating the top six sides it is shaping up to be a fascinating title race.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town are one of the other sides in the top six and they went level on points with third placed Penhill United with a comfortable 6-0 home win over Chiseldon at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. There were two goals for Chris Head with the other goals coming through Martin Ohrland, David Bundy, Stuart Davidson and a first of the season from Jonny Aitkenhead. The win for Royal Wootton Bassett Town sees them just a point behind the joint leaders but having played one more game than Cricklade and two more than Nationwide.

The action in the division had got underway on the Monday night and it had seen AFC Swindon haul themselves off the bottom of the table thanks to a 2-0 win over Stratton. Star of the show for AFC Swindon was Will Tearle who scored the opener and then set up Jeremy Hope for AFC Swindon’s second to make sure of the three points. The win for AFC Swindon saw them climb above FS Stratton and move level on points with Chiseldon.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The action in the Mid Wiltshire Division had also got underway on Monday night when Calne Town entertained bottom of the table Barford Hornets at MOD Lyneham. Calne continued their recent good run, scoring four unanswered goals to make it three wins on the bounce and climb up to fourth spot in the table, their highest position of the season. On target for Calne in the 4-0 win were Chris Robinson with two, Ben Trafford and Kieran McLaughlin.

Last month Trowbridge Town Tigers  had suffered a 3-1 defeat away at Durrington but an improved showing in the return fixture, also on Monday night, saw them secure a share of the points in a 1-1 draw, Jonathan Williams getting the Trowbridge goal. The point for Durrington sees them remain in third spot in the table a point behind second placed Radstock Town with both sides having played nine games.

This coming week the main focus will be on the remaining four ties in the Second Round of the League Cup with both Cricklade Town and Melksham Town already through to the quarter final stage along with Warminster Town and Nationwide.

Veterans' League Cup

This week it was the turn of the League Cup to take centre stage in the Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with the four outstanding Second Round ties scheduled to take place although in the end only two were played. The game between Radstock Town and Calne Town  was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and will now be re-staged in the New Year, whilst Devizes Town were given a walkover in their tie scheduled for Friday night against Purton Kingsdown, with the Swindon based side unable to raise a side.

The two ties that did go ahead saw teams from the North Wiltshire Division progress to the Quarter Final stage. In the all North-Wiltshire Division clash at Moredon between ExIntel and Chiseldon it was Chiseldon who progressed to the next round thanks to two late goals. Dean Hart put them ahead two minutes from time and then a second from Scott Boden confirmed it would be Chiseldon who went through to the last eight.

The other tie played saw North Wiltshire Division side Royal Wootton Bassett Town up against Barford Hornets from the Mid Wiltshire Division. With Barford Hornets struggling at the foot of their division, and without a win all season, the game went very much to form with Royal Wootton Bassett Town scoring four unanswered goals to safely progress to the next round. There were two goals for Jeremy Newton and one apiece from Chris Head and Martin Ohrland. The only blemish on the night for the North Wiltshire Division side was ending the game with just ten men with Josh Connolly sent off. 

The draw for the Quarter Finals has been made by Chairman Brian Busson and League Secretary Jim Thorn. The draw sees last season’s beaten finalists and winners in Season 2023-24 Nationwide at home to the winners of the Radstock Town v Calne Town tie, Season 2022-23 cup winners Melksham Town  will be at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Season 2021-22 winners Cricklade Town will be away to Chiseldon in an all-North Wiltshire Division tie, whilst the final tie is an all-Mid Wiltshire Division affair with Warminster Town set to be home to Devizes Town.

Full details of the League Cup rounds so far this season is shown below:

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

In addition to the cup games there were two league games played in the North Wiltshire Division, with both the top two, Cricklade Town and Nationwide in action and both winning to open up a four-point lead at the top of the table. Cricklade Town were away to AFC Swindon and were made to work hard for the three points with the two sides turning round at the break with the game still without a goal. The second half would prove to be Cricklade’s though. Sam Collier fired them ahead and having made the breakthrough he then went on to score three more times as Cricklade ran out 4-0 winners, with Collier getting all four goals to take over leadership of the North Wiltshire Division goal scoring chart.

Nationwide were up against another of the title chasing sides Redhouse. When the two sides had met in the County Cup earlier in the season, Redhouse had edged a close encounter 2-1. It was to once again be a tight game settled by a one goal margin, but on this occasion, it was Nationwide who came out on top to avenge that earlier cup defeat, goals from Richie Miles and Neil Snow securing a 2-1 win, with Michael Jones getting the Redhouse reply.  The win sees Nationwide join Cricklade Town at the top of the table on 25 points but with Nationwide having a game in hand.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The one scheduled league game in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans' Division between Warminster Town and Durrington was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Veterans' County Cup

Last week the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup reached the semi-final stage and by the end of the week we know that the final will now be an all-North Wiltshire Division affair between Penhill United and Cricklade Town, this despite Cricklade’s semi-final tie against Purton Kingsdown at New College being abandoned by the referee with Cricklade leading 3-0 at the time of the abandonment. The Wiltshire FA have been quick to deliberate on the matter and have confirmed that Purton Kingsdown were deemed to be the cause of the abandonment and Cricklade Town awarded the tie. The three Cricklade goals prior to the game being abandoned were scored by Nick Craft, Phil Corcoran and Sam Collier, the latter coming from the penalty spot.

The one semi-final game that did go the full duration was the inter-divisional affair between Penhill United and Melksham Town at Moredon on Wednesday night. Melksham had twice won this specific cup, their first victory in Season 2020-21 coming against Corsham Town in the very first Veterans’ County Cup competition and their second in Season 2022-23 when they defeated Royal Wootton Bassett Town. However, they will have to wait at least another season for that third victory in this competition as they fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Swindon based side. Harry Etheridge scored twice for Penhill and further goals from Matthew Horsell and Peter Myall saw Penhill through to their first Veterans’ cup final. The final between Penhill United and Cricklade Town is scheduled for Tuesday 17^th February at the Wiltshire FA headquarters at Green Lane with an 8pm kick-off.

Full details of the Veterans' County Cup rounds this season is shown below:

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

In addition to the cup games there were also four games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division. The action got underway on Monday night at Moredon and the game between Stratton and Swindon Rovers saw Swindon Rovers pick up their second league win of the season, second half goals from Taiwo Abolarin and Oliver Moore securing a narrow 2-1 victory, Damian Smolinksi with the Stratton goal.

The following night Redhouse temporarily moved up to third spot in the table with a 5-1 win over Chiseldon at Moredon. The goals were shared around with Mike Jones, Jason Milhench, Kieran Jennings, Daniel Wilson and Rob Dean all getting on the score sheet, Daryl Herring with the solitary Chiseldon goal.  

Redhouse were dislodged from that third spot the following night by Royal Wootton Bassett Town who secured a comfortable 5-0 home win at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground over ExIntel. Both Martin Ohrland and Chris Head scored twice for Royal Wootton Bassett with Sam Lawro getting the other goal for the home side.  

The final game of the week in the North Wiltshire Division was on Thursday night at Moredon and it saw Nationwide take over at the top of the table with a 4-0 win over FS Stratton. Two goals from Richie Miles and one apiece from Simon Olding and Neil Snow did the damage for Nationwide.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was just one game played in the Mid-Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with the two games scheduled to take place on grass at Radstock Town and Warminster Town both postponed due to pitch conditions. The one game that did take place was on the 3G at Green Lane on Friday night and it was the clash at the bottom end of the table between Bishops Cannings and Barford Hornets. Two first half goals, one at the start of the match from Adam Bewley and a second on the stroke of half time from Mike Booth were enough to give Bishops Cannings their second win of the season, the 2-0 win seeing Bishops Cannings complete a league double over their opponents and open up a six-point gap over the Hornets.

