Wiltshire Senior League

Corsham Print

Wiltshire Senior League

Archive - Season 2019-20 Round-ups

Premier Division

New League President Announced

25 July 2019

Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson

The Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League are very pleased to announce that Mr Ken Clarke from Chippenham has accepted our offer to become President of the League in succession to the late Bill Shail.

Ken has been Secretary of the Step 5/6 Western League for many years. Prior to his Western League days, Ken served on the Wiltshire FA and was also a respected referee both on the Wiltshire League and higher up the league pyramid. Ken will bring a great deal of knowledge and experience to this League and will no doubt be a useful sounding board to any of our clubs wishing to progress through the National League System and to the League Committee in our dealings with the Step 5/6 Leagues into which we ourselves feed.

In other Committee news Steve Strong has decided to stand down from the League Committee creating another vacancy should anyone be interested in joining the Committee. Meanwhile two stalwarts of the League are busy ahead of the new season. Brian Busson, Registration Secretary has now served on the League Committee for some 20 seasons and is currently busy with the registrations for the new season. With additional U18 and Veteran’s sides to register this season alongside some new enhanced processes driven by the FA, clubs are asked to process their registrations on the Whole Game System in good order ahead of the season. Phil Cook, the Fixtures Secretary, is now preparing the fixtures for the 44th consecutive season. With the missing piece of information regarding the Step 5/6 clubs whose Development sides play in our league having been received on Tuesday, the fixtures for August are scheduled to be published shortly with Full Time to be updated for the new season in the coming days.

Premier Division

Pre-Season Results

Known pre-season results involving sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.

Tuesday 02 July 2019
8 TRG BN Reme FC 2 Shrewton Utd 4

Saturday 06 July 2019
Bradford Town 4 Trowbridge Town 1

Corsham Town Res 7 Staverton United 4

Cricklade Town 3 Calne Town 4
Purton 3 Shrivenham 5

Tuesday 09 July 2019
8 TRG BN Reme 3 Corsham Town Res 1
Heytesbury 1 Shrewton United 7

Kintbury Rangers 4 Lambourn Sports 0

Wednesday 10th July 2019
Highworth Town Res 2 Purton 1

Malmesbury Vics Dev 1 Gala Wilton 7

Westbury United 3 Trowbridge Town 0

Saturday 13 July 2019
Andover New Street 4 Shrewton United 0

Cirencester T Dev 1 Royal W.B. Town Dev 1

Cricklade Town 0 Royal W.Bassett Town 8

Kintbury Rangers 1 Laverstock & Ford 3

Marlborough Town 2 Shrivenham 9

Stratton Juniors 1 Highworth Town Res 1

Sunday 14 July 2019

Horspath 8 Cricklade Town 0

Tuesday 16 July 2019
Corsham Town 4 Royal WB Town Dev 1

Kintbury Rangers 2 Hungerford T Acad. 3

Melksham Town Res 0 Devizes Town 0

Wednesday 17 July 2019
Corsham Town Res 1 Chesterton AFC 2
Cricklade Town 3 Minety 0
Pewsey Vale 1 Purton 2

Thursday 18 July 2019

Gillingham Town 4 Holt FC 1

Stratton Juniors 6 Shrivenham Dev 2

Saturday 20 July 2019
Calne Town 2 Wroughton 2

Corsham Town 6 Melksham Town Res 0

Frome Collegians 0 Castle Cary AFC 2

Kintbury Rangers 4 Pewsey Vale 2

Lambourn Sports 3 Marlborough Town 3

Radstock Town 3 Trowbridge Town 1

Tuesday 23rd July 2019
8 TRG BN Reme 2 Royal WB Town Dev 0

Cricklade Town 3 Shrivenham Dev 3

Heytesbury 4 Holt 1

Malmesbury Victoria 5 Purton 1

Wednesday 24th July 2019

Glastonbury AFC 4 Frome Collegians 2

Tadley Calleva Res 2 Shrewton United 5

Thursday 25 July 2019
8 TRG BN Reme 3 Malmesbury Vics Dev 2

Saturday 27 July 2019

AFC Brislington 3 Frome Collegians 3

Cricklade T 1 Wokingham & Emmbrook 4

Devizes Town 3 Trowbridge Town 3

Kintbury Rangers 1 Amesbury Town 1

Letcombe 2 Wroughton 2

New College 1 Marlborough Town 2
Purton 4 Nalgo Sports 3

Royal W.Bassett T Dev 4 Holt FC 1

Monday 29 July 2019

Romsey Town 4 Shrewton United 3

Tuesday 30 July 2019
Calne Town 3 Trowbridge Town 1

Frome Collegians 2 Westfield 5

Kintbury Rangers 6 Kingsclere 3

Marlborough Town 3 Swindon AFC 0

Wednesday 31 July 2019
Laverstock & Ford 3 Cricklade Town 2

(Aban due to injury)

Malmesbury Victoria Dev 5 Minety 3

Oldland 1 Corsham Town Res 4

Thursday 1st August 2019
Blanford Utd 2 Shrewton Utd 3

Cirencester Town Dev 1 Purton 1

Nalgo Sports 2 Marlborough Town 2

Saturday 03 August 2019

Faringdon Town 2 Wroughton 2

Holt 3 Frome Town Sports 3

Kintbury Rangers 0 Newbury Town 1

Marlborough Town 3 Priory Vale 1

Pewsey Vale Dev 2 Clanfield 2

Tuesday 06 August 2019

Corsham Town Res 4 Bemerton H H Res 0

Cricklade Town 3 Ashton Keynes 3

(Cricklade won 7-6 on pens)

Frome Collegians 4 Staverton Utd 1

Heytesbury 3 Trowbridge Town 2

Ludgershall Sports 2 Broughton Sports 1

Pewsey Vale Dev 2 Shrivenham Dev 4

Wednesday 07 August 2019

Malmesbury Vics Dev 2 Chesterton 1

Thursday 08 August 2019

Abingdon Utd Dev 7 Wroughton 2

Corsham Town Res 5 Westhill Sports 3

Ludgershall Sports 1 Downton Dev 9

Saturday 10 August 2019

Highworth Town 0 Wroughton 2

Holt 2 Paragon United 0

Letcombe 1 Cricklade Town 0

Ludgershall Sports 2 Tisbury Utd 5

QK FC Res 2 Shrewton United 3

Stratton Juniors 5 Royal W.B. Town Dev 1

Monday 12 August 2019

Faringdon Town 2 Cricklade Town 4

(FMT Cup)

(Cricklade into the Semi-Finals)

Tuesday 13 August 2019

Frome Collegians 1 Pilton Utd 1

Pewsey Vale Dev 5 Bassett Bulldogs 4

Wednesday 14 August 2019

Corsham Town Res 0 Cribbs Res 1

Kintbury Rangers 5 Lambourn Sports 0

Malmesbury Vics D 13 Marlborough T Res 0

Alan Eastwood

Purton FC

All at the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Purton FC Secretary Alan Eastwood. Throughout the county of Wiltshire, Alan was rightly known as Mr Purton having first joined the club back in 1972 and remained with them for 47 years until his sad passing on the eve of the 2019-20 Season.

Despite serious ill health Alan had continued to fulfil the Club Secretary role at the club and carried out the role with such skill and diligence that he was honoured with the Wiltshire Senior League’s Club Secretary of the Season award in Season 2017-18. As a player Alan had formed a successful goal scoring partnership with Allan Coole back in the 1970’s. Whilst Coole was invariably Purton’s top scorer Alan was himself Purton’s top goal scorer in Season 1974-75 hitting 24 goals that season. Alan went on to score 125 goals for the club before hanging up his boots and taking on the administration at Purton, holding down just about every role in the club since and becoming the recognised face of Purton Football Club to everyone in Wiltshire and beyond.

Alan was rightly proud of the season his Purton side went the whole league season unbeaten in Season 2003-4 to win the Hellenic League Division 1 West title, having previously lifted the Division 1 title back in 1995-96. Alan’s match day programme for Purton became renowned for the impressive historical information it contained, with Alan having kept a copy of each season’s final programme going back to when he first joined the club enabling him to trace past results and reports for his programmes.

Alan will be deeply missed by all those in the Wiltshire football family but none more so than at Purton the club he served with such dignity and esteem for 47 years.

Purton Win Big On Emotional Afternoon

17 August 2019

This weekend's opening day of the 2019-20 Season was overshadowed by the sad passing of Purton Secretary Alan Eastwood this week. Purton wished for their game against Pewsey Vale Development to still go ahead, with a minute’s silence held as a mark of respect to Alan at the Red House before the game, with a similar mark of respect taking place at all the other grounds in the league hosting fixtures today. On what would have been a tough day for all involved with the club, Purton manager Liam Lewis and his side did the club proud on the opening day of the season as they ran out 9-1 winners over Pewsey Vale Development. Pewsey actually went in front through Corey Cullen but after that Purton turned on the style to run out comfortable winners in the end. Last season’s top scorer Will Backhouse carried on from where he left off last season firing a hat-trick, there was two goals a piece for both Daren Regis and Jamie Tuck, with further goals from Steve Keir and Jack Duckers completing the scoring.

Wroughton were scheduled to open their defence of the title with a trip to new side Holt FC, promoted to the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League after winning the Trowbridge & District League last season. Unfortunately, heavy overnight rain meant that the Westbury United ground, where Holt will play their home games, was deemed unplayable by the home club and the teams were left frustrated on the opening day and will see action for the first time in midweek.

Last season's runners-up Kintbury Rangers had an opening day meet up with Malmesbury Victoria Dev, a side who had left the Recreation Ground last season with a point after a hard fought 2-2 draw. This time round there was to be no repeat for Troy Prentice and Dave Sheppard’s young side as they were well and truly beaten by a rampant Kintbury side. First half goals from Jamie Gannon, new signing Russell Benham, Shaun Thorp, Harry Way and two from Tom Mahoney saw Kintbury 6-0 up at the break. In the second half Kintbury did not let up and last season’s leading scorer in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League Shaun Thorp fired a second half hat-trick to make it four for him on the opening day and Harry Way with his second of the game completed the scoring as Kintbury ran out 10-0 winners.

In what looked on paper to be the top match of the day in the opening round of fixtures, last season’s third place finishers Shrewton United made the trip to Cricklade in the knowledge that they had lost both games to Cricklade last season. With manager Joe Sheldrake unable to take his place in the dugout, his assistant Geoff Jenks took charge of the Shrewton side. The game lived up to expectations as two of the fancied sides delivered up a nine-goal thriller. Cricklade came flying out of the blocks in the first half and scored three times in the opening 15 minutes before Dean Smith pulled one back for Shrewton. Cricklade restored their three-goal lead to go into the half-time break 4-1 to the good courtesy of goals from Joe Broadbank, Elliott Corp, Max Scholefield and Jason Tatum. Thinking that they had the game won Cricklade took their foot off the gas and Shrewton came storming back into the match, scoring three unanswered goals from new signing Saul Johnson, Steve Holvey and Charlie Utterson to get back on level terms at 4-4. They then twice hit the post as they went close to going in front for the first time in the match only to then concede a late winner, Joe Broadbank netting the winner for Cricklade.

Two goalkeepers in action in the Cricklade v Shrewton game (pictures courtesy of Brian Busson)

Trowbridge Town had ended last season on a high with a 14-game unbeaten run that had seen them not lose in 2019 ahead of the visit of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev to Woodmarsh. By way of added interest to today’s encounter Royal Wootton Bassett Town were the last side to inflict a defeat on Trowbridge when they won 3-2 at the Gerard Buxton Ground back in December. No such repeat today though as Trowbridge extended the run to 15 games, racing into a 4-0 lead at the break. However, after a poor showing in the first half, Royal Wootton Bassett Town put in a much improved second half showing as Trowbridge eventually ran out 6-1 winners. On target for the home side were Jordan Gullis and Aaron Masson, who both bagged a brace, Alex Pippard and Ben Ryder. The consolation for the visitors was scored by substitute Tom Phillips.

Frome Collegians, promoted from the Mid Somerset League at the end of last season, where they had achieved a remarkable treble for the second consecutive season, winning the Premier Division of that league and also winning the league’s knock-out cup and county cup competitions, opened life in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with a visit from Corsham Town Res. Last season Corsham had remained unbeaten at home but their away day blues had meant they had been unable to finish in the top five. If the opening day is anything to go by, Jamie Moss’s Corsham side look to be a much more robust proposition on their travels this season. Daniel King had a majestic first half for the visitors, putting them 1-0 with a free kick from distance. Frome Collegians got back on level terms only for King to restore Corsham’s advantage when he got on the end of a Matt Ralph free kick. Frome Collegians once again got back on level terms, the two Frome goals coming through Lewis Perrett and Matt Parsons. In an entertaining first half Corsham then went back in front through an Ed McCormack goal before King completed his hat-trick with a powerful header to give his side a two goal advantage for the first time in the match and the two sides went into the half time break with Corsham 4-2 to the good. It was a tight affair in the second half but a first league goal for his new club from Ryan Withers completed a 5-2 away win for Corsham.

Another side who last season had been almost invincible at home, winning 11 of their 14 home league games and losing just once, but were not so good on their travels were Melksham Town Res who made the journey to Ludgershall Sports in the knowledge that Ludgershall was one of a number of grounds where they had come unstuck last season when they had lost to a solitary David Cotter strike. Like Corsham, Melksham will be happy with their opening afternoon’s work on their travels as three first half goals secured all three points in an opening day 3-0 win. On target for Melksham were Jake Hutchings, Conner McKay and Dan Sibley. New signing from Pewsey Vale Harvey Flippance was man of the match on his league debut for Melksham, despite missing a penalty for the visitors.