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

This week saw the clash of the top two in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire League as Cricklade Town hosted Nationwide on Wednesday night at Cirencester. It was to prove to be Cricklade's night, a goal from Nick Craft gave them a 1-0 half time lead and a second from Adam Smith after the break made sure of the three points. The win for Cricklade saw them move level on points with their beaten opponents at the top of the table, with both teams having played 12 games. 

The action in the division had got underway on Tuesday night with two games. At New College there was a close encounter between two of the sides at the bottom end of the table as Chiseldon entertained AFC Swindon. An early Phil Tearle goal put AFC Swindon ahead, but Chiseldon were back on level terms before the break, Scott Boden with the equaliser seven minutes before half time. There was to be a winner though, and it went the way of Chiseldon, substitute Barry Winslow getting the goal which saw Chiseldon win for only the second time this season in the league.  

The same night Redhouse moved up to third spot, albeit for just 24 hours, after a 3-1 win over a much-improved FS Stratton side at Moredon thanks to goals from Leigh Brown, Michael Jones and an 11^th goal of the season from David Pratt, a fourth of the season from Richard Franklin with the FS Stratton goal.

The following night Penhill United moved back to within a point of Redhouse following a 4-1 win over Stratton, scoring twice in each half. On target in the opening period were Daniel Hiscocks and Peter Myall with his 17th of the season, Aaron Welland with both of the Penhill goals in the second half, Matthew Barnes getting the solitary reply for Stratton.

The final game of the week in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was on Thursday night when Swindon Rovers played host to Royal Wootton Bassett Town at Moredon. When the two sides had met at the start of the season Royal Wootton Bassett had won 2-0 and were looking to complete a league double that would see the climb up into third spot. However, despite winning just two league games ahead of the fixture, Swindon Rovers came into the game unbeaten in their previous two games which included an excellent draw against one of the leading sides Redhouse. Furthermore, the games they have lost this season have also tended to be close affairs as recognised by their goal difference relative to the other sides at the bottom end of the table and another close game was anticipated. With both sides without their leading goalscorers, Royal Wootton Bassett Town’s Chris Head and Swindon Rovers Taiwo Abolarin both missing the game, it was always possible that it would be a low scoring game, and it proved to be just that even though there was to be a very early goal. That goal went the way of visitors Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Nick Mason won the ball just inside the opponent’s half and then proceeded to go on a powerful run that saw him reach the edge of the 18-yard box unopposed, where he then turned two Swindon Rovers defenders before placing a shot across goal that just eluded the Rovers keeper and ended up in the back of the net for 1-0. Swindon Rovers nearly got back on level terms almost straight away hitting the post with an effort. At the other end Mason then had a good chance to get his second of the game when Royal Wootton Bassett were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box, but his free kick was deflected to safety off the Swindon Rovers wall, and it remained 1-0 at the break.

Swindon Rovers & RWBT before their close encounter at Moredon on Thursday

The second half continued to be a cagey affair with few if any clear-cut chances being created by either side. Royal Wootton Bassett Town had claims for a penalty midway through the half when an arm across his face saw Sam Lawro go down in the box, but the claims were waved away by the young referee. Swindon Rovers continued to look to get back in the game and went close to an equaliser when a shot from distance was turned onto his crossbar by Royal Wootton Bassett Town keeper Chris Stevens, with the ball then being cleared to safety before a Rovers player could react. At the other end the visitors went close to getting a second of the game when they dispossessed Rovers in their own half, the ball finding its way to Lawro who laid a square pass to Martin Ohrland whose powerful shot from distance came back off the crossbar and was cleared to safety. Swindon Rovers then went close to getting that elusive equaliser but another fine save by Stevens kept them out and helped ensure that it would be the visitors who returned home with all three points following a narrow 1-0 win in a sporting contest well officiated by the young referee. The second win of the season over Swindon Rovers saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town move up to third spot in the table, one point behind both Cricklade Town and Nationwide but having played one game more. Your Sport Swindon were at Moredon on Thursday night and subscribers can view highlights from the game by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

It remains tight at the top of the table in the North Wiltshire Veterans' Division with just four points separating the top five sides, with Royal Wootton Bassett Town having played one more game than the other four sides.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Once again there was limited action in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with two games on Monday night, one in the league and one in the league cup, and then another league game on Friday night to complete the week’s schedule. On Monday night in the league Melksham Town were home to Trowbridge Town Tigers. The Tigers started well and went in front thanks to a Phil Lewis goal after eight minutes. However, goals from Ryan Tyrell and then Gary Higdon turned things round for Melksham and saw them go into the break with a narrow 2-1 lead. The second half saw Gary Higdon then extend the Melksham lead to make it 3-1, but Trowbridge battled away and were rewarded with a  second through Marek Miszta. However, there was to be no equaliser as Melksham saw out the closing stages to secure three more points which saw them move second in the table, six points behind leaders Devizes Town with a game in hand.

The final league game of the week involving sides from the Mid Wiltshire Division was on Friday night at Green Lane and it saw Bishops Cannings produce their best performance of the season to defeat fourth placed Durrington 5-1. It was 0-0 at half time but with Durrington having had a player dismissed at the end of the first half they would be at a numerical disadvantage in the second period. Bishops Cannings took full advantage after the break, two goals from Adam Bewley early in the half putting them in command. Paul Herman then added a third ten minutes into the half to make it 3-0. Durrington pulled one back thanks to an own goal, but Mike Booth quickly restored their three-goal advantage. A fifth from Sorin Soreanu four minutes from time rounded off a good night for Bishops Cannings.

Veterans' League Cup

On Monday night the final game in the Second Round of the League Cup between Radstock Town and Calne Town went ahead at the second attempt. Just two points separate the two sides in the league table and as expected the two sides served up a close encounter that in the end would require penalties to settle matters, after it finished 2-2 at the end of normal time. Jack Broadway with two late goals for Radstock with Ian McDermid and Chris Robinson finding the back of the net for Calne Town. Even in the penalty shoot out it took a while to separate the two teams, with Calne Town eventually winning 8-7 on penalties to progress to the Quarter Final where they will be away to Nationwide from the North Wiltshire Division.

Full details of the Veterans' League Cup rounds played so far this season and the quarter final draw is shown below:

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

Nationwide put themselves in the driving seat in the title race in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division this week with a 5-1 win over Chiseldon on Thursday night, this after previous joint leaders had been beaten earlier in the week. Nationwide led 4-0 at the break thanks to two goals from both Paul Stonehouse and Adam Rudman. Nationwide then had Brady Lilley sent off early in the second half and Chiseldon took advantage to pull one back through Sean O’Brien.  However, Nationwide quickly restored their four-goal advantage through substitute Adam Devine to round off the nights scoring.

On Wednesday night the big game of the week had taken place at Moredon between Redhouse and previous joint leaders Cricklade Town. A solitary goal from Redhouse’s Joe Herbert was enough to give Redhouse all three points which saw them move level on points with their beaten opponents and Nationwide ahead of Nationwide’s game the following night. Come the end of the week both Cricklade Town and Redhouse  would sit three points behind the leaders with all three teams having nine league games left to play.

The action in the division had got underway on Monday night with the Stratton derby at Moredon, with Stratton entertaining club stablemates FS Stratton. It was to prove to be a close encounter with FS Swindon’s Ryan Mason scoring the only goal of the game to give his side all three points which saw them move off the bottom of the table and end the week with the club bragging rights until the next meeting of the two Stratton sides.

There were then two games on Tuesday night both of which ended in draws. At New College defences were on top with a complete lack of goals as struggling AFC Swindon held Purton Kingsdown to a 0-0 draw.  Purton Kingsdown have games in hand over the top five sides and are expected to still have a big say in the race for honours, but will probably see this as two points dropped against a side at the bottom end of the table. Indeed, after FS Swindon’s win on Monday night, despite the excellent result against Purton Kingsdown, AFC Swindon dropped to the bottom of the table for now.

There were plenty of goals in the other game on Tuesday night at Moredon with ExIntel and Swindon Rovers sharing the points after a 2-2 draw. Craige Roberts scored both the two ExIntel goals with Lee Holland and Andrew Waller replying for Swindon Rovers.

Whilst Redhouse were securing that win over Cricklade Town on Wednesday night, the same night Penhill United were keeping their quest for honours on track with an impressive 3-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground to move level on points with their beaten opponents. On target for Penhill were Jamie Ashby, Jake Johnson and Peter Myall, Sam Lawro with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town reply.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It is pleasing to report for once all four scheduled games in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division went ahead last week. With league leaders Devizes Town the only team without a fixture it gave the chasing pack the chance to close the gap at the top of the table.  On Monday night Warminster Town, who are behind with their fixtures due to multiple postponements like some of the other sides who play on grass, were playing away to Calne Town on the 3G at MOD Lyneham. They returned home with all three points following a comfortable 5-1 win thanks to two goals from Dean Osment and one apiece for Daniel Dicks, Tom Baxter and James Vincent, Anthony Doyle with the Calne goal. Whilst some sides in the division just have three league games left, three of the sides who play on grass, which includes Warminster, still have half their fixtures still to play with six of Warminster’s remaining eight league games set to be at home. Unfortunately, this week’s scheduled return game against Calne Town has once again had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Melksham Town are another side behind with their games and were away at Barford Hornets on Tuesday night and were made to work extremely hard for the three points, although they got there in the end. James Tailby put Barford Hornets 1-0 up before Melksham replied with two from Gary Higdon and one from Dean Ranger to lead 3-1 at the break. Barford Hornets came out strongly in the second half, scoring twice to level matters up at 3-3, their third coming from the penalty spot, with Tailby once again on target for the home side. Melksham themselves were then awarded a penalty that Lee Morgan put away before Dean Ranger made sure of the points with his second of the game as it finished 5-3. The win saw Melksham Town move to within three points of league leaders Devizes Town.

After last week’s surprise defeat at the hands of Bishops Cannings, Durrington bounced back with a hard fought 1-0 win over Radstock Town to move above their beaten opponents into third spot in the table, Terry Brooks getting the Durrington winner.  

The final game of the week on Friday night at Green Lane saw Trowbridge Town Tigers record their fourth win of the season with a 2-1 win over Bishops Cannings, Stuart McLachlan with both Trowbridge goals and Adam Bewley scoring for Bishops Cannings with his tenth goal of the season, all three goals coming in the first half. Both sides now have just three league games to play, as have Barford Hornets.

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)

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

Nationwide  continue to lead the way in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire League. They got this week’s action in the division underway on Monday night when they met Stratton at Moredon. When they had met back in October Nationwide had won 4-0 and Monday saw them register a league double over Stratton scoring five unanswered goals to run out 5-0 winners. Both Neil Snow and Adam Devine scored twice with the other Nationwide goal coming through Adam Rudman with his 14^th goal of the season. The win for Nationwide saw them open up a six-point lead over Cricklade Town ahead of their game on Wednesday night away to Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

The following night saw Purton Kingsdown return to winning ways, recording their first win of the new calendar year, securing a 3-1 win over Chiseldon at New College thanks to goals from Joshua Paddon, Kevin Tate and a ninth of the season from James Tinsley, although one of those was scored for Cricklade Town before his transfer. The win for Purton Kingsdown saw them move to within three points of Royal Wootton Bassett Town in fifth spot with two games in hand ahead of Bassett’s tricky encounter with Cricklade Town the following night.

The same night at Moredon FS Stratton continued their recent great form with a third straight win, their latest victims being ExIntel. Goals from David Garraway and Ryan Mason inflicted the damage for FS Stratton who climbed two places in the table as a result of this latest win, including moving ahead of stablemates Stratton.

On Wednesday night Cricklade Town were looking to reduce Nationwide’s lead at the top of the table back to the three points that they had at the start of the week but came up against a stubborn Royal Wootton Bassett Town who frustrated last season’s champions with a dogged defensive performance that completely shut out the visitors as the two sides had to settle for a point apiece after a 0-0 draw. The two points dropped mean Cricklade now trail Nationwide by five points with both teams having seven league games to play.

Joining Cricklade on 32 points from their 15 games are Redhouse who secured a narrow 2-1 win over bottom of the table AFC Swindon, also on Wednesday night. Two goals from leading scorer Dave Pratt put Redhouse 2-0 up, taking Pratt’s total for the season to 13, but Phil Tearle with his fifth goal in all competitions for AFC Swindon pulled one back to cause some nervous moments at the end.  AFC Swindon went close to getting an equaliser right at the end, but Redhouse held on to claim three vital points in their quest for honours.  

Penhill United kept their own challenge for honours on track with a 3-0 win over Swindon Rovers on Thursday night. First half goals from Liam Byfield and Chris Angell put them in command at the break and a third from Peter Myall in the final minute of the game made sure of the three points. That is now 19 in all competitions this season for Myall. Penhill remain just a point behind Cricklade and Redhouse having also played 15 games and with Cricklade to play twice and Nationwide once are going to have a big say in this season’s title race in the closing weeks of the season.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was a rare occurrence on Monday night in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with all four fixtures in the week scheduled to take place that night. In the end just one of the four games was to be played, certainly not a rare occurrence this season, with just the game on 3G at MOD Lyneham beating the weather. Calne Town’s opponents in that game were divisional leaders Devizes Town who extended their lead over Melksham Town at the top of the table to six points with a 5-2 win. There were two goals for both Ryan Banks and Liam Brown with Chris Allen getting goal number 18 of the season to complete the scoring for Devizes. The two Calne Town goals in reply were scored by Gary Newman and Chris Robinson.

North Wiltshire Veterans' Division

Once again there was a full schedule of six games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, by far the best of any of the seven divisions across the four categories within the league in terms of getting games played.

The action got underway on Monday night at Moredon, and it saw FS Stratton continue their recent excellent run, goals from Luke Jones and Luke McQuillan giving them a narrow 2-1 victory over Swindon Rovers. That is the fourth straight victory for FS Stratton and the win saw them climb to seventh place in the table, their highest position of the season, Lee Wilson with the Swindon Rovers reply.

Stablemates Stratton were in action the following night when they met bottom of the table AFC Swindon and it was to prove to be a good week for the Stratton club as goals from Liam Butcher, Nial Francis and Jason Tatum saw Stratton win 3-0 to move above Swindon Rovers into eighth place.

The same night Penhill United entertained Purton Kingsdown looking to maintain their push for league honours. It was not to be a good night for them though as their 12-game unbeaten run finally came to an end, two goals from Aaron Maximen and one from Rory Sproule giving Purton Kingsdown a 3-2 win. On target for Penhill were Jake Johnson and Harry Etheridge.

On Wednesday night Cricklade Town moved to within two points of league leaders Nationwide with a 4-2 home win over ExIntel at the Corinium Stadium. Two more goals for Adam Smith saw him move onto 11 goals for the season with Sam Collier and a first of the season from Ben Snook getting the other two Cricklade goals, Ashley Stevens and Craige Roberts with the two ExIntel goals.

The same night Royal Wootton Bassett Town’s recent poor run continued as they fell to a 2-1 defeat away to Chiseldon, that is now four games since Royal Wootton Bassett Town last tasted victory. Adam O’Keeffe was the star of the show for Chiseldon, getting both their goals to move onto eight for the season, Martin Ohrland with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal.