Another new side making their debut in the league were Swindon based Stratton Juniors who played host to Marlborough Town at their Meadowcroft Ground. In difficult conditions a solitary first half strike from Marlborough’s Christopher Deane was all that separated the two sides as Marlborough left with all three points, getting their season off to a winning start for the first time since Season 2016-17, following a disciplined display. Stratton, like the other new side Frome Collegians, will look to get their first points on the board in midweek when they make the short trip to Purton.

Premier Division League Results
Saturday 17th August 2019
Cricklade Town 5 Shrewton United 4
Frome Collegians 2 Corsham Town Res 5
Holt v Wroughton - postponed
Kintbury Rangers 10 Malmesbury Vics D 0
Ludgershall Sports 0 Melksham T Res. 3
Purton 9 Pewsey Vale Dev. 1
Stratton Juniors 0 Marlborough Town 1

Trowbridge Town 6 Royal W. Bassett D 1

Leading Strikers Amongst the Goals in Midweek

20 August 2019

Shaun Thorp (Kintbury) and Shane Hibbert (Wroughton) who were once again amongst the goals for their respective sides

After Saturday’s frustrating postponement, Wroughton finally got their title defence under way on Tuesday night when they made the short journey down the A419 to take on a Cricklade side who had opened their season with a 5-4 win over Shrewton. It was another tight affair at the Cricklade Leisure Centre for the first hour of the match but Wroughton stepped up a gear in the second half and eventually ran out 6-1 winners with a flurry of goals in the final half hour to send out a strong message to the rest of the league that they mean to hang on to their crown. Star of the night for Wroughton was the player who has plundered 62 goals in the past two seasons, Shane Hibbert getting his season off to a flying start with 4 goals. The other two goals for Wroughton came from Aaron Maximen and Riegan Cook, Jonathan Peachey-Score with the Cricklade goal.

Kintbury Rangers are another side who already look like they mean business again this season, after hitting double figures on Saturday, they had another big win against Ludgershall Sports to head the initial league table. Another of the league’s top strikers Shaun Thorp smashed four first half goals to give Kintbury a comfortable lead at half time. After the break Thorp scored his fifth of the game, and his ninth of the season in just two games, whilst new signing Russell Benham completed the scoring with a sublime finish to notch his second of the season as Kintbury ran out comfortable 6-0 winners.

The big match of the night saw two sides who won on Saturday meet up at the InfiLED Stadium, where Trowbridge Town were Melksham Town Res’ visitors. Trowbridge went into the game on the back of a 15-game unbeaten run which had seen them undefeated in the 2019 calendar year. However, Trowbridge had lost heavily on their last two visits to the InfiLED and knew they were in for a difficult night but there was to be no such repeat this season as they became the third side to make it two wins from two games as they edged it by two goals to one and extended that unbeaten run to 16 games. An own goal plus one for Aaron Masson securing the points for Trowbridge, Conner McKay replying for Melksham Town Res.

Purton look like they are going to be a force to reckon with this coming season. After Saturday’s 9-1 opening day win over Pewsey Vale Dev they played host to one of the new sides, Stratton Juniors. Purton continued their good start to the playing season as they made it two wins from two courtesy of goals from Jamie Tuck, Chris Avery and Tom McCulloch in a 3-0 win at the Red House. Stratton remain without a point or a goal from their opening two fixtures as they embark on their first campaign of senior football but will hope to put that right on Saturday when they entertain Shrewton United.

Two new sides to the league, Frome Collegians and Holt, met at the Old Showfield in Frome with both sides looking for their first points of the season. Frome had lost to a strong Corsham Town Res side on Saturday, whilst Holt’s game at Westbury had been postponed due to the heavy rain on Friday night. It was to be Holt’s night as two goals from Scott Baker secured a narrow 2-1 win in a good game between the two new sides. Whilst Frome had plenty of possession Holt defended very well and took their chances to edge out the home side whose goal was scored by Lewis Perrett.

Marlborough Town travelled to the Gerard Buxton Ground looking to avenge last season’s heavy 9-2 defeat at the hands of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development having opened their season with a 1-0 away win at new side Stratton Juniors. It was much tighter this time round at the Gerard Buxton Ground, as goals from Mani Roper and Charlie McCuish gave the home side a 2-1 interval lead. Young McCuish, who was last season’s top scorer for Bassett’s U18 North Wilts League side, scored his second of the game after the break to put the home side 3-1 up and then Marlborough’s cause was not helped when they were reduced to 10 men. Despite the numerical disadvantage Marlborough got themselves back in the game with two goals of their own but it was to be the home side who took all three points when young McCuish completed his hat-trick to make the final score 4-3 to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev. Aaron Presley, Chris Deane and Jordan Ball with the Marlborough goals.

Action from the RWBT Dev v Marlborough game sees hat-trick hero Charlie McCuish attacking the Marlborough goal (picture courtesy of Steve Green)

Two sides who were both looking to pick themselves up after opening day defeats met at Pewsey where Shrewton United were the visitors. After a poor first half on Saturday, Shrewton had trailed 4-1 at the break but then scored three to draw level with Cricklade only to suffer the agony of conceding a late winner. In this midweek encounter at Pewsey the visitors Shrewton get off to a storming start as Charlie Utterson put them 1-0 up in the first few minutes. Conner Cutler then made it 2-0 when he scored from a free kick. Former Westbury United striker Saul Johnson made it 3-0 from the penalty spot and Dom Jackson then added a fourth before the break. Another early goal at the start of a half, this time from Tyren Harrington, extended the visitors lead straight after the restart but a better second half performance from Pewsey saw them limit the visitors to just one more goal, Harrington getting his second of the match to leave the final score 6-0 in Shrewton’s favour.

There was one game played on Wednesday night when Corsham Town Res, who had remained unbeaten at the Southbank all of last season, started their home programme with a visit from Malmesbury Victoria Dev who had suffered a heavy opening day defeat at Kintbury. Corsham carried on where they left off last season as they became the fourth side to move onto six points from their opening two fixtures. On target for Corsham in this one were Luca Consentino, Ed McCormack, Chay Forrester, Zac Hillier and last season’s top scorer Dan Lardner, Gareth Jones scoring for Malmesbury Victoria.

Action from Corsham Town Res 5-1 win over Malmesbury Victoria Dev

(picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

Premier Division Midweek Results

Tuesday 20th August 2019
Cricklade Town 1 Wroughton 6
Frome Collegians 1 Holt 2
Kintbury Rangers 6 Ludgershall Sports 0
Melksham T Res. 1 Trowbridge Town 2
Pewsey Vale Dev. 0 Shrewton United 6
Purton 3 Stratton Juniors 0
Royal W. Bassett Dev. 4 Marlborough T 3

Wednesday 21st August 2019

Corsham Town Res 5 Malmesbury Vics D 1

Marlborough Town End Trowbridge Unbeaten Run

24 August 2019

Picture courtesy of Steve Green

Whilst the two title favourites were both maintaining their 100% records the headline makers on a hot late summer’s afternoon were Marlborough Town who became the first side to defeat Trowbridge Town in 2019, ending their unbeaten run which had stretched to 16 games. Marlborough made a good start to the game and had a couple of chances early on, but they eventually broke the deadline with half an hour gone when Aaron Presley was pulled back and a penalty awarded. Presley took the penalty himself and safely tucked it away to make it 1-0. Marlborough extended their lead on the stroke of half time when Luke Connolly beat the Trowbridge keeper to a free kick heading the ball into the net to make it 2-0 to Marlborough at the break. Second half saw Trowbridge up their game looking to extend that long unbeaten run but some resolute defending from Marlborough kept the visitors out until 15 minutes from time, when Aaron Masson scored his fourth goal of the season. Trowbridge pushed for an equaliser and despite going close on a few occasions Marlborough held out to take all three points in what has been a good start to the season for them.

New side Frome Collegians have started life in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with two defeats but in both games had put in decent performances as they found their feet at the higher level. A good first half showing at home to the league leaders Kintbury Rangers saw them leading 1-0 at the break courtesy of a Ross Knapton goal. It could have been even more, but the home side missed a penalty as Kintbury found themselves up against it for the first time this season. A much improved second half saw them draw level through the prolific Shaun Thorp, who took his goal tally into double figures in only the third match of the season. Josh Davis then put Kintbury in front for the first time in the match and that man Thorp then made sure of the points with his second of the game as Kintbury ran out 3-1 winners to maintain their 100% record at the top of the table.

It is Purton who sit in second place in the table but they had to settle for a point from their visit to Melksham Town Reserves following a 1-1 draw. Goals in this one coming from Sam English for Purton, who got on the end of a Joe Dorey corner, and new signing Harvey Flippance replying for the home side.

After the afternoon's results, the only other side with a 100% record now are reigning champions Wroughton who were away at another side who had such a record at the start of the day, Corsham Town Reserves. In a tight affair Wroughton became the first side to win at Corsham in the league for over a year but the win came in controversial circumstances, with Shane Hibbert scoring from the penalty spot after the award of a hotly disputed penalty. The win left Wroughton in fifth spot with a game in hand on the four sides above them.

It was also a tight affair at Holt where Malmesbury Victoria Development were the visitors. After conceding 15 goals in their opening two fixtures Malmesbury manager Troy Prentice was certainly happy with the clean sheet that his side kept in a rare 0-0 draw at this level to pick up their first point of the season. Both sides had chances to win it but in the end had to settle for a point a piece. Holt remain unbeaten having opened with a win in midweek over Frome Collegians.

Cricklade Town became the second side this season to hit double figures after they won 10-3 away at Pewsey Vale Development. Star of the show was striker Jonathan Peachey-Score who hit a double hat-trick, Jason Tatum bagged a brace and there was one a piece for Tom Arliss and manager Craig Kent in the big win which put Cricklade back into a positive goal difference after the midweek defeat at home to Wroughton. The win lifted Cricklade into seventh place, joining six other sides on six points. For Pewsey Vale, with the first team taking a few players for their Wessex League game, manager Neil Lee was another manager seeing action as he was forced to come out of retirement to play on the bank holiday weekend. All three Pewsey goals were scored by Taylor Edwards.

Last season’s top scorers Shrewton United were once again amongst the goals, having already hit ten ahead of their trip to another new side Stratton Juniors. An impressive first half display saw them lead 5-0 at the break, two goals from Jake Watson and one each for Steve Holvey, Saul Johnson and Alistair Carvel giving Shrewton that impressive interval lead. However, that was to be the end of the scoring as a much improved second half from Stratton saw them prevent any further damage, but they were unable to notch that first goal of the season of their own and will be hoping that will come in midweek when they entertain Wroughton.

Another side who are yet to score in their opening three fixtures are Ludgershall Sports. They found themselves 2-0 down at the break against visitors Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development, Jack Sanderson with both goals for the visitors. Ludgershall were unable to turn it around in the second period and further goals from captain Nick Mason and Logan Plumley secured a 4-0 away win for Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development, their second win of the week. Ludgershall will hope to get their first goal when they make the short trip to Pewsey in midweek.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 24th August 2019
Corsham Town Res. 0 Wroughton 1

Frome Collegians 1 Kintbury Rangers 3

Holt 0 Malmesbury Vics Dev. 0
Ludgershall Spts 0 Royal W. Bassett D 4
Marlborough Town 2 Trowbridge Town 1
Melksham Town Res. 1 Purton 1
Pewsey Vale Dev 3 Cricklade Town 10
Stratton Juniors 0 Shrewton United 5

Wroughton & Kintbury Win In Close Encounters

27 August 2019

Action from Stratton Juniors v Wroughton (Picture courtesy of Registration Secretary Brian Busson)

Frome Collegians were celebrating their first points of the season in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League on Tuesday night as they came out on top in their first derby fixture against Trowbridge Town, who have now lost two on the bounce after seeing their unbeaten run end on Saturday. It was a come from behind victory as well for Frome as Jacob Sainsbury had put Trowbridge in front in the first half and the home side led 1-0 at the break. Frome got back on level terms when Laurence Ludgate scored with a header. Barry Sandquest then fired in the winner, getting on the end of a through ball from Matt March, to give them the local bragging rights over their near neighbours from up the A361. Frome moved up a place in the table as a result of the win whilst Trowbridge dropped to 7th spot.

Wroughton maintained their 100% record but were pushed all the way by another new side, Stratton Juniors, who put in their best performance of the season so far and went close to registering their first points of the season against the reigning champions. All three new sides are clearly now finding their feet after a few games and it shouldn’t be long before Stratton also pick up their first win of the season if they can continue to perform as they did on Tuesday night. Wroughton’s goals were scored by Jordan Lea and Tom Price in their 2-1 win.

The third new side in the league, Holt, lost their unbeaten record when they went down 2-0 at home to much fancied Shrewton United, but once again Holt pushed one of the title favourites all the way. Two goals from striker Saul Johnson secured the points for the visitors, taking Shrewton’s new signing to five for the season. Shrewton stay third after their latest win.

League leaders Kintbury led 1-0 at the break at home to Marlborough Town courtesy of a Harry Way goal midway through the half. In the end that solitary strike from Way, his third of the season, was all that separated the two sides at the end of 90 minutes as neither side was able to find the net in the second half. Marlborough pushed hard for the equaliser but were unable to find the net as Kintbury maintained their 100% start to the season.

Purton stayed in touch with the league leaders with a 2-0 away win at Malmesbury Victoria Development to register their third win in four unbeaten games. Both Purton goals were scored in this one by Daren Regis, his second brace of the season.

The battle of last season’s top two Res/Dev sides at the InfilLED was another close encounter, decided by a solitary goal, with Melksham Town Res putting the ball in their own net to give visitors Corsham Town Res all three points. Corsham sit 4th in the early league table after this latest win, with Melksham in 10th spot.