The final game of the week was the big one on Thursday night, with league leaders Nationwide taking on third placed Redhouse. A close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that as the two sides fought out a 2-2 draw and had to settle for a point apiece. On target for the league leaders were Adam Devine and Adam Rudman with Dave Pratt getting both the Redhouse goals to join Rudman on 15 goals for the season. The point for Nationwide saw them increase their lead at the top over Cricklade Town to three points, with Redhouse now two points adrift of Cricklade Town and still five points behind the league leaders with all of the top three sides having six league games to play.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were just three games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division, and they saw the teams just below Devizes Town in the table all close in on the league leaders. On Monday night a solitary goal from Chris Steele was enough to give Warminster Town all three points against Trowbridge Town Tigers as they moved into fourth place in the table, 12 points behind Devizes with a game in hand. Warminster have seven games left to play, six of which will be at home, including games against the three teams above them in the table, and they are expected to still have a big say in the destination of league honours in the Mid Wiltshire Division this season.

On Wednesday night third placed Durrington moved to within four points of leaders Devizes with a 2-0 home win over Calne Town with both goals coming in the second half after the teams turned around at the break with the game still without a goal. The deadlock was broken seven minutes into the second half, player-manager Jesse Walters giving his side the lead. Shaune Smith then added a second to make sure of the three points for Durrington seven minutes from time. With just three games to play Durrington have probably dropped too many points already to be considered as contenders for honours this season,  but with the other three sides in the top four still to play they could also have a big say in the final destination of league honours this season were they to take points off one or more of the other leading sides.

The final game in the division was on Friday night and it saw Melksham Town move to within three points of the leaders thanks to a 3-0 win away against BIshops Cannings, with both Devizes and Melksham having now played ten games with six still to play. This was another game where all the goals were scored in the second half. Wayne Wheeler broke the deadlock with his first goal for his new club after starting the season with Westbury United. Two further goals from the division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon took him onto 23 for the season as Melksham registered their ninth win in ten games. In those final six games for Melksham, they have to play Warminster Town twice and both Durrington and Devizes Town once and with Devizes also having Warminster to play twice as well as those games against Durrington and Melksham the title race is certainly going to get interesting in the closing weeks of the season.

League Cup Quarter Finals

Focus this week in the Veterans’ divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was on the Quarter Finals of the League Cup and it is pleasing to report that all four games went ahead as planned, with special mention to Devizes Town and Warminster Town for switching their game to Green Lane to enable their tie to go ahead.

The four cup ties got underway on Monday night at Melksham where the home side Melksham Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division entertained Royal Wootton Bassett Town from the North Wiltshire Division. It didn’t start well for the home side, Jonny Aitkenhead putting Royal Wootton Bassett Town ahead in the opening five minutes, capitalising on a defensive mistake. However, Wayne Wheeler put Melksham back on level terms midway through the first half and it remained 1-1 at the break. Wheeler then scored a second for Melksham early in the second half to make it 2-1 and Ian Dowell finally killed the game off with five minutes remaining, firing home with a close-range effort into the roof of the net to make the final score 3-1 to Melksham.

On Tuesday night at Moredon there was an all-North Wiltshire Division tie between Cricklade Town and ExIntel. The game very much went to form, Cricklade who continue to battle on three fronts having already made the final of the Wiltshire County Cup winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Nick Craft, Marcus Hall and Ben Snook.

On Thursday night there was a second cross-divisional encounter when Nationwide, the league leaders in the North Wiltshire Division, hosted Calne Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division. On this occasion is was to be the side from the North who progressed to the semi-final, a hat-trick from Richie Miles plus goals from Adam Devine and Simon Olding securing a comfortable 5-0 win for Nationwide, last season’s beaten finalists who will be looking to make the final for the third consecutive season.

The final tie of the round was on Friday night with that encounter at Green Lane between the Mid Wiltshire Division leaders Devizes Town and fourth placed Warminster Town. Devizes Town have won all ten of their league games to date and they continued that perfect record in this cup encounter, a hat-trick from Tom Slater seeing them through to the last four meaning there are two sides from each of the divisions through to the semi-final.

The draw for that semi final has already been made by Chairman Brian Busson and League Secretary Jim Thorn, and it has thrown up two cross divisional sides with the two teams from the Mid Wiltshire Division set to have home advantage. Melksham Town will host Cricklade Town and Devizes Town will be home to Nationwide, both ties set to take place in week commencing 23^rd March. Full details of the cup rounds to date is shown below:

North Wiltshire Division

In addition to the cup games there were a couple of league games in the North Wiltshire Division and one in the Mid Wiltshire Division. In the North Wiltshire Division Redhouse moved up above Cricklade into second place in the table with a narrow 1-0 win over Purton Kingsdown, Jason Milhench with the only goal of the game, his second of the season for Redhouse. The win for Redhouse saw them move to within two points of leaders Nationwide but having played one game more than the leaders. In the other league game played, FS Stratton made it five games unbeaten when they held fourth placed Penhill United to a 1-1 draw.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was just the one league game played in the Mid Wiltshire Division involving two sides at the bottom end of the table, Barford Hornets and Trowbridge Town Tigers, who were both playing their penultimate league games of the season. It was to prove to be an enjoyable evening for the Hornets as they avoided defeat for only the second time this season, taking a share of the points following a 2-2 draw, Phil Lewis getting both Trowbridge goals in the final ten minutes of the match.

North Wiltshire Division



It is now very much advantage Nationwide in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League after this week’s round of matches. Nationwide maintained their recent good run that has seen them lose just once in their last 19 games in all competitions with a 2-0 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town on Thursday night at Moredon. Adam Devine gave Nationwide an early lead and a second from Pul Stonehouse six minutes from time made sure of the three points for the league leaders.

Earlier in the week Cricklade Town had fallen to a 1-0 home defeat at Cirencester against Penhill United in a rehearsal for the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup, Mathew Bugden getting the only goal of the game eleven minutes from time to strike a major blow for Cricklade’s title defence. The win for Penhill saw them move level on points with their beaten opponents having played one game more. The result means both Cricklade and Penhill now trail Nationwide by six points with five games remaining for both Nationwide and Cricklade, with Penhill having four to play.

Redhouse who remain in second place, one point ahead of Cricklade and Penhill, have five games remaining after their scheduled game against Stratton was postponed with Stratton unable to raise a side.

FS Stratton maintained their recent great run securing a narrow 2-1 win over Purton Kingsdown to make it six games unbeaten, Tom Brown with both the FS Stratton goals and David Gee getting the Purton Kingsdown reply.

ExIntel won the battle of the bottom two sides in the division, defeating AFC Swindon 3-0 thanks to goals from James Joyce, Andrew Phipps and Matthew Gumm.

The other game this week was a high scoring affair at New College where Chiseldon and Swindon Rovers scored eight goals between them, Chiseldon running out 5-3 winners. Adam O’Keeffe scored a hat-trick for Chiseldon with Dean Hart and Daryl Herring getting the other two Chiseldon goals, with Lee Wilson (2) and Lee Holland getting the Swindon Rovers goals.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It was a very disappointing week in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with just one of the four games getting played with two teams, Barford Hornets and Durrington being unable to raise a side for their games and the pitch at Warminster Town once again not being playable.

The game that did go ahead saw Melksham Town move level on points with Devizes Town at the top of the table thanks to a 3-1 home win over Calne Town with Gary Higdon getting all three Melksham goals. Higdon got the first, with a penalty but Calne equalised with virtually the last kick of the half with a headed goal by Ian McDermid from close range. It remained a tight affair in the second half but Melksham eventually broke Calne down with ten minutes remaining, Gary Higdon with two quickfire goals to complete his hat trick.

Action from Devizes Town's 5-1 win over Trowbridge Town to maintain their perfect record in the Mid Wiltshire Division (picture courtesy of David Giles)

North Wiltshire Division

Nationwide extended their lead at the top of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League to six points with an emphatic 6-0 win over ExIntel at Moredon on Tuesday night. The damage was inflicted in the first half as goals from Adam Rudman, Mason Worthington and Richie Miles saw Nationwide go 3-0 up. They then had Neil Snow sent off but added a fourth through Adam Devine just before half time to lead 4-0 at the break. Despite the numerical disadvantage in the second half, they added two further goals through Adam Rudman after the break, that is now 18 for the season in all competitions for Rudman.

Unfortunately, second in the table Redhouse’s scheduled game against Royal Wootton Bassett Town did not go ahead on compassionate grounds following the sad passing of the Redhouse’s former manager and player James Aghabi. The thoughts of everyone at the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League are with James’ family at this difficult time.

The other two sides still involved in the battle for the end of season honours Cricklade Town and Penhill United both secured victories. On Monday night Cricklade Town became the first team in seven games to lower the colours of much improved FS Stratton, Sam Collier scoring the only goal of the game to give his side a 1-0 win.  

On Wednesday night, Penhill United moved back level on points with Cricklade following a 4-1 win over Chiseldon at Moredon. Two goals from Peter Myall set them on their way and a third from Luke Wareham saw them lead 3-0 at the break. Chiseldon pulled one back through Adam O’Keeffe, his 12^th of the season, but a third for Myall to complete his hat-trick rounded off a good evening for Penhill. The division’s leading scorer has now hit 23 goals in all competitions so far this season.  

The final game of the week in the division was on Thursday night at Moredon between Swindon Rovers and AFC Swindon. The game saw AFC Swindon pick up their second win of the season to move off the bottom of the table, Robert McMahon, Ashley Chapman and Jason Cobb scoring in a 3-2 win, Sean Lewis and James Cornfield with the Swindon Rovers goals. The only blemish on the night for AFC Swindon was the nasty face injury suffered by Dan Scourfield following an accidental clash of heads that saw him spend most of the night in A& E and all at the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League wish him a speedy recovery from his injury.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It was good week for the top two sides in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with both winning to maintain their excellent seasons to date. On Monday night Melksham Town were without the division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon, absent due to illness, for their game against Warminster Town  and it was to prove to be a close encounter as Warminster pushed Melksham all the way.  Ian Dowell scored early on for Melksham with a close-range finish before Aaron Ledgister doubled their lead inside the opening ten minutes when he beat the high Warminster defensive line to run through one on one against the keeper and place the ball into the net. Christopher Steele then pulled one back for Warminster with his sixth goal of the season just before half time to leave Melksham with a slender one goal lead at the break. In a tense second half, Melksham pushed for a third and Warminster searched for an equaliser, but the score remained 2-1. The win for Melksham saw them temporarily go three points clear at the top of the table whilst, due to results elsewhere, Warminster Town dropped a place to fifth spot.

It was Calne Town who moved above Warminster into fourth place in the table thanks to a 3-1 home win over Radstock Town. Goals from Paul Maddox, Gary Newman and Chris Robinson securing the three points for Calne at MOD Lyneham, a 16^th goal of the season for Jack Broadway six minutes from time in reply for Radstock Town.  

The final game of the week saw Devizes Town  maintain their perfect start to the season with an eleventh straight win in the league to join Melksham on 33 points at the top of the table, winning 5-1 against Trowbridge Town Tigers. Whilst the result may have been disappointing for Trowbridge, they have the honour of being the first team this season in any of the seven divisions to complete all their league fixtures. Their pro-active rescheduling of games to Selwood Academy when the pitch has not been available at Woodmarsh has enabled them to complete their fixtures within a week of the last scheduled date in the original fixtures for the division, whilst others still have six games to play. Star of the show for Devizes in the 5-1 win was Wayne House who scored a hat-trick with further goals from Mark Dolman and Robert Mitchell, Mariusz Hoszko with the Trowbridge Town Tigers goal. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

More action from Devizes 5-1 win over Trowbridge

(pictures courtesy of David Giles)

Action from Devizes Town's 3-1 win over Calne Town to maintain their perfect record in the Mid Wiltshire Division (picture courtesy of David Giles)

North Wiltshire Division

It was a good week for three of the four sides at the top of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior. The one exception was Cricklade Town who frustratingly saw their home game against Purton Kingsdown postponed at short notice, with Purton Kingsdown unable to raise a side for the second consecutive week.

The other three sides all secured wins to maintain their title challenge although with games now running out Nationwide are very much in the driving seat with a six-point lead at the top of the division. They recorded their 15^th league victory of the season with a 4-1 win over Swindon Rovers on Thursday night. Goals from Nathaniel Harrison and Andrew Goodchild put them 2-0 up at half time. Paul Stonehouse then extended their lead three minutes into the second half and whilst Rovers pulled one back through Ashley Davies eight minutes from time, a fourth for Nationwide three minutes later from Adam Devine made sure of the three points for Nationwide.

Penhill United sit second in the table after they recorded a 5-2 win over AFC Swindon. Leading 2-0 at the break thanks to two goals from Chris Allen they added three more in the second half through Matt Horsell, Harry Etheridge and a 24^th of the season from the division’s leading scorer Peter Myall to register league win number 12 of the season. The two goals in reply for AFC Swindon were scored by Cameron Alexander and Andrew Copland. Penhill United will go into Friday’s County Cup final against Cricklade Town unbeaten now in their last four games.

It was a much tighter affair for Redhouse this week, a solitary goal from Michael Jones being enough to give them all three points against a much-improved ExIntel side.

The action in the division had got underway on Monday night when Stratton made it two wins on the bounce with a 2-1 victory over Royal Wootton Bassett Town at Moredon thanks to goals from Ian Herring and Vince McMackin, Andrew Huggins with the Royal Wootton Bassett goal.

The other game played in the week saw Chiseldon register their sixth victory of the season, beating FS Stratton 3-1 with Adam O’Keeffe scoring all three Chiseldon goals to move his total for the season onto 15, Tom Brown with the FS Stratton goal. The win for Chiseldon saw them move above Swindon Rovers in the table.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Unfortunately, just one of the three scheduled games went ahead in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with Radstock Town calling off their home game against Melksham Town due to pitch conditions and Durrington being unable to raise a side for their game away at Warminster Town.

The one game that did go ahead saw Devizes Town make it a perfect dozen with a 3-1 home win over Calne Town at Nursteed Road. It was a good night for Mark Dolman who scored all three of the Devizes Town goals to take his tally for the season to 13, with George Brown getting the Calne Town goal. The win sees Devizes Town sit three points clear of Melksham Town at the top of the table with both sides having four games to play including a game between the two scheduled for the end of next month. This coming week both will be involved in Veterans’ League Cup semi final action with Melksham Town home to Cricklade Town from the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division on Monday night, with Devizes Town also home to North Wiltshire Division opponents Nationwide on Wednesday.

David Giles was at the Devizes game against Calne Town with his camera and more pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

More action from Devizes 3 -1 win over Calne Town

(pictures courtesy of David Giles)

Cricklade Town winners of the Wiltshire FA Veterans' County Cup

League Cup Semi-Finals

The main focus in the last week of March in the two veterans’ divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was on the two cup competitions with the two semi-finals in the League Cup and the re-arranged Wiltshire FA Veterans’ County Cup competition which had been postponed back in February at the request of Penhill United, one of the two finalists. It meant a busy week for Cricklade Town who were Penhill’s opponents and were also still in the League Cup, but it would turn out to be a good week for the club.

On Monday 23^rd March they travelled to Melksham Town’s Meads of Melksham Football Community Stadium for the first of the two intra-regional League Cup semi-finals. A goal from Nick Craft had given Cricklade Town the lead in a tight game between two of the top veterans’ sides but the game was to end in controversy with Melksham Town seeing two players dismissed for dissent following an offside decision when striker Gary Higdon had got clear of the Cricklade Town defence five minutes from the end. Not only did Melksham have to play the closing minutes of the cup semi-final two men short they will now also be without those players for some of the games in the Mid Wiltshire Division title run in.