A late winner from Dale Richards gave Royal Wootton Bassett Town, fielding a side primarily containing first team players, a narrow 2-1 win over visitors Cricklade Town, Alfie Presley with the other Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal. Jonathan Peachey-Score, with his eighth of the season scoring for the visitors Cricklade.

The battle at the bottom between Ludgershall Sports and Pewsey Vale Development was postponed.

Wins for Purton, Shrewton, Corsham & Wroughton

31 August 2019

Shrewton United picture before their 1-0 win against Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development

After the weekend’s action Kintbury Rangers remain top of the league but they lost their 100% record as they had to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw at Cricklade Town. It had started well for the leaders as they went in front after just 30 seconds, Josh Davis with his second of the season. Cricklade got themselves back into the match with an equaliser from Jason Tatum to go in level at the break. Both sides looked for the winner in the second half but Cricklade’s cause was not helped when they were reduced to ten men, but in the end neither side were able to find the net again and it was honours even and the points shared.

Purton continued their good start to the season and remain unbeaten, joining Kintbury on 13 points at the top of the table, after a 3-0 home win at the Red House against Holt. On target for Purton in this one were Darren Regis, with his fifth of the season, last seasons top scorer Will Backhouse with his fourth of the season and Jack Duckers. Purton remain second on goal difference.

Corsham Town Reserves moved up into third spot after an emphatic home win over Stratton Juniors following an impressive second half showing at the Southbank. Star of the show was Jamal Chevolleau who helped himself to a hat-trick, the experienced Dan Lardner bagged a brace and there was one a piece for Nathan Phillimore, Ryan Withers and Darrin Moss. Stratton’s first was scored by Scot Garrett and Danny Hale with a free kick fired in their second.

It was a tight affair at the Gerard Buxton between Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev and Shrewton United who were both looking for their fourth win of the season. Matty Bennett went close to breaking the deadlock for the home side on 15 minutes but Shrewton keeper Reece Knowles pulled off a fine save from Bennett’s powerful shot. On the half hour mark Shrewton had a strong appeal for a penalty for handball but the decision did not go their way. A couple of chances just before the break for both sides, firstly Knowles pulled off another great save to deny Charlie Evatt, whilst at the other end Adam House in the Bassett goal saved well from a free kick from Conor Cutler to leave it goal less at the break. The deadlock was broken immediately after the interval when captain Steven Holvey created space for himself in the box from a free kick and headed powerfully into the net to put Shrewton in front. The closest the home side came to getting an equaliser was when Matty Bennett hit the post on 66 minutes. Saul Johnson went close at the other end with a shot minutes later but there was to be no further goals as Shrewton ran out 1-0 winners in a good game of football. Despite the win Shrewton dropped to fourth on goal difference.

Wroughton are now the only side with a 100% record in the Premier Division after their 6-0 away win at Ludgershall Sports. Kyle Parker set Wroughton on their way. Ollie While doubled the lead before Tyler Wilkinson bagged a brace to make it 4-0. Brother Callum then got in on the scoring act, with Shane Hibbert also scoring to take his total to the season to six, to complete the scoring.

Melksham Town Reserves recorded their biggest win of the season as they ran out 7-1 winners against Malmesbury Victoria Development. Two goals for Oliver Sterling plus one a piece for Andy Sandell, Owen Pearce, Harvey Flippance, Seth Wain and Sam Hedges in this one for Melksham. George Stone with the consolation goal for Malmesbury Vics Dev.

The game between Marlborough Town and Frome Collegians finished 0-0. It was Frome who went closest to breaking the deadlock, twice hitting the post and also missing from the penalty spot in a game in which both defences prevailed to ensure a share of the points.

The game between Trowbridge Town and Pewsey Vale Development was postponed with the scheduled visitors to Woodmarsh unable to raise a side.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 31st August

Corsham Town Res. 8 Stratton Juniors 2
Cricklade Town 1 Kintbury Rangers 1
Ludgershall Sports 0 Wroughton 6
Marlborough Town 0 Frome Collegians 0
Melksham T Res. 7 Malmesbury Vics. D1
Purton 3 Holt 0
Royal W. Bassett Dev. 0 Shrewton Utd 1
Trowbridge Town v Pewsey Vale Dev.- Postponed

Top Four All Drop Points

7th September 2019

Action from game between Kintbury Rangers and RWBT Dev (picture courtesy of Brian Busson)

The big fixture of the day was at the Red House when second placed Purton entertained third placed Corsham Town Reserves. Purton made a great start to the game and were in front within five minutes of the start. Will Backhouse played in centre forward Jack Duckers with a great through ball and Duckers slotted the ball under the Corsham keeper Joe King to make it 1-0 to the home side. The closest that Corsham got to getting back on level terms in the first period was on fifteen minutes when Jamie Cunning got behind the Purton defence on the left and lobbed a shot towards the goal but unfortunately for the visitors it went just wide of the right-hand post. Purton doubled their lead just after the half hour mark and once again it was that man Duckers. The ball broke to him on the left-hand side of the Corsham box after the visitors failed to clear and he produced a sublime chip over the Corsham keeper King to make it 2-0 to a dominant Purton. Will Backhouse had a couple pf chances on the stroke of half time to extend the lead for Purton. He firstly fired just wide two minutes before the break from the edge of the box and then another long-range effort just shaved the cross bar. It had been a poor first half showing from the visitors and a stern half time team talk from manager Jamie Moss certainly did the trick along with the introduction of U18 player Tom Tanner who came on at half time and had an impressive debut as Corsham Town Reserves came back in the second half scoring two answered goals to secure a share of the points. The first came through Ryan Withers and just a few minutes later it was back level as a shot from Dan Lardner took an awkward bounce to deceive Purton keeper Luke Kuczynski to make it 2-2. In the closing stages Joe King pulled off a fine save to deny the home side who also thought they should have a penalty in injury time when Tom McCulloch was upended in the box, but the decision was a free kick to Corsham and McCulloch was booked for simulation as the game finished two each.

Purton before their game with Corsham Town Res

League leaders Kintbury Rangers were at home against a Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development side who they had defeated in all four previous meetings between the sides, including an 8-1 in the corresponding fixture last season. It was a different story this time round as the teams turned around goal less at the break in what had been an even first half. Whilst Kintbury had a lot of possession it was the visitors who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first 45 minutes as Lewis Sopp made a great block just before the half time whistle to prevent the leaders from going behind. It was the visitors who eventually did break the deadlock though as Matt Bennett was brought down in the box and Gio Wrona slotted home the resulting penalty. Kintbury pushed for an equaliser and it finally came three minutes from time following a goalmouth scramble from a set piece into the box which saw Alex Smith get the final touch to make it 1-1 and the points were shared.

Action from game between Kintbury Rangers and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev and Kintbury team photo (pictures courtesy of Brian Busson)

With all of the top three dropping points Shrewton United, who started the day in fourth place having won four games on the bounce, had the chance to take over at the top of the table but blew that chance. Playing at home for the first time this season due to cricket, they went down 4-2 against a Trowbridge Town side who bounced back from a couple of defeats to take all three points. Star of the show for Trowbridge was Alex Pippard who fired a hat-trick, Jordan Gullis with the other Trowbridge goal to give them their first win over Shrewton since season 2015-16. Despite the defeat Saul Johnson continued his fine goalscoring form for Shrewton scoring his sixth of the season, the other Shrewton goal coming courtesy of an own goal.

After the dust had settled on those three results it would have been Wroughton who would have been the happiest with the days outcome as the four teams who had started the day above them in the table had all dropped points and they climbed a place in the table on goal difference as they moved up to fourth spot without playing a game.

Two sides who started the day level on seven points after their opening five games met at Marlborough Town where Melksham Town Reserves were the visitors. Marlborough had started the season in reasonable form but had something of an off day going down 6-1, Craig Simmons with their consolation goal. On target for Melksham Town Reserves were the experienced Andy Sandell, Callum Demkiv and Seth Wain who all scored twice for the visitors.

Ludgershall Sports must have made the journey to Cricklade with a little bit of trepidation having conceded 27 goals in their previous three visits to Cricklade Leisure Centre. They were also looking to get their first goal and points of the season and whilst they are still in search of those first points they did find the net scoring three times in a 6-3 defeat, the goals coming from Ryan Howard, Gavin Richards and Damon McTighe. However, Jonathan Peachey-Score continued his rich vein of form in front of goal bagging a brace for the home side to take him into double figures for the season. Two and just one behind leading scorer Shaun Thorp. Two also for Jason Tatum for Cricklade who moved onto six for the season, with Max Scholefield and Tom Arliss completing the scoring for the home side.

At the bottom end of the table it was the battle of two Development sides at Malmesbury where Pewsey Vale Development were the visitors to the Flying Monk Ground. Both sides went into the fixture looking for their first win of the season and it is Malmesbury who will be celebrating those first points of the season after a comprehensive 8-1 win over their visitors. On target for Malmesbury were Daryl Herring with hat-trick, George Stone who bagged a brace, with Robbie Pitman, Lewis King and Connor Laidlaw also finding the net in a good afternoon for the young Malmesbury side. Archie Barnard scored for the visitors Pewsey who will look to get their first points on the board next Saturday against Stratton Juniors.

The league fixture between Stratton Juniors and Holt was unfortunately postponed due to a lack of available match officials.

Frome Collegians were in Somerset County Cup action as they welcomed Brislington Reserves to the Old Showfield and it is the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior side who progress to the next round after a 5-1 win. On target for the Collegians in this one were Nick Taylor, who fired a hat-trick, Joe Upshall and Phil Rushmore.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 7th September 2019
Cricklade Town 6 Ludgershall Sports 3
Kintbury Rangers 1 Royal W.Bassett T D 1
Malmesbury Vics Dev 8 Pewsey Vale D 1
Marlborough Town 1 Melksham T Res 6
Purton 2 Corsham Town Res 2
Shrewton United 2 Trowbridge Town 4
Stratton Juniors v Holt postponed

Somerset Senior Cup
Frome Collegians 5 Brislington Res 1

Corsham Town Reserves Go Top

14 September 2019

With Kintbury Rangers engaged in county cup action both Purton in second spot and Corsham Town Res in third place had the chance to take over the leadership of the table with a win this afternoon. After the afternoon’s action had finished it was Corsham Town Reserves who sit top of the table. Whilst current form going into their game with Ludgershall Sports would have made Corsham overwhelming favourites to take the three points, manager Jamie Moss would have been mindful that their record against Ludgershall was not a good one with Ludgershall having won 9 of the previous 12 meetings between the two sides. A goal from Darrin Moss inside the first ten minutes would have settled any nerves. Moss then turned from scorer to provider setting up leading scorer Dan Lardner for what turned out to be the winner, Moss putting a ball through which fell to Lardner who rounded the Ludgershall keeper and chipped the ball into the net for his fifth of the season. Ludgershall pulled one back through Gareth Evans but Corsham held out to take all three points to move to the top of the table. Tom Tanner, the U18 who had made his debut the previous week when he inspired Corsham to a second half comeback at Purton had another good game alongside another youngster from Corsham’s U18 side, Charlie Harrington, who was making his debut at this level.

The reason why Corsham moved above Purton was that Purton themselves failed to take advantage of Kintbury’s cup activity and went down for the first time this season, away at Shrewton United in the big clash of the day at the top of the table. Shrewton's leading scorer Saul Johnson thought he had put his side into the lead early on, but the goal was disallowed for a foul against a Shrewton player in the build-up play. The home side were not to be denied for long though as full back Zak McNally put them 1-0 to the good. Ronan Clancy put Shrewton further ahead when he got on the end of a pass from Conor Cutler to fire in at the near post for his first of the season. Purton pulled one back five minutes before half time through Chris Avery to make it 2-1 at the break. Having seen his goal disallowed in the first half leading scorer Saul Johnson was not to be denied his seventh goal of the campaign firing in with a powerful shot that Purton’s keeper Wes Clarke, who was making his debut, got his hand to but was unable to keep out. Ronan Clancy, with his second of the game, gave Shrewton a three-goal advantage when he headed in at the back post to make sure a lob from Charlie Utterson finished in the back of the net. Shrewton saved the best to last as Alistair Carvell picked the ball up 25 yards out and stuck an unstoppable shot into the top corner to make it 5-1. There was still time for Purton to get a late consolation, when Joe Bailey scored ten minutes from time to make the final score 5-2 to Shrewton. The win lifted Shrewton into second place, whilst Purton slipped to fifth.

Moving up the table ominously into third spot are last season’s champions Wroughton who maintained their 100% record for the season with a hard fought 3-2 home win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. Jordan Lea gave last season’s champions an early lead before Kyle Parker extended the lead with a second for Wroughton. Youngster Charlie McCuish pulled one back for the visitors from Royal Wootton Bassett who then went in search of an equaliser. It didn’t come and Kyle Parker looked to have settled any Wroughton nerves with his second of the game to restore Wroughton’s two goal advantage. However, McCuish fired in his second of the game with a neat finish and had a penalty shout denied at the death to cause a few anxious moments for the defending champions but they held out in the end to take another three points to move within a point of the top two with two games in hand.

Cricklade Town moved up into sixth spot after a hard fought away win at Trowbridge Town in a game that was decided by a solitary goal scored by Max Scholefield with his third of the season to give his side their first win at Trowbridge since the two sides were both in the Hellenic League.

Malmesbury Victoria Development made it two wins on the bounce as they followed last week’s win over Pewsey Vale Development with an excellent 2-0 away win at new side Frome Collegians, Harrison Archer scoring both Malmesbury goals.

Stratton Juniors are celebrating their first points of the season after a convincing 6-0 home win over bottom of the table Pewsey Vale Development to get their season up and running after having been dealt a tough run of fixtures as they started life at the higher level. Oliver Surridge and Scott Garrett both scored twice, with goals from Rory Marchant and Nathaniel Harrison completing the scoring for the home side.