The other semi-final was again a game between sides from the North Wiltshire and Mid Wiltshire divisions, with the league leaders of their respective divisions meeting at Nursteed Road. As expected, it was another tight affair that once again went the way of the side from the North Division as Nationwide secured a come from behind win over Devizes Town. Daniel Harvey had given Devizes an early lead, but Adam Rudman had brought Nationwide back level seven minutes before the break, that is now 19 for the season in all competitions for Rudman. Nationwide then got themselves in front for the first time in the match seven minutes into the second half, Richie Miles scoring what proved to be the winning goal as Nationwide held out for the remaining minutes to secure a 2-1 win. So both games went the way of the North Division sides settling up an all-North Division final which is set to take place on Monday 20^th April at Calne Town FC.

County Cup Final

Cricklade Town were back in action on the Friday night of the same week with the final of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup at Green Lane, Devizes, with Penhill United their opponents. As with the two League Cup semi-finals it was another tight affair between two evenly matched sides which in the end was decided by the best move of the night which saw Ben Brown get on the end of a cross from the left-wing midway through the second half to put Cricklade Town 1-0 up. Both teams cancelled each other out for most of the game with few, if any, clear-cut chances being created at either end. Penhill United will probably feel aggrieved that a couple of shouts they had for a penalty could well have been given on another night, particularly the one in the closing stages. They ended the game with ten men after a challenge on the Cricklade Town keeper saw a player dismissed and their manager was also sent to the stands for comments made to the officials after what had been a good game between two very good vets' sides. So it was Cricklade Town who retained the cup they had won for the first time last season with the cup heading North for the third season running with Coate having won it in Season 2023-24.

More pictures from the County Cup Final can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

Cricklade Town ahead of the Wilts FA Vets' County Cup Final

Penhill United ahead of the Wilts FA Vets' County Cup Final

Action from Cricklade Town's 1-0 win over Penhill United in the Wilts FA Veterans' County Cup Final

North Wiltshire Division

With the cup action there has been only a handful of league fixtures in the past fortnight in the North Wiltshire Division but the games that have been played have provided more clarity as to where honours are likely to reside this season. Redhouse moved up to second place in the table with a big 6-0 win over Swindon Rovers. Joe Herbert led the way with a hat-trick with further goals from Fred Galrito, Michael Jones and David Pratt. With three games to go Redhouse can still catch Nationwide but are probably going to need to win all three and then hope Nationwide slip up in a couple of their remaining games.

In the week of all the cup action, it proved to be a good week in the league for the two teams from the Stratton stable. Goals from Liam Butcher, Nial Francis and Ogedi Uzokwe gave Stratton a 3-0 win over ExIntel, whilst stablemates FS Stratton went one better scoring four unanswered goals against AFC Swindon as their renaissance in the second half of the season continued. Town Brown led the way bagging a brace with further goals from Callum Cormack and Richard Franklin.

There were then two further league games last week including a repeat of the County Cup Final as Penhill United and Cricklade Town met for the second time in the space of five days. It was to prove to be another close encounter that saw the two sides share four goals and the points, a result which would have gone down well with both Nationwide and Redhouse in terms of the battle for honours at the top of the division, with two of their rivals both dropping two points. Chris Angel scored both of the Penhill goals with Cricklade substitute Craig Shand also scoring twice to give his side the point. Penhill moved back second level on points with Redhouse but now have just the one game left to play, whilst Cricklade with three to play now trail Redhouse and Penhill by three points and are eight points adrift of leaders Nationwide and will almost certainly not now retain the title they won last season.

The other game played in the division saw ExIntel edge a close encounter with AFC Swindon by the odd goal, two goals from Richard Wells and one from James Joyce securing a 3-2 win, Richard Bailey and Alexander Mason with the AFC Swindon goals.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There have been just two games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division in the past fortnight, and both involved Warminster Town. Monday 23^rd March saw them record a 3-0 home win over Bishops Cannings with James Vincent scoring twice and Dale Rowland getting the other goal. Bishops Cannings were playing their final league game of the season and became the second side in the division to complete their fixtures.

Warminster Town followed that victory up a week later with another home game against a side completing their season’s fixtures, Calne Town. It was to be a night of own goals as both sides managed to score for the opposition in a 1-1 draw.

Durrington have struggled in recent weeks to field a side and that position is not likely to change in the closing weeks of the season. Consequently, after discussions with the club the three games they postponed in March have been awarded to their opponents Devizes Town, Melksham Town and Warminster Town. With both Devizes Town and Melksham Town involved in the title race the equal treatment of both teams will thankfully not impact the title race in the division.

Cricklade Town who went 2nd in the table

North Wiltshire Division

There were just three games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League last week, but the results culminated in three teams, Cricklade Town, Penhill United and Redhouse, ending the week on 42 points in what is turning out to be an exciting the battle for honours. The three are six points behind leaders Nationwide who are now close to securing the league title.

Nationwide now need just one point from their remaining two games after they dropped two points when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Purton Kingsdown, Patrick Slattery equalising for Purton Kingsdown in the second half after Richie Miles had given Nationwide a half time lead.

Redhouse were surprisingly beaten by ExIntel on Tuesday, a result which later in the week allowed Cricklade Town to move level on points with them and Penhill United. ExIntel have shown much improved form of late and secured their best result of the season with a 4-3 victory over Redhouse effectively ending Redhouse’s outside hopes of the title, although runners-up position is still within their sights. Goals from Jon Lee, James Joyce, Jason Stevens and own goal gave ExIntel the win, Michael Jones, Kieran Jennings and Jason Milhench with the Redhouse goals.

On Thursday night Cricklade Town took full advantage of that defeat for Redhouse to move level on points with Redhouse and into second spot with a 4-0 win over Swindon Rovers. There were two goals for Adam Smith and one apiece for Nick Craft and Steven Algar in this latest Cricklade Town win.  This coming week sees a full schedule of six games with four of the sides in the division set to complete their fixtures for the season..

The scheduled game between Royal Wootton Bassett Town and AFC Swindon was postponed with AFC Swindon unable to raise a side.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were no games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division last week but the action returns this coming Monday with games at both Radstock Town and Warminster Town.

Nationwide - champions of the North Wiltshire Veterans' Division who will go for the double on Monday night

North Wiltshire Division

It is congratulations to Nationwide who on Wednesday night wrapped up the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division title with a narrow 3-2 win against Penhill United. Nationwide got themselves in front thanks to an early Adam Devine goal on seven minutes and it remained just the one goal in it at the break. Bradley Mildon then extended the lead five minutes into the second half, but Penhill United quickly replied, pulling one back through Matthew Horsell within a minute of that second Nationwide goal. Steve Bunting then equalised for Penhill United 13 minutes from time and, whilst a point would have been enough to give Nationwide the title, leading scorer Adam Rudman added a third to give Nationwide all three points with his 20^th goal of the season. Nationwide will now go into Monday nights League Cup Final with the title already won as they will look to complete a league and cup double when they take on Cricklade Town who themselves will be looking to complete a cup double, having already won the Wiltshire FA Veterans’ County Cup.  

The previous night Cricklade Town had warmed up for that cup final with a big 7-1 win over Chiseldon at Cirencester, the second time this season they have won by a six-goal margin against Chiseldon. There were two goals for Stuart Hughes and one apiece for Chris Greenough, Marcus Hall, Ben Snook, Adam Smith and Sam Collier, the latter taking his total for the season to 20 in all competitions, Adam O’Keeffe with the Chiseldon goal, his 16^th of the campaign. This was Chiseldon’s final league game of the season as they became the first side in the division to complete their fixtures although they were joined by the end of the week by Penhill United, AFC Swindon and Swindon Rovers.  

Tuesday night had also seen Redhouse maintain their challenge for honours with a 4-0 win over Stratton. Star of the show was Michael Jones who grabbed a hat-trick with David Pratt getting the other goal, Redhouse’s leading scorer taking his total for the season to 17 in the process. The wins for Cricklade and Redhouse see them sit level on 45 points in the battle for runners-up spot with both sides having one game to play. Redhouse will complete their fixtures this coming week when they play Royal Wootton Bassett Town at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on Wednesday night whilst, due to the cup final, Cricklade will have to wait a week for their final game against Purton Kingsdown.

After a difficult start to the season, FS Stratton have shot up the table in the second half of the season and could yet still achieve a top five finish. On Thursday night at Moredon they set up that scenario by securing a narrow 2-1 win over Swindon Rovers thanks to goals from Richard Franklin and Ryan Mason, Lee Wilson with the Swindon Rovers reply. Unfortunately, after seven seasons, 111 league fixtures and one League Cup final appearance that will be the last game that Swindon Rovers, one of the founding members of the North Wilts Vets Division, will play in the league for a while. They have advised the league that they will be withdrawing at the end of the current season with a number of their players leaving to join another club. The League is sad to lose one of the better run Veterans’ sides and we wish the club well in the future and hope they will return at some time in the future.  

The other two games played last week saw Purton Kingsdown win 4-0 against ExIntel with Josh Paddon amongst the goals. The other match played in a full schedule of six games saw bottom of the table AFC Swindon end their season on a winning note, Mark Richards and Andrew Copland scoring in a 2-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Jonny Aitkenhead with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was just the one game played in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division last week and it saw Devizes Town maintain their perfect record with win number 14 of the season as first half goals from Mark Dolman and Mark Reynolds gave them a 2-0 win away at Warminster Town to open up a six-point lead at the top of the table. Unfortunately, Melksham Town saw their game postponed due to Radstock Town being unable to raise a side.

League Cup Final

This coming Monday is the final of the League Cup, and it is an all-North Wiltshire Division affair between this season’s league champions Nationwide and Cricklade Town, the previous league champions, and the winners of the Wiltshire FA County Cup which they won for the second consecutive season last month.

Both finalists had a bye in the First Round in this season’s competition due to where they finished in the league the previous season. In the Second Round both teams had tough looking fixtures. Nationwide were up against Durrington from the Mid Wiltshire Division in what was a repeat of last season’s final. Nationwide avenged that Season 2024-25 cup final defeat with a 2-0 win which made that long journey to the south of the county worthwhile. Cricklade Town meanwhile were up against Penhill United, a team they would end up playing four times this season, with the two sides making it through to the final of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup. In the League Cup Cricklade ran out comfortable 3-0 winners but there were to be much closer affairs in the three subsequent meetings, with Penhill winning 1-0 in the first league meeting and then drawing 2-2 in the return, with Cricklade Town gaining revenge by winning the County Cup Final, again by a 1-0 score line.

Both Nationwide and Cricklade were to have comfortable wins at the Quarter Final stage. Cricklade Town again won 3-0 against North Wiltshire Division opponents in the shape of ExIntel. Nationwide meanwhile scored five without reply in their tie against Calne Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division.

These results set up two inter-divisional semi-finals involving what at the time were the top two teams from each division, with the two divisional leaders, Nationwide and Devizes Town playing each other, with the two sides sat second in the table, Melksham Town and Cricklade Town meeting in the other semi-final. Both games were tight affairs settled by a one goal margin, Cricklade Town beating Melksham Town on their own ground 1-0 and Nationwide defeating Devizes Town 2-1, again on their own patch to set up tonight’s all North Wiltshire Division final. Expect another close game on Monday night. In the league Nationwide have only lost twice this season, but both times this was against their cup final opponents Cricklade Town in two close encounters. Monday night’s final takes place at Calne Town FC with an 8pm kick-off.

Cricklade Town who take on Nationwide in Monday night's League Cup Final

Cricklade Town - Vets' League Cup Winners Season 2025-26

League Cup Final

Last Monday saw the final of the Veterans’ League Cup at Calne Town FC, and it was an all-North Wiltshire Division affair between this season’s league champions Nationwide and Cricklade Town, the previous league champions, and the winners of the Wiltshire FA County Cup which they won for the second consecutive season last month. Cricklade are also still involved in the battle for runners-up this season behind Nationwide.

On the way to the final, both finalists had a bye in the First Round in this season’s competition due to where they finished in the league the previous season.

In the Second Round both teams had tough looking fixtures. Nationwide were up against Durrington from the Mid Wiltshire Division in what was a repeat of last season’s League Cup final. Nationwide avenged that Season 2024-25 cup final defeat with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Neil Snow and Mason Worthington which made that long journey to the south of the county worthwhile. Cricklade Town meanwhile were up against Penhill United, a team they would end up playing four times during the season, with the two sides making it through to the final of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup. In the League Cup Cricklade ran out comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Stuart Hughes, Adam Smith and Dean Wilson, but there were to be much closer affairs in the three other meetings. 

Both Nationwide and Cricklade were to then have comfortable wins at the Quarter Final stage. Cricklade Town again won 3-0 against North Wiltshire Division opponents in the shape of ExIntel. On target for Cricklade were Nick Craft, Marcus Hall and Ben Snook. Nationwide meanwhile scored five without reply in their tie against Calne Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division, Richie Miles helping himself to a hat-trick with further goals coming through Adam Devine and Simon Olding.  

These results set up two inter-divisional semi-finals involving what at the time were the top two teams from each division, with the two divisional leaders, Nationwide and Devizes Town playing each other, with the two sides sat second in the table, Melksham Town and Cricklade Town meeting in the other semi-final. Both games were tight affairs settled by a one goal margin, Cricklade Town beating Melksham Town on their own ground 1-0 thanks to a goal from Nick Craft and Nationwide defeating Devizes Town 2-1, again on their own patch, Adam Rudman and Richie Miles with the goals which set up the all-North Wiltshire Division final. For Nationwide this was their third consecutive League Cup final having beaten Westbury United back in Season 2023-24 when playing as Coate, as well as suffering that cup final defeat last season at the hands of Durrington.

As expected, the final was another close game, with two of the best veteran’s sides in the county producing a high-quality match which was played in a sporting manner throughout. 0-0 at the break, Cricklade Town got themselves in front early in the second half, leading scorer Sam Collier heading home from a corner. It was from another such corner that Cricklade then extended their lead, the corner flicking off Chris Greenough with Ben Brown being credited with the final touch that saw the ball end up in the back of the Nationwide net. Cricklade then had a golden chance to extend their lead, Nick Craft squaring to Stuart Hughes, but he was unable to find the back of the net. At the other end, Nationwide’s best chance fell to their leading scorer Adam Rudman but he saw his effort turned around the post by Cricklade keeper Dion Titcombe. A well marshalled back line then saw Cricklade see out the remaining minutes of the second half without conceding to win the cup for the second time, having won the inaugural League Cup competition back in Season 2021-22. The winners and runners-up trophies and the cup were presented by League Chairman Brian Busson and League Secretary Jim Thorn. Well done to Cricklade on their cup success and Nationwide on making that third final in a row, although they will no doubt be disappointed that they could not complete a league and cup double this season.

To view a PDF copy of the cup final programme please click on the picture of the programme cover below:

North Wiltshire Division

Just two games were played in the North Wiltshire Veterans Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League last week with ExIntel unable to raise a side for the fourth time this season for their scheduled fixture against league champions Nationwide, the second time they have failed to fulfil the Nationwide fixture. The Discipline Committee will decide whether the game needs to be rescheduled, or the points awarded given the limited time left until the season end.