Another of the new sides to the league also won, with Holt picking up their second win of the season courtesy of a 4-2 home success over Marlborough Town. Two goals for Joe Moloney in this one for Holt with one each for Dexter Chipeni and Scott Baker, the latter notching his third of the season. Robert Harland and an Aaron Presley penalty replying for Marlborough. The win lifted Holt a place in the table above Marlborough.

Kintbury Rangers looked like they would progress through to the next round of the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy when they led 2-0 at the break against Thames Valley Premier League side Westwood Wanderers courtesy of goals from Robbie Sadler and Russell. However, there opponents hit back with three unanswered second half goals as Kintbury made an early exit from their county cup competition.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 14th September 2019

Frome Collegians 0 Malmesbury Vics Dev 2

Holt 4 Marlborough Town 2

Ludgershall Sports 1 Corsham Town Res 2

Shrewton United 5 Purton 2

Stratton Juniors 6 Pewsey Vale Dev 0

Trowbridge Town 0 Cricklade Town 1

Wroughton 3 Royal W. Bassett T Dev 2

Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy
Kintbury Rangers 2 Westwood Wanderers 3

Shrewton New Leaders As They Hit Malmesbury for Six

21 September 2019

The top of the table has a familiar look to it in terms of the top three after this weekend’s round of games with last season’s top three occupying those top positions. The new leaders are Shrewton United who made no mistake at home against Malmesbury Victoria Development. Going into the game Shrewton had a 100% record against their opponents but Malmesbury came into the game in a confident mood on the back of two wins. However, on warm afternoon the day belonged to Shrewton as the league’s leading scorers hit their visitors for six unanswered goals at the Recreation Ground. For the second week running Ronan Clancy scored twice, Dominic Jackson also scored a couple and there was one a piece for Dean Smith and Charlie Utterson as Shrewton took their goal tally to 31 from their opening eight games. On current form they look to be on track to match last season’s honour of being the leading scorers in the league come the end of the season but have some tough looking fixtures coming up next month with both Wroughton and Kintbury Rangers to play.

Last season’s champions Wroughton maintained their 100% record with a comfortable 3-0 away win at Marlborough Town. Jordan Lea put Wroughton in front after ten minutes with a shot into the bottom corner of the net. Jamie Mclaughlin extended Wroughton’s lead when he netted for the first time this season after some great link up play to make it 2-0 at the break. A third goal after the interval from Aaron Maximen made sure of the points as Wroughton moved into second place, level on points with Shrewton but with two games in hand. The two sides are scheduled to meet in a fortnight’s time.

The overnight leaders Corsham Town Res had gone the whole of last season unbeaten at their Southbank Ground, but it is not the fortress it was last season this time round as they went down to their second home defeat of the season, losing 1-0 to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. The all-important goal came before the interval with youngster Charlie McCuish taking his total for the season to six. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development remain in eighth spot, whilst Corsham slipped down to fifth as a result of the defeat.

Kintbury Rangers by their own high standards had been having a little bit of a wobble and went into their home fixture with new side Holt having gone three games without a win. They put that record behind them as the division’s top scorer Shaun Thorp was back in goal scoring form taking his total to twelve for the season. His first half effort plus one from Russell Benham gave Kintbury a 2-0 lead at the break. Tom Mahoney, with his third of the season, added another in the second half as Kintbury ran out 3-0 winners and they now sit a point behind Shrewton and Wroughton in third place.

Purton bounced back from last week's defeat at Shrewton and climbed a place in the table up to fourth spot courtesy of a 1-0 home win over Frome Collegians, the decisive goal coming from Tom McCulloch with his second of the season.

Melksham Town Reserves moved above opponents Cricklade Town in the table into sixth spot with a 2-0 away win at Cricklade Leisure Centre. On target for the visitors were Otis Young and Adam Mitchell, who both scored their first goals of the season in the league.

After last week’s first win at Senior level, Stratton Juniors looked like they would make it two on the trot as they led 2-1 going into injury time thanks to goals from Taylor Gill and Tom Whitam, but a last grasp equaliser from Mark Reynolds gave visitors Trowbridge Town a share of the points. Trowbridge’s other goal came courtesy of their leading scorer Aaron Masson.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 21st September 2019
Corsham T Res 0 Royal W. Bassett T Dev 1
Cricklade Town 0 Melksham Town Res 2
Kintbury Rangers 3 Holt 0
Marlborough Town 0 Wroughton 3
Purton 1 Frome Collegians 0
Shrewton United 6 Malmesbury Vics Dev 0
Stratton Juniors 2 Trowbridge Town 2

Wroughton in 7th Heaven

As They Move Top

28 September 2019

New leaders of the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League are last season’s champions Wroughton who made it seven wins from their opening seven fixtures with an impressive 5-1 home win over Melksham Town Reserves. Once again it was a familiar name leading the way. He has been the club’s top scorer for the past three seasons and once again Shane Hibbert is in a rich vein of form. He put his side ahead on 17 minutes before Aaron Maximen added a second, getting on the end of a Craig Bowden cross. Melksham’s leading scorer Seth Wain pulled one back for the visitors, scoring from a corner. It was that man Hibbert who restored the two-goal advantage scoring the first of two penalties. Tom Dingle then got in the act, scoring after Riegan Cook had headed on another cross from Craig Bowden. A second penalty to Wroughton enabled Hibbert to complete his hat-trick and take him into double figures for the season as Wroughton sent a signal to the rest of the league that they mean to hang on to their title.

The overnight leaders Shrewton United lost their top spot after they were held by Frome Collegians. It looked good for the overnight leaders as a goal from Charlie Jackson and an own goal had given them a 2-0 half time lead, but two unanswered second half goals from Barry Sandquest and Theo Sing ensured a share of the points for the Collegians. Shrewton dropped down to third place whilst Frome stay 13th.

Moving up into second spot are Purton who made it two wins on the trot with a 4-1 home win over Marlborough Town at the Red House. Two goals from midfield for George Drewitt, one for leading scorer Daren Regis, taking him to six for the season, plus one for Will Backhouse, who moved his personal tally for the season on to five. Marlborough’s consolation goal came courtesy of Craig Simmons.

At Cricklade Leisure Centre, a goal from Tom Hoskins put Cricklade Town in front against visitors Corsham Town Reserves but they were unable to hang onto that lead. Ryan Withers, with his fourth of the season, put Corsham back on level terms and the game was then to be decided from the penalty spot. Corsham were awarded that penalty and Dan Lardner, Corsham’s top scorer, successfully dispatched the spot kick to give his side all three points. The win lifted Corsham a place in the table to fourth, whilst Cricklade dropped a place down to eighth.

Holt picked up their third win of the season with an impressive 5-0 away win at Ludgershall Sports. The goals were shared around the side with one each for Adam Mercer, Joe Moloney, Will Bayley, Josh Maguire and Jon Wood. Holt moved level on points with near neighbours Trowbridge Town who slipped up at home against Malmesbury Victoria Development. Games between the two sides are normally tight affairs, with both last season’s league meetings ending in draws, and so it proved again with Malmesbury edging it by the odd goal in five. On target for Malmesbury were Ant Brown, Harrison Archer and Joe Tranter, leading scorer Aaron Masson and a Jacob Sainsbury penalty replying for Trowbridge.

The final game of the day saw the two defences on top as Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development returned from their visit to Meadowcroft with a point following a 0-0 draw with Stratton Juniors. The point for Royal Wootton Bassett lifted them two places in the table to sixth whilst Stratton Juniors, who are now unbeaten in three, remain in 14th place.

The game between Kintbury Rangers and Pewsey Vale Development was postponed with Pewsey unable to raise a side.

Premier Division Results
Saturday 28th September 2019
Cricklade Town 1 Corsham Town Res 2
Frome Collegians 2 Shrewton United 2
Kintbury R v Pewsey Vale D - Postponed
Ludgershall Sports 0 Holt 5
Purton 4 Marlborough Town 1
Stratton Jun. 0 Royal W. Bassett T Dev 0
Trowbridge Town 2 Malmesbury Vics Dev 3
Wroughton 5 Melksham Town Res 1

Wroughton Overcome Big Test

to March On At The Top

5th October 2019

League leaders Wroughton were involved in the top fixture of the day when they travelled to the south of the county to take on third placed Shrewton United. In a tight first period a solitary goal from Riegan Cook for Wroughton, who got on the end of a Tom Dingle cross, was all that separated the two sides. In the second half Cook then turned from scorer to provider as he set up Wroughton’s leading scorer Shane Hibbert for his eleventh of the campaign to give the league leaders daylight over one of their main rivals for the title. All three points were finally wrapped up when Wroughton were awarded what both sides considered to be a fortunate a penalty, which Shane Hibbert duly dispatched to make it 3-0 and move his tally for the season onto twelve. The win meant eight straight victories for the defending champions who remain a point ahead of Purton, but with two games in hand, and they have sent a clear message to the rest of the Division that they intend to hold onto their title.

Purton had started the day in second spot in the table ahead of the visit from last season's runners-up Kintbury Rangers. The two fixtures last season between the sides in the league had seen each win their respective home fixture 5-0 but a much closer contest was anticipated in their latest meeting. It did not disappoint as first half goals from Shaun Thorp and Russell Benham gave the visitors a 2-1 half time lead. However, an impressive second half from the home side saw them score three times to turn things round and give Purton a 4-2 lead. Josh Davis then pulled one back for Kintbury, but any chance of a point was dashed by a fifth Purton goal to make it 5-3 which sent Kintbury to their first league defeat of the season, leaving Wroughton as the only unbeaten side . On target for the home side in this impressive win were Joe English with two, Will Backhouse, Tom McCulloch and Jack Duckers.

Corsham Town Reserves started the day in fourth place ahead of their trip to Marlborough Town in 12th spot. Whilst current form would indicate Corsham should have started as heavy favourites they travelled to Marlborough in the knowledge that they had lost on their previous six visits to Elcot Lane, a venue that was clearly not a happy hunting ground for them. However, a stunning first half performance from the visitors ensured that bad record would be ended and meant that at the interval the game was as good as won as two goals from Ryan Withers, plus one for each of Dan Lardner, Ryan Tyrell and Jake Dodge gave Corsham a 5-0 interval lead. Credit to Marlborough as they put a poor first half behind them and came out and made a battle of it in the second period. Aaron Presley scored his fourth of the season for the home side, but Ryan Withers also scored again for the visitors to complete a match winning hat-trick that saw his side move above Shrewton into third spot following their 6-1 win. For Marlborough Town, who dropped a place in the table, that was now their fifth straight defeat after a promising start to the season and they have another tough looking fixture next week when they travel to Shrewton.

Holt, who have adapted well to the higher level of football, made the short journey to Melksham looking to seure their fourth win of the season and move level on points with their opponents Melksham Town Reserves. In a tight affair, in which visiting keeper Lewis Porter pulled off a number of great saves, neither side was able to find the net and both sides had to make do with a point each. Melksham remain in sixth spot with Holt still those three points behind today's opponents in tenth spot.

Another new side who had started to find their feet at Senior level are Stratton Juniors who were looking to make it four games unbeaten when they entertained Cricklade Town. Cricklade, meanwhile, had hit a bit of a bad patch, coming into the game on the back of two consecutive defeats. That is now three defeats with Stratton achieving that four-game unbeaten run courtesy of a narrow 2-1 win. Nathaniel Harrison with his second of the season and a first of the season for Adam Bright did the damage for Stratton, Jonathan Peachey-Score with the consolation goal for Cricklade taking his personal tally to eleven for the season. Stratton climbed two places in the table to 12th as a result of their win.

It was the meeting of two Development sides at the Flying Monk Ground where Royal Wootton Bassett Town made the short journey along the B4042 looking to continue their good league form of late against a Malmesbury Victoria side who also were in good form having won three of their last four games. Last season each side had won their respective home fixtures comfortably but it was expected to much closer this time round and so it proved. In an entertaining contest, despite chances for both sides, there were no goals in the first half, but veteran Steve Shaw put Royal Wootton Bassett Town in front on 55 minutes. George Stone equalised for the home side ten minutes later but neither side could find the winner, and both had to settle for a point a piece.

Bottom side Pewsey Vale Development went in search of their first points of the season when they entertained a Trowbridge Town side who had never lost to Pewsey in their previous fourteen meetings between the two sides. Unfortunately, that winless run in this fixture continues for Pewsey as they were comfortably beaten, the visitors hitting six unanswered goals. Leading scorer Aaron Masson led the way for Trowbridge scoring twice, taking him to eight for the season, Jordan Gullis bagged his fourth of the campaign and there were first goals of the season for Frankie Elliott, Tom Caldicott and Natti Morgan. The win lifted Trowbridge two places in the table up to seventh.

Frome Collegians meanwhile were involved in Somerset Senior Cup action where the visitors to the Old Showfield were Somerset County League Division 2 side Cheddar Reserves. Frome ensured they will be in the hat for the draw for the next round with a 4-1 win courtesy of goals from Theo Sing, who scored twice, Lee Handford and an own goal.

Results

Saturday 5th October 2019

Premier Division

Malmesbury Vics D 1 Royal W.Bassett TD 1

Marlborough Town 1 Corsham Town Res 6

Melksham Town Res 0 Holt 0

Pewsey Vale Dev 0 Trowbridge Town 6

Purton 5 Kintbury Rangers 3

Shrewton United 0 Wroughton 3

Stratton Juniors 2 Cricklade Town 1

Somerset Senior Cup 2nd Round

Frome Collegians 4 Cheddar Res 1

Knowles Heroics Sets Up Shrewton Win

Over Step 6 Opponents

9th October 2019

Reece Knowles whose injury time penalty save allowed Shrewton to take Pewsey Vale into extra time.