The two games that were played saw Purton Kingsdown win their tenth game of the season defeating Stratton 4-1. Unfortunately, the game had to be brought to an early end due to a broken leg suffered by Purton Kingsdown player Rory Sproule and all at the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League wish him a speedy recovery.

The other game played saw Redhouse complete their league fixtures with a narrow 2-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town thanks to goals from Jason Milhench and David Pratt, Chris Head with his 14^th of the season with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal. The win for Redhouse saw them move into second spot three points clear of Cricklade Town who have one game to play against Purton Kingsdown which is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. If Cricklade win then a play-off will be needed for runners-up spot in the divison.  

Mid Wiltshire Division

There top two in the Mid Wiltshire Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League both got to play their games this last week and both were involved in tight affairs against their respective opponents, with both eventually securing all three points courtesy of single goal margin victories. Devizes Town were away to Radstock Town and a solitary second half goal from Tom Slater was all that separated the two sides as Devizes Town made it 15 league wins from 15 games to maintain their six-point lead over Melksham Town at the top of the table.

Melksham Town maintained their own title chances with a 2-1 away win at Warminster Town thanks to two goals from Daniel King, Chris Steele with the Warminster reply. This coming Thursday sees Melksham Town travel to Devizes knowing nothing less than a win will do if they are to have any chance of denying Devizes the league title. If they win and defeat Radstock Town in their other outstanding game a play-off would again be needed this time for the league title.

 Vets' Roundup Weeks 32 &33

Title Play-off Needed in Mid Wilts,

Play-off For Runners-up in North

Action from Melksham Town's narrow 1-0 win over Devizes Town

Mid Wiltshire Division

The past fortnight has seen three games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division with two of the three impacting the quest for honours in the division. Monday May 4th saw Devizes Town entertain Melksham Town with Devizes knowing if they could avoid defeat the title would be theirs with Melksham Town finishing as runners-up. Devizes had won all 15 of their previous league games, including a 2-1 win at Melksham back in October and were hopeful of securing the point needed to claim the title for the first time. The game itself was a tight affair from the very start with neither side creating any real clear-cut chances. The teams turned round at the break with the game still awaiting a goal and it was to remain that way in the second half until three minutes from time. With League officials preparing for a potential awards presentation, Melksham Town were awarded a free kick on the left 25 yards from goal for an alleged handball. Aaron Ledgister took responsibility for the free kick and curled a powerful shot over the wall into the top corner of the net giving the Devizes keeper no chance to put Melksham 1-0 up. Devizes frantically tried to push for an equaliser but there was little time left to make the breakthrough and the final whistle followed shortly after with the medals and league trophy put back in their boxes for another day.  So a first league defeat of the season for Devizes and a vital win for Melksham. Both David Giles and Mark Smedley were at the game with their cameras and  more pictures from the game can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

What this meant was that Melksham Town now needed to win their one remaining game away to Radstock Town to force a play-off for the league title. This game took place the following Monday night and it was to prove to be a good night for Melksham. Dean Ranger opened the scoring with a brilliant, chipped effort from the edge of the box in the first half. Ian Dowell then extended the lead a few minutes later, with a low shot from 25 yards that deceived the keeper to give Melksham a 2-0 half time lead. Radstock came into to the game a bit more in the second half but without getting a goal that would give them a foothold back into the game. Melksham then ended any hopes of a comeback when Wayne Wheeler scored a third for the visitors with less than five minutes remaining, the Radstock keeper parring Wheeler’s effort into his own net to wrap up the win for Melksham. The win saw Melksham move level on points with Devizes after both teams had completed their 16 fixtures meaning a play-off is now needed to decide honours. That play-off is set to take place this coming Monday at Green Lane, Devizes with an 8:30pm kick-off with penalties possibly being needed if matters cannot be decided in normal time. Melksham will be looking to defend the title they won last season, and also win the league for the third time, whilst Devizes will be aiming for that first title success. Expect another close game.

The other game in the past fortnight had seen Radstock Town warm up for that encounter with Melksham Town with a 2-0 away win at Warminster Town thanks to goals from Alastair Cox and Simon Millard.

North Wiltshire Division

With the League title already decided focus in the North Division moved to the battle for runners-up. With Redhouse already guaranteed at least a play-off for second spot, the question was whether a play-off would in fact be needed with Cricklade Town requiring to defeat Purton Kingsdown in their final game of the season to require that extra game. In the end that game against Purton Kingsdown did not take place, with Purton Kingsdown once again unable to field a side. They also failed to raise a side for their other two remaining league fixtures and the Discipline Committee has now awarded all three games to their opponents meaning the Play-off will now be needed with Redhouse set to play Cricklade Town this coming Wednesday at Moredon, kick-off 9:00pm. With Purton Kingsdown Vets having now failed to raise a side on seven occasions this season their ongoing participation in the league next season will no doubt be up for discussion with new sides having applied to join the division.

 Vets' Roundup Weeks 34

Melksham Champions Again in Mid Wilts,

Cricklade Town Runners-up in North

Melksham Town Vets,  Mid Wiltshire Division Champions after their play-off win

Mid Wiltshire Division

Last Monday night saw the play-off for the Mid Wiltshire Division league title after both Melksham Town, the reigning champions, and Devizes Town had finished level on 45 points after their 16 league fixtures. Melksham’s 1-0 win away at Devizes at the end of April inflicting a first defeat of the season on Devizes in their final game necessitating the requirement for a play-off to decide matters.

The play-off took place at Green Lane, home of the Wiltshire FA, and drew a sizeable crowd for a veterans’ fixture. The crowd were to be entertained with a extremely high standard close encounter between two very good veterans’ sides. It was Melksham Town who went in front early on, a foul inside the box seeing a penalty awarded to Melksham. Aaron Ledgister, who had scored that goal to inflict that earlier defeat on Devizes, took responsibility for the penalty. Whilst the Devizes keeper guessed right the penalty was well placed giving the keeper no chance as Melksham went 1-0 up. They then doubled their lead thanks to goal number 27 of the season from the division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon, the Devizes keeper failing to hold onto a ball into the box allowing Higdon to nip in and score to make it 2-0 to Melksham. Devizes pushed hard to try and get back into the game and were rewarded with a well taken goal from Mark Dolman five minutes before half time.

The early stages of the second half saw Devizes Town play with a numerical advantage with Melksham Town having a player sent off for a second yellow card enabling Devizes to push hard for an equaliser. They went close on several occasions but couldn’t find a way through. Numbers were leveled up when they also had a player sent off for a second yellow card offence.  At the other end Melksham always looked dangerous on the break, with Higdon looking a threat, but there were to be no further goals as Melksham avoided conceding again to make it back-to-back titles. Congratulations to Melksham Town on their title win and to Devizes for going so close to lifting the title, they were effectively three minutes from the title, that late winner for Melksham three minutes from time from a free kick resulting in the need for a play-off. The winners and runners up medals were presented by League Chairman Brian Busson assisted by the Veterans' Referees Secretary Duncan Clarke.

Both David Giles and Mark Smedley were at the game with their cameras and  more pictures from the game can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

Aaron Ledgister fires Melksham ahead from the penalty spot

Gary Higdon who scored the second goal which proved to be the winner

North Wiltshire Division

With the League title already decided in the North Wiltshire Division, with both Cricklade Town and Redhouse finishing level on points, the final game of the season in the division was a play-off to decide runners-up position. It was to prove to be Cricklade's night as they claimed that second spot in the North Wilts Division thanks to a 3-0 win. A goal after just seven minutes from Ben Snook gave Cricklade a 1-0 half time lead. Their second came around the same time in the second half through Nick Craft and they sealed matters with a third five minutes from time, Marcus Hall with the goal. Tempers flared late on, leaving the Referee no option than to show two red cards, one for each side. The runners up medals were presented to Cricklade Town by Duncan Clarke, Referee Appointments Secretary for the two Veterans Divisions.

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