The honour for the first giant killing act of the new season in the Wiltshire Senior Cup resides with Joe Sheldrake’s Shrewton United side who forwent home advantage to allow their tie against Sydenhams Wessex League side Pewsey Vale to be played in midweek, with the floodlights at Shrewton currently not being suitable for evening games.

Shrewton started well against their higher league opponents and created a number of good chances to take the lead but were unable to take any of them and it remained goalless at the break. Their Wessex League opponents meanwhile had failed to trouble the Shrewton goal in the first forty-five minutes.

The game remained without a goal as it moved into the final twenty minutes. However, with Shrewton already a man down with a player in the sin-bin they were reduced to nine men when captain Steven Holvey picked up a second yellow card of the night and was dismissed. The “home” side immediately exploited the numerical advantage with an opening goal from a corner, the ball being volleyed in at the far post past Shrewton keeper Reece Knowles. With Shrewton numbers back up to ten players they went in search of an equaliser and were finally rewarded three minutes from time when Pewsey failed to deal with a Shrewton corner and Zak McNally slotted the ball home to make it 1-1. However, that was not the end of the drama in normal time as, deep into injury time, Pewsey were awarded a penalty. Whilst it is normally the strikers who get all the glory this time it was Shrewton keeper Reece Knowles who became the hero of the night as he saved the Pewsey penalty to send the game into extra time.

Despite the continued numerical disadvantage, the first half of extra time saw Shrewton take the lead for the first time in the match when Jake Watson scored to make it 2-1 to Shrewton at half time in extra time. After the restart Shrewton continued to push forward and were rewarded when Dean Smith set up substitute Craig Appleby who fired a shot into the top corner to make it 3-1 to the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side.

Former Shrewton player Ross Bentall then pulled one back for Pewsey when he fired in a free kick from 20 yards to give Pewsey hope at 3-2. However, the game was finally wrapped up two minutes from the end of extra time when Carl Fitz-Gerald was brought down in the box and Dean Smith duly put the penalty away to make the final score 4-2 to Shrewton and the first giant killing act of this season’s Wiltshire Senior Cup.

Shrewton now join the five other clubs from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League who were given a bye in the First Round in the hat for the Second Round draw. Cricklade Town, Ludgershall Sports, Stratton Juniors, Trowbridge Town and Wroughton all had byes in the First Round. The league is guaranteed another side through as Holt meet Marlborough Town next week in a First Round tie and they could also be joined by Purton if they can pull off another giant killing and defeat Western League Division 1 side Devizes Town. Their scheduled game with Devizes Town will now be staged next Tuesday, 15th October 2019 after it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Big Wins for Wroughton & Kintbury

on Day of Goals Galore

12th October 2019

League leaders Wroughton made it nine wins from nine games with a comfortable victory over visitors Malmesbury Victoria Development on a day that saw 39 goals scored in the six games that were played. Tom Dingle set Wroughton on their way with a fine piece of finishing after he was set up by some neat footwork and pass from Riegan Cook. Leading scorer Shane Hibbert extended the lead moments later with a trademark finish for his 13th goal of the campaign after an excellent delivery into the box from Tyler Wilkinson. Riegan Cook then went from provider to scorer as a mazy run into the box saw him beat three defenders and then lob the Malmesbury keeper to make it 3-0 just before half time. Wroughton extended their lead early in the second half and once again it was Riegan Cook who was heavily involved in the build-up play with a driving run down the wing, finding Tom Dingle who fed the ball to Tyler Wilkinson who slotted home to make it 4-0. Dingle himself got his second of the game making 5-0 after some more good build up play. Two goals in the final five minutes from Aaron Maximen rounded things off for Wroughton as they ran out 7-0 winners after a very professional performance as they continue to set the standard at the top of the table.

Shrewton United followed up their midweek win over higher league opponents in the Wiltshire Senior Cup with a 4-0 home win in the league over visitors Marlborough Town. On target for the top scorers in the Premier Division were Ronan Clancy, Charlie Utterson, Dominic Jackson and Charlie Jackson. For Marlborough that is now six straight defeats and they will now look to regain their winning form from earlier in the season when they travel to Holt in midweek in the Wiltshire Senior Cup. The win saw Shrewton move above an inactive Corsham Town Reserves into third place in the table, a point behind second placed Purton and five behind leaders Wroughton.

Kintbury Rangers were looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season last week against Purton when Stratton Juniors came to the Recreation Ground. Stratton came into the game unbeaten in their previous four games and were expected to prove to be tough opponents for Kintbury. Indeed, it was a tight contest in the opening half hour with just the one Kintbury goal separating the sides but three Kintbury goals in the final ten minutes of the half sent Kintbury into the half time break four goals to the good and in command. The division’s leading scorer Shaun Thorp helped himself to a first half hat-trick, the fourth in the opening period coming from Stephen Blunt. Two second half goals in the closing stages from Tom Mahoney and Josh Davis rounded off an impressive 6-0 win over one of the form sides in the division and a timely return to form for one of the sides expected to be Wroughton’s main challengers for the title.

Melksham Town Reserves travelled to the Gerard Buxton Ground having won seven of the last eight meetings against their hosts Royal Wootton Bassett Town. However, they found themselves behind after just seven minutes when Bailey Gallagher put the home side in front. Melksham got themselves back on level terms with a goal to go in 1-1 at the break. A penalty early in the second half gave Royal Wootton Bassett Town the chance to regain the lead and leading scorer Charlie McCuish made no mistake for his seventh of the season. As the game moved into the closing stages Melksham got themselves back on level terms and then scored again to go ahead in the game for the first time. Just as it looked like Melksham would continue that winning run over their opponents, Bailey Gallagher equalised for the home side from a free kick on the right hand side of the penalty area to ensure a final score of 3-3 and a share of the points. The Melksham Town Reserve goals were scored by Harvey Flippance (2) and George Bendle.

Ludgershall Sports have had a tough start to the season with seven straight defeats ahead of their trip to Trowbridge. That tough run continued as Trowbridge ran out comfortable 5-1 winners over their visitors. Jordan Gullis and Jacob Sainsbury both bagged a brace for Trowbridge and there was one for Matthew Dixon. Aiden Barnard with the Ludgershall goal.

Two sides in need of a league win met at Frome where Pewsey Vale Development were the Collegians visitors. With the bad weather this week the game was switched to a local 3G pitch to enable the game to go ahead and Frome were rewarded for their efforts as they secured their biggest win of the season. Up until now they had found goals in their league matches hard to come by but on a good afternoon for the club they hit double figures with ten unanswered goals against the struggling Pewsey Development side. Max Pollock led the way firing a hat-trick, Sonny Burbidge scored twice and there was one a piece for James Hounsell, Joe Upshall, Lee Handford, Barry Sandquest and Ross Knapton. The win lifted Frome two places in the table.

The scheduled games between Corsham Town Reserves and Holt, and Cricklade Town and Purton were both postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

Results

Saturday 12th October 2019

Premier Division

Frome Collegians 10 Pewsey Vale Dev 0
Kintbury Rangers 6 Stratton Juniors 0
Royal W. Bassett T D 3 Melksham T Res 3
Shrewton United 4 Marlborough Town 0
Trowbridge Town 5 Ludgershall Sports 1
Wroughton 7 Malmesbury Vics Dev 0

Postponed Games
Corsham Town Res v Holt
Cricklade Town v Purton

Holt Progress in

Wiltshire Senior Cup

16th October 2019

Holt joined fellow Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League sides Cricklade Town, Ludgershall Sports, Shrewton United, Stratton Juniors, Trowbridge Town and Wroughton in the hat for the Second Round of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup. Goals from Joey Edwards, Mark Robinson and Grant Gunning gave them a 3-2 win over another fellow Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side Marlborough Town. Jake Farrell and Dale Johnstone with the Marlborough Town goals.

Purton could become the eighth Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side in the Second Round if they can pull off a second First Round giant killing and defeat Western League Division 1 side Devizes Town. Their scheduled game with Devizes Town last night was postponed for the second time due to a waterlogged pitch and the two sides will try again next Tuesday, 22nd October.

Perfect Ten for Wroughton as

Trowbridge win derby with Holt

19th October 2019

Action from today's Holt v Trowbridge Town game. Picture courtesy of Martin Pearce

When Holt won promotion from the Trowbridge & District League the one fixture more than any they would have been looking forward to was the local derby with near neighbours Trowbridge Town. Clubs from both Trowbridge and Holt had been in one of the early incarnations of the Wiltshire League at the start of the 20th century but it had been a long time since sides from the two neighbours had been in the same division. Unfortunately, the eagerly anticipated fixture did not live up to expectations as both sides struggled to kick into gear. In the end the game was settled by a solitary strike from Trowbridge’s Alex Pippard, netting his fifth of the season to give Trowbridge Town their third straight win and the local bragging rights. Despite the win Trowbridge remain in sixth spot but closed the gap on Kintbury in fifth spot, Holt remain 10th.

Action from the Holt v Trowbridge Town game. Pictures courtesy of Martin Pearce

League leaders Wroughton made it a perfect ten with a convincing home win over bottom side Pewsey Vale. Tom Dingle set them on their way with a goal in the opening minute of the match, Dingle meeting a Shane Hibbert cross from the right with a deft back heel flick past the keeper. Hibbert then went from provider to scorer meeting another cross from Wroughton’s right with a half volley which flew past Pewsey keeper Alexander Topham giving him no chance to make it 2-0 on eight minutes. That man Hibbert scored his second on 16 minutes when the Pewsey defence conceded possession on the edge of their own box and Hibbert coolly flicked it over the last defender and stroke the ball past keeper Topham to make it 3-0. It could have been four within a minute but this time the league leaders were denied by a great save from Topham who denied Tom Dingle of his second of the game with a good save with his feet. Just before the half hour mark it did become four when another cross from the right was well controlled by Shane Hibbert who then stroked the ball into the net with an ice cool finish for his hat-trick taking him to join leader in the goal scoring stakes in this season’s Premier Division. Just four minutes later he became the leading scorer in the division as he beat the Pewsey offside trap with a clever run across the line to fire under the keeper to make it 5-0 with half an hour gone. Despite the flurry of goals credit to Pewsey who continued to chase down their strong opponents and were rewarded on 35 minutes when Corey Cullen fired in a powerful shot from the edge of the box which beat Wroughton keeper Jack Gibson to make it 5-1. No further goals came in the final ten minutes of the half, the closest the game came to another first half goal was when Tom Dingle hit the post.

Wroughton came out for the second half really fired up and added two quick goals. The first was scored by Aaron Maximen with a powerful shot from the edge of the six-yard box. The seventh Wroughton goal was a well worked team effort, Riegan Cook playing a quick one two with Jamie McLaughlin on the edge of the Pewsey box before firing into the corner of the net. Wroughton continued to press for more goals and it became 8-1 when veteran Craig Bowden curled a superb shot into the top corner of the net. The final three goals of the game all came from the influential Tom Price as he scored a stylish seven-minute hat-trick. His first on 68 minutes came when he got on the end of a great through ball from Tyler Wilkinson. His second three minutes later was another classy effort as he hit a superb shot from the edge of the box into the top corner for the best goal of the game. His hat-trick came from the penalty spot in the 75th minute after Aaron Maximen had been brought down in the box. Price coolly fired his penalty into the top right hand corner to make it 11-1 to the league leaders. Once again credit to Pewsey who kept trying to create chances of their own against a rampant Wroughton side who are going to take some stopping this season. Special mention to Pewsey keeper Alexander Topham who, despite the score line pulled off a number of great saves to keep the score down, the best of which came two minutes from time when he palmed away a powerfully hit shot by Aaron Maximen from the edge of the box.

Shane Hibbert, who scored 4 in the first half for Wroughton.

Tom Price, who hit a second half hat-trick, in action on the ball for Wroughton.

The big game of the day at the top of the table was at Kintbury Recreation Ground where Corsham Town Reserves were the visitors. Corsham went into the game with an unbeaten record on the road and that record remains intact but only just. The game remained without a goal at half time, the best chance falling to the normally reliable Shaun Thorp but he spurned the opportunity. However, the home side did go in front after the break when the visitors Ryan Tyrell conceded a penalty which was put away by Robbie Sadler to make it 1-0 to Kintbury. As the game moved into injury time it looked like that Corsham record on the road was about to end but up popped veteran Dan Lardner to score an equaliser with the last kick of the game to ensure a share of the points. As a result of the scores elsewhere, the point was enough to lift Corsham Town Reserves into second place whilst Kintbury remain in fifth spot.

Purton had started the day in second spot but were displaced after they went down 3-1 at home in their local derby game with Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. It had started well for Purton as Joe Dorey put them in front but goals from Dale Richards, Bailey Gallagher and Aaron Oakley wrapped up the points for the visitors who could even afford to miss a penalty, leading scorer Charlie McCuish failing to add to his tally from the spot. Purton dropped to third whilst Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development moved up to seventh place.

At the other end of the table Stratton Juniors travelled to Ludgershall Sports looking to bounce back from last week’s heavy defeat at Kintbury, whilst Ludgershall were looking to get their season up and running after a tough start to the season. It turned out to be a close but fractious game, with a plethora of yellow cards and one player sent off from both sides. It was visitors Stratton who went in front after five minutes, Nathaniel Harrison with the goal. Stratton then had the chance to extend their lead from the penalty spot but spurned the chance on what was a day of missed penalties. It looked like they would be made to pay for that miss when Ludgershall scored twice through Reece Daly and Cameron Hoyle to go 2-1 in front at the break. Stratton Juniors got themselves back on level terms on 70 minutes when they were awarded a second penalty, and this time they put the spot kick away, Ryan Major the scorer. With ten minutes remaining Major scored his second of the game with what turned out to be the winner as Stratton edged it 3-2. The win lifted Stratton a couple of places in the league table to 11th spot.

In the Fountain Trophies Cup there were First Round wins for Shrewton United and Melksham Town Reserves. Shrewton United and visitors Frome Collegians had met recently in the league. That day Shrewton had led 2-0 at the break but two late goals from Frome had ensured a share of the points. When the sides met for the second time this season Shrewton were keen not to make the same mistake and raced into a 4-0 lead at the break thanks to goals from Ronan Clancy, Charlie Utterson, Conor Cutler and Saul Johnson. However, once again the second half belonged to Frome who pulled two goals back through Ross Knapton and James Hounsell but it is Shrewton who progress through to last eight courtesy of their first half performance.

Melksham Town Reserves had comfortably beaten their First-Round opponents Malmesbury Victoria Development in their earlier meeting in the league and it was a similar story when they met for a second time this season. In a game of four penalties, three for the home side and one for the visitors, with both sides missing one a piece, Melksham fired in eight unanswered goals to progress to Round Two. On target for Melksham in their emphatic 8-0 win were Rory Collins, Adam Mitchell plus hat-tricks for both Seth Wain and Harvey Flippance, with Flippance missing his chance of a fourth when he missed the Melksham penalty.

The Fountain Trophies Cup game between Cricklade Town and Marlborough Town was postponed with the visitors unable to rise a side due to injuries and player availability.

Results, Saturday 19th October 2019

League Results
Holt 0 Trowbridge Town 1
Kintbury Rangers 1 Corsham Town Res 1
Ludgershall Sports 2 Stratton Juniors 3
Purton 1 Royal W. Bassett Town Dev 3
Wroughton 11 Pewsey Vale Dev 1

Fountain Trophies Cup 1st Round Results
Cricklade Town v Marlborough Town - Postponed
Melksham T Res 8 Malmesbury Vics Dev 0
Shrewton United 4 Frome Collegians 2

Purton Go Out But

Push Devizes All The Way

23 October 2019

Purton gave a good account of themselves in difficult circumstances last night when they lost narrowly to Western League Division One side Devizes Town in the final outstanding First Round tie in the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup. Purton have won the cup on seven previous occasions, the last triumph coming in 1994-94, but there is be no repeat of that cup win this season. The home side Devizes Town took the lead in the tie on 12 minutes, Jordan Anning putting Alistair Bradley through one on one with the Purton keeper and the Devizes player made no mistake to make it 1-0. Purton immediately pushed for an equaliser and went close on a couple of occasions. Meanwhile at the other end Samuel Dodds also went close to extending the Devizes lead. Already missing a number of key players, including George Drewitt, Will Backhouse and Tom McCulloch, Purton's cause was not helped when skipper Steven Keir was forced off injured after just 27 minutes. It remained 1-0 at the break.

In the second half Purton continued to push for an equaliser and went close on a number of occasions. Joe Dorey delivered three excellent balls into the Devizes box and Jack Duckers twice and then Chris Avery failed to take the chances that came their way from the Dorey passes. In the end Devizes held on to that slim lead given by the goal from Bradley and progress to the Second Round where they will travel to meet Trowbridge Town. In the end the three First Round ties saw two wins and one defeat for Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League sides and seven teams from the league will now be involved in the round of 16 which takes place next month.

Meanwhile, Purton will now be hoping that their injured players recover in time for Saturday's big Fountain Trophies Cup First Round tie against league leaders Wroughton. Whilst Wroughton have won all ten games played so far this season, Purton are something of a bogey side for them having won three of the four meetings in the league since Purton returned to the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.

The revised Wiltshire Senior Cup Second Round draw after last night's result is as follows:

Laverstock & Ford v New College Swindon
Shrewton United v Corsham Town
Holt v Malmesbury Victoria
Bemerton Heath H v Ludgershall Sports
Downton v Warminster Town
Stratton Juniors v Wroughton
Cricklade Town v Calne Town*
Trowbridge Town v Devizes Town

The games are scheduled to take place on either Tuesday 12th November or Saturday 16th November where the home side does not have floodlights.

Weather Decimates Programme

as Just One Game Survives

26th October 2019

The wet weather during the week, followed by the heavy rain on Saturday itself, decimated this weekend’s Premier Division scheduled programme. Just one game survived as Frome Collegians switched their home fixture against Melksham Town Reserves to the nearby 3G at Selwood. They were rewarded for their efforts to get the game on with a good display from their side as they shared four goals and the points with their visitors Melksham. It looked like it could be even better as the game moved into its closing stages with Frome 2-1 to the good courtesy of two goals from Barry Sandquest, taking him to five for the season. However, a late penalty for the visitors saw Harvey Flippance also hit his second of the game to ensure a share of the points for visitors Melksham with his ninth goal of the season. The point for Melksham allowed them to climb above Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev into seventh place in the table. Frome meanwhile remain in thirteenth spot but moved to within two points of the three sides above them.

It looked like the game at Kintbury might also go ahead. However, with Shrewton United at the ground for their league fixture against Kintbury Rangers, despite the best efforts of the local groundsman the match referee deemed the pitch unplayable and this game joined the other six games, including the two fixtures in the First Round of the Fountain Trophies Cup, in being postponed. All postponed games will be rescheduled for a later date.

Results, Saturday 26th October 2019

League Results
Frome Collegians 2 Melksham Town Res 2
Corsham T Res v Pewsey Vale Dev - Postponed
Holt v Royal W. Bassett Town Dev - Postponed
Kintbury Rangers v Shrewton - Postponed
Ludgershall Sports v Marlborough Town - Postponed
Malmesbury Vics Dev v Cricklade Town - Postponed

Fountain Trophies Cup First Round

Purton v Wroughton - Postponed
Trowbridge Town v Stratton Juniors - Postponed

Withers Hits Winner as

Corsham Close Gap at Top

2nd November 2019

Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson

The wet weather once again played havoc with the weekends fixtures with four games being postponed without a ball being kicked. Three league games got the go ahead on Saturday but unfortunately just two went the full duration with the game at Cricklade being abandoned on 20 minutes. At Cricklade the home side had just gone in front through Jason Tatum before the game was abandoned on 20 minutes and will now need to be replayed. Credit to Cricklade for trying to get the game on as football across the county was once again hit by waterlogged pitches.

Credit also to the groundsmen at Shrewton and Marlborough for enabling the two games that did go the duration to be played. The visitors to Shrewton Recreation Ground were second in the table Corsham Town Reserves in what was one of the big clashes of the weekend at the top end of the table. First half goals from leading scorer Dan Lardner, with his ninth of the season, and Miles Littlechild had given Corsham a 2-1 lead at the break at a ground which historically has not been a happy hunting ground for the visitors, who had lost on five of their previous six visits. It remained tight in the second half but Corsham went someway to improving their record at Shrewton as they ran out 3-2 winners, Ryan Withers netting what turned out to be the winning goal, with his eighth of the season. The two Shrewton goals were scored by Saul Johnson, who moved onto nine for the season, and Charlie Utterson. The win for Corsham saw them close the gap to Wroughton at the top of the table to four points, although Corsham have played two more games than the league leaders. Shrewton remain in fourth place.

At the other end of the table two sides in much need of a win met at Marlborough. Marlborough were without a win in nine games going into their game with Malmesbury Victoria Development, whilst the visitors were without a win in three and had shipped seven and eight goals respectively in their previous two games. At half time it looked as though Marlborough would bring their torrid run to an end as they led 2-0 at the break courtesy of goals from Jake Farrell and an Aaron Presley penalty. However, in a game played in very difficult conditions, Malmesbury came back strongly in the second half to score two of their own through last season’s top scorer Gareth Jones and Jack O’Reilly to ensure a share of the points. The point for Malmesbury lifted them two places in the table to tenth spot, Marlborough remain in fourteenth place.

In other action Frome Collegians exited the Somerset Senior Cup on Friday night when they went down 3-1 in a penalty shoot out away at Radstock Town Reserves in their Third Round tie after the game had finished 3-3. On target for Frome were Ross Knapton, Max Pollock and Sonny Burbidge.

Results, Saturday 2nd November 2019

League Results
Cricklade Town v Stratton Juniors - Abandoned on 20 mins
Holt v Purton - Postponed
Kintbury Rangers v Melksham Town Res - Postponed
Ludgershall Sports v Pewsey Vale Dev - Postponed
Marlborough T 2 Malmesbury Vics Dev 2
Shrewton United 2 Corsham Town Res 3
Wroughton v Trowbridge Town - Postponed

Somerset Senior Cup Result

Radstock Town Res 3 Frome Collegians 3 (3-1 pens)

Shrewton Only Winners as

Wet Weather Strikes Again

9th November 2019

The weather once again took its toll on the scheduled fixtures with just one game surviving this week. If many more games are lost to wet weather before we even reach the usual bad weather winter months, measures may need to be taken to avoid a looming fixture backlog at the end of the season, such as more games being staged in midweek.

Congratulations to Ludgershall Sports on getting their game against Shrewton played. Unfortunately for Ludgershall they were not rewarded with their first points of the season, but they gave one of the top sides, Shrewton United, a tough game in a match played in very difficult conditions.

Shrewton went into the game having won just one of their last three league games and were keen to get all three points against a side that has struggled so far this season to ensure they stayed in touch with the leading sides. Shrewton started strongly and had chances to go ahead in the opening minutes but some resolute defending kept then out. They were not to be denied for long though, as Craig Appleby, finished off a good move involving the Shrewton front three to put the visitors in front with his second goal of the season. The same player then added a second for the visitors before the break scoring at the back post to give Shrewton a 2-0 half time lead.

Shrewton started the second half brightly and quickly extended their lead when full back Jake Watson got behind the Ludgershall defence and fire in a shot across the goal which nestled in the bottom corner of the net giving the Ludgershall keeper no chance. This further setback seemed to spur the home side into action, and they pulled one back through striker Liam Cotter who was put through one-on-one with Shrewton stand-in keeper Carl Fitz-gerald and neatly finished to make it 1-3. Shortly after it got even better for Ludgershall as Cameron Hoyle fired in a free-kick form 20 yards out to get them back within touching distance of their opponents.

Shrewton, realising they were in danger of throwing the three points away, were spurred into action and Craig Appleby went from scorer to provider as he set up Saul Johnson who fired in from just inside the box for his tenth of the season to make it 4-2. There was still time for another goal, Jake Watson rounded off an impressive performance with his second of the game to make the final score 5-2 to Shrewton United. The win lifted Shrewton a place in the table up into third spot a point behind second placed Corsham Town Reserves and five points behind leaders Wroughton but having played three games more. Ludgershall take a break from league action in midweek with a tough looking Wiltshire Senior Cup game when they travel to take on Sydenham’s Wessex League side Bemerton Heath Harlequins before returning to league action next Saturday with the visit of Frome Collegians. The same day Shrewton United will be in Wiltshire Senior Cup action when manager Joe Sheldrake's side look to cause another cup upset against higher league opponents when Corsham Town from the Western League are the visitors to the Recreation Ground.

Results, Saturday 9th November 2019

League Results

Ludgershall Sports 2 Shrewton United 5

All the other seven scheduled matches were postponed.

Wiltshire Senior Cup

Season 2019-20 - Second Round

13th November 2019

There were no upsets in the Wiltshire Senior Cup ties played last night as the two sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League both exited the county cup competition. For Ludgershall Sports it was something of a painful evening against promotion seeking Sydenhams Wessex League side Bemerton Heath Harlequins. Trailing 8-0 at the break they conceded a further 11 goals in the second half to go down 19-0 on the night against the Step 6 side. Chief tormenter was George Hallahan who helped himself to five goals. Ludgershall will look to pick themselves up when they return to league action on Saturday, when frome Collegians are the visitors to Astor Crescent.

Holt FC also had Step 6 opposition in their Second Round tie, with Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West league leaders Malmesbury Victoria the visitors to the Westbury Park Engineering Stadium. Although Holt also went down they made their higher league opponents work really hard for their win. Ryan Bole put Holt in front in the first half, and they held that one goal advantage at the break. Joe Williamson eventually got Malmesbury back into the game with an equaliser after the break before Leigh Brown then put the Hellenic League side in front for the first time in the game. A third Malmesbury goal from Joe Tranter sealed it for the visitors and ensured it was the Hellenic League side who progressed through to the last eight.

It was a good night all round for the Sydenhams Wessex League, as well as Bemerton’s win over Ludgershall, there were also victories for Laverstock & Ford and Division One league leaders Downton. Downton won by the odd goal in five at home against Toolstation Western League side Warminster Town whilst Laverstock & Ford stuck six unanswered goals past Uhlsport Hellenic League side New College Swindon.

So after Tuesday nights action, at the moment there are three Sydenhams Wessex League sides and one Uhlsport Hellenic side through to the last eight. One side from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League is guaranteed a place in that that last eight with league leaders Wroughton playing last season’s Wiltshire Junior Cup winners Stratton Juniors this coming Saturday. There is then the potential for two more sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League to join them on Saturday by pulling off giant kicking acts against higher league opposition. Shrewton United are home to Western League Corsham Town, whilst Trowbridge Town host another Western League side in Devizes Town as they look to win the cup they last won as a Wiltshire League side back in Season 2003-4. Then on Monday another encounter with Western League opposition sees Cricklade Town travel away to Western league Division One league leaders Calne Town, with Cricklade looking to pull off another giant killing as Craig Kent takes his side to take on his former club.

Wiltshire Senior Cup
Second Round Results
Bemerton Heath H. 19 Ludgershall Sports 0
Downton 3 Warminster Town 2
Holt 1 Malmesbury Victoria 3
Laverstock & Ford 6 New College 0

Remaining Fixtures
Saturday 16 November 2019
Shrewton United v Corsham Town
Stratton Juniors v Wroughton
Trowbridge Town v Devizes Town

Monday 18 November 2019

Calne Town v Cricklade Town

Lardner fires Corsham to within a point of leaders

& Trowbridge Town cause cup upset

16th November 2019

The wet weather finally abated, and an almost full programme of scheduled matches were played. With a number of sides in Wiltshire Senior Cup action the league match that most impacted the top of the table was at the Gerard Buxton Ground where second placed Corsham Town Reserves were Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development’s visitors. Just like the first game between the sides, that had seen Royal Wootton Bassett win by a solitary goal, it was another tight encounter between two well organised sides. The visitors Corsham went close to breaking the deadlock on 16 minutes when leading scorer Dan Lardner almost got on the end of a cross at the far post. At the other end Brad Pagliaroli had the home sides first real chance just before the half hour mark when a chip from the left-hand side of the box went just wide. The deadlock was finally broken on 35 minutes when the ball was slipped into Dan Lardner on the edge of the Royal Wootton Bassett box and he coolly slotted his shot into the far corner of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Moments later Bassett nearly got a quick reply when Danny Langford was put in by Brad Pagliaroli but, unlike the assured finish from Lardner, he fired straight at Corsham keeper Dave Cardus. Just before the half time whistle Corsham went close to extending their lead but Adam House in the Bassett goal saved well from a free kick from the edge of the box. In the second half, shortly after Kai Robinson had gone close to equalising for the home side, they wasted another great chance when Langford was put clean through but slipped just as he was about to get his shot away and Corsham cleared. Both sides pushed for goals and the keepers at both ends of the pitch were called into action. Corsham’s Ryan Withers, returning to his former club, went close when he got on the end of a corner, but his header was well saved by Adam House in the Bassett goal. At the other end a couple of minutes later it was the turn of Corsham’s Dave Cardus to deny a goal when he saved brilliantly from a Nick Mason header. Ten minutes from time Cardus was at it again when this time he denied Danny Langford with another great save. Corsham’s well organised back four comfortably saw out the final ten minutes to secure the vital three points that took them to within a point of league leaders Wroughton at the top of the table. They now remain unbeaten on the road so far this season after nine away league games.

Action from Corsham Town Res 1-0 win at R. Wootton Bassett Dev

The moment before Dan Lardner settled the match for the visitors

Elsewhere in the league, fourth placed Purton missed the opportunity to move up into third spot when they were beaten 3-2 at home by Malmesbury Victoria Development. First half goals from Elliott Drage and Gareth Jones gave the visitors Malmesbury a two-goal lead at the break. It got better for the visitors ten minutes into the second half when Drage scored his second of the game to make it 3-0 to Malmesbury. Purton then came back into it scoring twice through Joe English and Chris Avery but Malmesbury held on for the three points, winning away at the Red House for the second consecutive season. The win saw Malmesbury climb one place in the table to 9th.

In the other league match played, Ludgershall Sports bounced back well from their heavy midweek defeat in the Wiltshire Senior Cup but unfortunately for them are still searching for that first point of the season as they went down by a solitary goal at home to Frome Collegians. The winning goal for Frome came courtesy of substitute Tom Brown with his first goal of the season. Ludgershall made the visitors work hard for the three points but Frome held on to take the win and move up a couple of places in the table to 11th place.

The league game between Marlborough Town and Pewsey Vale was postponed.

As well as the Wiltshire Senior Cup action, more on this in a moment, there was also action in the First Round of the Fountain Trophies Cup where Kintbury Rangers were looking to defend the cup they won last May. The visitors were Holt who came into the game in reasonable form and looking to improve on their last visit when they had lost 3-0 in the league back in September. The teams turned around at the break with the game not having seen a goal but three unanswered second half goals from Jake Rowe, Tom Mahoney and leading scorer Shaun Thorp, who moved onto 17 for the season, saw Kintbury safely through to the Second Round as they ran out 3-0 winners for the second time this season against Holt.

There were three ties in the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup involving sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. Shrewton United went into their tie against Western League side Corsham Town having already knocked one higher level opponent out of the competition in the First Round. In front of a healthy crowd at the Recreation Ground, unfortunately there was to be no giant killing repeat. Despite staying in the game for a long period, Shrewton eventually went down to a 3-0 defeat against their Western League opponents. Leigh Rogers put Corsham in front on six minutes after Josh Bright’s initial shot came back off the Shrewton post. Both sides created chances but Corsham were to have a big slice of luck four minutes from the break when a cross from Leigh Rogers was deflected off a Shrewton defender into the net to make it 2-0 at half time. It was Rogers again who finally put the match beyond Shrewton with the best goal of the game ten minutes from time. Ben Pring played the ball into Joshua Hard who played in Rogers with a clever back-heel and the striker fired home to end Shrewton’s cup run.

The Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was always guaranteed at least one representative in the last eight with league leaders Wroughton making the short journey across town to take on Stratton Juniors. When the two sides had met in the league back in August it had been a real tight affair which Wroughton edged 2-1. Wroughton came into Saturday’s cup game on the back of ten straight wins in the league and they extended that record to eleven wins in all competitions after a 2-0 victory. It was not all plain sailing though. Aaron Maximen put then in front when he headed in a Riegan Cook corner. Wroughton then had influential midfield player Tom Price dismissed offering Stratton a big advantage in their efforts to get back on level terms in the tie. However, they were unable to find the back of the Wroughton net and some of the pressure was taken off the league leaders when a solo effort from leading scorer Shane Hibbert put Wroughton two nil in front. The ten men continued to defend well and saw out the game without conceding to make it through to the last eight and a potential encounter with some of the top sides at Step 6 in the county.

Whilst Wroughton progressed to the last eight, the honour of team of the day rests with Trowbridge Town (pictured below) for their performance in the Second Round. Trowbridge are the last side from the league to have made the final of this cup, winning the competition back in Season 2003-4 when they defeated Corsham Town on penalties after the final had finished 2-2. They looked to embark on another successful Wiltshire Senior Cup campaign with a visit from Western League side Devizes Town, the club who have won the cup more times than any other in the county. After an excellent 2-1-win Trowbridge now join Shrewton United in having knocked out higher league opposition in this season’s competition. Goals from Matt Dixon, with his second of the season, and Jacob Sainsbury, with his fifth of the season did the damage for Trowbridge, Matt Russell with the consolation for Devizes Town. Trowbridge and Wroughton now join Step 6 sides Bemerton Heath Harlequins, Corsham Town, Downton, Laverstock & Ford and Malmesbury Victoria in the draw for the quarter finals. The two Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League sides could be joined by a third from the league if Cricklade Town can win their game at high-flying Western League side Calne Town on Monday night. A tough task with Calne going so well but on their day Cricklade can be a match for any side if they are at the top of their game.

Picture courtesy of Gary Caldicott

Results, Saturday 16th November 2019

Premier Division
Ludgershall Sports 0 Frome Collegians 1
Marlborough Town v Pewsey Vale - postponed
Purton 2 Malmesbury Vics Dev 3
Royal W. Bassett T Dev 0 Corsham T Res 1

Fountain Trophies Cup
Kintbury Rangers 3 Holt FC 0

Wiltshire Senior Cup
Shrewton United 0 Corsham Town 3
Stratton Juniors 0 Wroughton 2
Trowbridge Town 2 Devizes Town 1

Pewsey Vale FC

Statement

21st November 2019

Pewsey Vale have today issued a club statement regarding the situation involving their Senior sides. The statement confirms that the club have withdrawn from the Sydenham's Wessex League with immediate effect in order to protect their Senior League status and the future of the club.

The club have struggled this season to deal with the impact of the enforced lateral move of their team by the FA National Leagues Committee in the summer from the Uhlsport Hellenic League to the Sydenham's Wessex League, a decision that they had unsuccessfully appealed at the time.

Going forward the club is to continue with a single Senior adult team in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior Premier League, as Pewsey Vale F.C and with their team in our Under 18’s Floodlight Division with the view to rebuild in the future and regain the Step 6 status they had orginally achieved by winning the Wiltshire County League (as the league was then known) back in Season 1992-93 and then regained at the end of Season 2009-10 after dropping back down for just one season.

Joy for Ludgershall

& Purton win Local Derby

23rd November 2019

After losing their first eleven league games, and also losing heavily in the Wiltshire Senior Cup, Ludgershall Sports finally have something to smile about after they picked up their first win and points of the season. They had pushed Frome Collegians all the way last Saturday and they started well again in their home game against Malmesbury Victoria Development going in 2-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Lewis Billham and Ryan Howard, the goals coming after they twice got behind the Malmesbury back line with good through balls. Visitors Malmesbury Victoria Dev pulled one back after the interval when Gareth Jones headed in after the ball had come back off the bar but that was to be the extent of the scoring as Ludgershall held on for three much needed points and that first win of the season.

With Wroughton’s game at Holt falling victim to a waterlogged pitch for the second time this season and with Corsham Town Reserves involved in Fountain Trophies Cup action, third placed Shrewton United were looking to close the gap to the top two. In a hard-fought game at the Recreation Ground against Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development they led 2-0 thanks to goals from Craig Lewis and Sam Knight having also missed a penalty. However, the visitors Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development won a penalty of their own five minutes from time and Josh Bolton made no mistake with his spot kick to cause a few anxious moments in the closing stages. Shrewton’s defence ensured there was to be no equaliser and they ran out 2-1 winners to move within a point of Corsham Town Reserves in second spot having played one more game.

Fourth placed Purton were involved in a local derby with near neighbours Cricklade Town the visitors to the Red House. Credit to Purton’s groundsman as the pitch looked in good condition given all the rain in the week. It was the home side who took an early lead when, following a throw-in on the left and some good work by former Cricklade Town player Tom McCulloch, the ball fell to William Backhouse who set up Jack Duckers to fire Purton in front with his sixth of the season. Cricklade got themselves back into the game on 23 minutes following a corner, Purton keeper Luke Kuczynski failed to deal properly with the ball into the box and following a goalmouth scramble the ball fell to Luke Richards who fired in for the equaliser. It remained an even contest throughout the first half with both sides creating chances. Kuczynski redeemed himself on a couple of occasions to deny the lively Cricklade front line and at the other end George Drewitt went close with a powerful shot from the edge of the box but it remained 1-1 at the break. Second half goals for Purton from Sam English, Andy Bilko and Tom McCulloch against his former club, with just a Chris Tewkesbury goal in reply for Cricklade, ensured that it was Purton who have the local bragging rights following a 4-2 win. It was tough on Cricklade who had been in the game throughout, but the win ensured Purton stayed in touch with the top three and immediately bounced back from last week’s surprise defeat at the hands of Malmesbury Victoria Development.

Kintbury Rangers in fifth place had a tough looking fixture at home to Trowbridge Town who came into the game on the back of four straight wins and sat just below Kintbury in the table. It was the visitors who went in front but goals from Mark James and Tom Mahoney, the latter with his sixth of the season, gave Kintbury a 2-1 lead at half time. Second half goals from Josh Davis and Danny Lachacz for Kintbury ensured that the home side ended the visitors unbeaten run, Trowbridge scoring a second to leave the final score 4-2 in Kintbury’s favour. On target for Trowbridge were Nick Taylor, who scored his first since joining from Frome Collegians, and Aaron Masson who bagged his ninth of the season. Both sides remained in the same position in the table as they started the day but with Kintbury having games in hand they again look to be Wroughton’s main rivals for the title this season.

It was a high scoring affair at Frome Collegians this afternoon. With the game moving into the final minute it was tied at three goals apiece, a Jake Farrell hat-trick for visitors Marlborough with Max Pollock, Tom Brown and Matt Parsons having scored for Frome. With the final whistle imminent a powerful effort from distance from Frome’s Max Pollock for his second of the game settled the match in Frome’s favour, Pollock also becoming Frome’s new top scorer in the process with his sixth of the season. Frome climbed two places in the table to ninth spot as a result of their win. For Marlborough it was tough to lose in such circumstances as they went down to their eighth defeat in their last nine games.

Melksham Town Reserves saw action for the first time in the month of November when they visited Stratton Juniors. There were no signs of rustiness, however, as they came away with all three points following a 2-0 win. They were helped by Stratton scoring an own goal, Rory Collins with the other Melksham goal.

Corsham Town Reserves progressed through to the Second Round of the Fountain Trophies Cup with a comfortable win against a young Pewsey Vale side who are looking to re-build after being forced to withdraw from the Sydenhams Wessex League. Two goals from Danny King saw him move onto five for the season whilst Corsham leading scorer Dan Lardner hit his eleventh of the season in the visitors 5-0 win, also on target for Corsham were Darrin Moss and Zach Howell. Corsham Town Reserves could have scored a lot more but for the heroics of Louie La Touché in the Pewsey Vale goal.

Results, Saturday 23rd November 2019

Premier Division
Frome Collegians 4 Marlborough Town 3
Holt v Wroughton - Postponed
Kintbury Rangers 4 Trowbridge Town 2
Ludgershall Spts 2 Malmesbury Vics Dev 1
Purton 4 Cricklade Town 2
Shrewton 2 Royal W. Bassett Town Dev 1
Stratton Juniors 0 Melksham Town 2

Fountain Trophies Cup
Pewsey Vale 0 Corsham Town Res 5

Wroughton March On as

Top Five All Win

30th November 2019

On a day that saw not a single change in league position in the league table, Wroughton made it eleven straight wins in the league and twelve in all competitions with a narrow 3-2 home win over Frome Collegians in the first ever meeting between the two clubs. First half goals from Louis O’Shea and Riegan Cook put Wroughton in the ascendency at the break but Frome Collegians got themselves back into the game through Barry Sandquest and Theo Sing to level matters up at 2-2. Wroughton, under the temporary management for the day of Chairman Kevin Cook and Secretary Stuart Beggs, ensured that they maintained that 100% record with a winner ten minutes from time, influential midfield player Jamie McLaughlin the scorer with his second of the season. The record may remain intact but Wroughton had been pushed all the way by the league newcomers.

Corsham Town Reserves were involved in a high scoring game at the Southbank Ground eventually edging out Cricklade Town. Goals from Dan Lardner and Jake Dodge gave Corsham a 2-0 lead at the break. Lardner then scored twice after the break, completing his hat-trick and taking him to 14 for the season, to put Corsham 4-0 up and what looked an unassailable lead. However, credit to Cricklade Town who battled away and were rewarded with two goals from Jason Tatum to put them back in the game. Daniel King settled any Corsham nerves netting his sixth of the season to put Corsham 5-2 ahead but there was still time for Tatum to become the second player to register a hat-trick in the game as he added a third for Cricklade as the game finished 5-3 to the home side. The win kept Corsham Town Reserves within a point of leaders Wroughton but having played three more games.

Shrewton United gave a debut to keeper Seb Tylek in their home game against Stratton Juniors and the new signing made a number of fine saves to deny visitors Stratton Juniors who gave a much better performance than the last time the two sides had met. At the other end Shrewton’s leading scorer Saul Johnson scored twice on his return to the side to move onto twelve for the season and there were further goals for Jake Watson and Craig Appleby as Shrewton’s prolific strike force moved onto 50 league goals for the season. With exactly half their games played they look on track to once again score over a 100, emulating their feat of two seasons ago. The win mean Shrewton remained a point behind Corsham Town Reserves and two behind Wroughton.

With the top three all winning Purton could not afford to slip up and went very close to doing just that as they trailed 2-1 at Marlborough Town to goals from Christopher Deane and Jake Farrell for the home side. However, two late goals for Purton once again brought heartbreak to Marlborough Town, who had conceded a late winner the previous week at Frome Collegians. On target for Purton were Nathan Marland, Sam English and Andrew Bilko, the last two scoring for the second week running. The defeat meant Marlborough have now gone twelve games without a win and surely their luck must change soon?

Kintbury Rangers ensured that they also remained in touch with the top sides with a hard-fought win away at Malmesbury Victoria Development. When the sides at met at Kintbury on the opening day of the season Kintbury had rattled in ten goals without reply but there was to be no repeat of that this time although there were plenty of goals again in the first half. Kintbury went 1-0 up against the run of play but Darryl Herring headed in an equaliser for Malmesbury. Kintbury restored their lead with a well taken goal and further extended their lead before Krystian Hext scored a second for Malmesbury. A fourth for Kintbury gave them a two-goal cushion at the break. The goal scorers for Kintbury in this eventful first half were Josh Davis, who bagged a brace, Alex Smith and Harry Way. Whilst the goals flowed in the first half it was a different story after the break as both defences prevented any further scoring. The three points for Kintbury meant all of the top five had won and it was as your were at the top of the table.

The game between the two sides in sixth and seventh place at Trowbridge was the only one on the day to fall victim to the wet weather and the Town’s game with Melksham Town Reserves will be re-scheduled for the New Year.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development moved level on points with both Trowbridge Town and Melksham Town Reserves with a 3-1 away win against Pewsey Vale who were playing their first league game since withdrawing their side from the Sydenhams Wessex League. Josh Bolton put the visitors ahead, scoring for the second consecutive week. Pewsey drew level just before the break with a penalty, Craig Simmons who had recently joined from Marlborough Town, making no mistake from the spot. Two second half goals from Dale Richards ensured it was the visitors who went away with all three points courtesy of their 3-1 win.

The final game of the day was at Ludgershall where Holt agreed with their opponents to forego home advantage to ensure their game went ahead having fallen behind with their fixtures. When the sides had met at Ludgershall back in September Holt had won comfortably 5-0 but it was a different story this time round. The two sides shared four goals and the points as Ludgershall carried on from where they left off last week, when they had registered their first points of the season with a win over Malmesbury. On target for the “home” side Holt were Dexter Chipeni and Grant Gunning, Jake Slater and Aidan Barnard replying for Ludgershall Sports.

Results, Saturday 30th November 2019

Premier Division

Corsham Town Res 5 Cricklade Town 3
Holt FC 2 Ludgershall Sports 2
Malmesbury Vics Dev 2 Kintbury Rangers 4
Marlborough Town 2 Purton 3
Pewsey Vale 1 Royal W. Bassett T Dev 3
Shrewton United 4 Stratton Juniors 0
Trowbridge Town v Melksham Town Res - Postponed
Wroughton 3 Frome Collegians 2

Wroughton Bag Perfect Dozen

7th December 2019

Wroughton made it 12 straight wins in the league with a victory over visitors Marlborough Town. An early goal in the first couple of minutes from Louis O’Shea set the leaders on their way but that was to be the only goal of the first half as the visitors Marlborough prevented the league leaders playing their normal flowing football with a battling first half display. Wroughton stepped up their game after the break and in a repeat of the opening half Louis O’Shea bagged his second of the game within a couple of minutes of the re-start. Now playing some excellent flowing football Wroughton extended their lead with a goal from Aaron Maximen with a well taken finish after some neat build up play. Leading scorer Shane Hibbert, who had been quiet for most of the game, then won his side a penalty with about 15 minutes to play and the striker took the penalty himself to move his tally onto 19 for the season. In the closing stages veteran Ryan Banks pulled one back for Marlborough Town, scoring following a corner, as it finished 4-1 to Wroughton and made it a perfect dozen in the league for the leaders. Wroughton now have a big week ahead. On Tuesday night they travel to Laverstock & Ford to take on the Sydenham’s Wessex League side in the quarter final of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup before a top of the table clash with Purton on Saturday at the Red House.

The sides in second and third spot, Corsham Town Reserves and Shrewton United, were both without a game giving Purton in fourth place the opportunity to break into the top three with a win at Stratton Juniors. When the sides had met at the Red House in the opening week of the season Purton had won comfortably by three goals to nil and it was a good afternoon in Swindon for the Red House side as they completed the league double over Stratton with another win by a three-goal margin. This time Purton scored four with Stratton getting just the one in reply. On target for Purton were Tom McCulloch with two, Chris Avery and recent signing Sam Ockwell, who has been with from Hellenic Premier League side Shrivenham up until now. Scott Garrett was on target for Stratton Juniors, scoring his fifth of the campaign. The win lifted Purton one place in the table into third spot, level on points with second place Corsham Town Reserves having played one more game. For Stratton they will look to end their recent run of defeats next week at Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.

Kintbury Rangers moved to within a point of fourth placed Shrewton United with a 5-1 away win at Ludgershall Sports. The goals were shared around the team with five different scorers, Alex Smith, Callum Budd, Fabio Pinto, Danny Lachacz and Tom Mahoney all finding the net as Kintbury won for the fourth consecutive game. On target for Ludgershall was David Cotter, last season’s top scorer, who has recently re-signed for the club. Kintbury are now unbeaten in the last six ahead of another big clash at the top end of the table next week when they travel to Shrewton United. For Ludgershall Sports also a big game next week as they end the calendar year with a big local derby against Marlborough Town.

There was an entertaining game at Frome where the Collegians met Cricklade Town for the first time. Frome Collegians started well and were 2-0 up at one stage before the visitors staged a comeback to eventually win 4-3, ending a run of six straight defeats in all competitions. Jason Tatum, who had fired a hat-trick last week, was once again amongst the goals bagging a brace, the other Cricklade goals coming through Bradley Farrell and Jonathan Peachey-Score, the latter notching his 12th of the season. In reply for the Collegians, Ben Griffiths scored twice and Barry Sandquest with his seventh of the season with the other. The win lifted Cricklade Town a couple of places in the table to 9th, moving above both today’s opponents and Malmesbury Victoria Development.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development climbed one place in the table with a narrow win over near neighbours Malmesbury Victoria Development. A goal from Royal Wootton Bassett’s Dale Richards was all that separated the side at the break. Josh Bolton then extended the home side’s lead early in the second half before Richards scored again to put the home side in command at 3-0. However, two quick goals from Jake Fortune and Mani Roper for Malmesbury, the latter scoring from the penalty spot against the side he recently left to join the Vics, meant a few anxious moments for the home side in the closing minutes but they stopped the visitors adding to their tally to run out 3-2 winners.

Melksham Town Reserves are on a good run of form of late. Going into their game against Pewsey Vale at the InfiLED Stadium they were unbeaten in five in all competitions and they extended that unbeaten run to six with a comfortable 4-1 win. Harvey Flippance moved into double figures with his 10th of the season, Dan Sibley bagged a brace with the other Melksham goal coming courtesy of Seth Wain. Craig Simmons replied for Pewsey, scoring for the second consecutive week following his transfer from Marlborough Town.

The scheduled game between Trowbridge Town and Holt was postponed.

Results, Saturday 7th December 2019

Premier Division

Frome Collegians 3 Cricklade Town 4

Ludgershall Sports 1 Kintbury Rangers 5

Melksham Town Res 4 Pewsey Vale 1

RWBT Dev 3 Malmesbury Vics Dev 2

Stratton Juniors 1 Purton 4

Trowbridge Town v Holt - postponed

Wroughton 4 Marlborough Town 1

One of Those Great Weeks for

Shrewton United

14th December 2019

Shrewton's Lee Weeks who bagged a brace in their 4-2 comeback win over Kintbury Rangers (Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

The wet weather once again struck the schedule fixtures in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League this weekend but two big games at the top of the table did survive.

At the Southbank Ground in Corsham there was a local derby with Melksham Town Reserves the visitors to second in the table Corsham Town Reserves. When the two sides had met back in August at Melksham an own goal had settled matters in Corsham’s favour in a real tight affair. Both sides went into this game in good form. Corsham were unbeaten in seven, six of which had been won, whilst Melksham themselves were unbeaten in six and another close contest was anticipated. Home side Corsham took an early lead when Emilio Mudrak put them ahead with just six minutes on the clock. Melksham replied just before the half hour mark through Harvey Flippance with his eleventh goal for Melksham Town Reserves this season. With him also leading the goal scoring chart in the Under 18 Division he is clearly having a great season and the youngster is the latest in a line of top young strikers coming through the ranks at Melksham. Melksham then went in front for the first time with a second goal this time scored by Dan Sibley. Corsham got themselves back on level terms just before the half time interval, Ed McCormack with the goal to make it 2-2 at the break. It was another close affair again in the second half but a second goal for Dan Sibley secured all three points for Melksham who extended that unbeaten run to seven games. This was the third defeat of the season for Corsham Town Reserves, with all three defeats coming at the Southbank Ground where they had been unbeaten last season and they slipped a couple of places in the table as a result of the defeat. Melksham Town Reserves remain in sixth spot but closed the gap to the top five sides.

The other big game at the top end of the table saw Shrewton United host Kintbury Rangers. Again, both sides were in good form in the league, visitors Kintbury were unbeaten in six, five of which had been won, whilst home side Shrewton had won their last three league games. Visitors Kintbury started well and went 2-0 to the good thanks to goals from Fabio Pinto and Stephen Blunt, both players scoring their second goal of the season. However, Shrewton pulled one back before half time, Lee Weeks firing in with an impressive strike from distance to make it 2-1 at the break. A stern talking to at half time from manager Joe Sheldrake saw Shrewton come out for the second half a much-improved side and three unanswered goals saw them turn the game around to run out 4-2 winners. There was a second for Weeks, with another stunning strike, plus further goals from Craig Lewis and Charlie Utterson, the latter bagging his seventh of the campaign. With Corsham Town Reserves losing, the win lifted Shrewton two places in the table into second spot, two points behind leaders Wroughton but having played four more games.

The only other game to survive the wet weather was at Pewsey where home side Pewsey Vale were looking to avenge a heavy 10-0 defeat earlier in the season against their visitors Frome Collegians. It was a different story to that first encounter this time round, as a much-strengthened Pewsey side picked up their first point of the season at the eleventh time of asking. The two sides turned around at the break with neither side having found the net in the first forty-five minutes, but Pewsey had the advantage with Frome having had Joe Upshall sent off on thirty-five minutes when he picked up his second yellow card of the game. The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Connor Marsden put Pewsey Vale 1-0 ahead but ten-man Frome replied mid-way through the second half with a goal from Lewis Perrett to ensure a share of the spoils. So, for Pewsey the re-build has now started but they remain on negative points having suffered a points deduction for postponed games. The point for Frome Collegians saw them climb a place in the table, moving above Cricklade Town into ninth position.

The league games at Malmesbury Victoria, Marlborough Town, Purton and Royal Wootton Bassett Town and the County Cup game at Trowbridge were all postponed due to waterlogged pitches.

Action from the game between Corsham Town Res & Melksham Town Res

(pictures courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

Results, Saturday 14th December 2019

Premier Division

Corsham Town Res 2 Melksham T Res 3

Malmesbury Vics Dev v Cricklade Town - Postponed
Marlborough Town v Ludgershall Sports - Postponed
Pewsey Vale 1 Frome Collegians 1
Purton v Wroughton - Postponed
Royal W. Bassett T Dev v Stratton Jun. - Postponed
Shrewton United 4 Kintbury Rangers 2

Wiltshire Senior Cup
Trowbridge Town v Calne Town – Postponed

Wroughton Drop First Points &

Pewsey Win for First Time

4th January 2020

Action from the big game of the day that saw Shrewton win 2-0 away at Purton (Picture courtesy of Mike Wray)

League leaders Wroughton dropped points for the first time this season as they were held at home by visitors Stratton Juniors, the two sides meetingt for the third time this season. On the opening day of the season Wroughton had edged it by the odd goal in three and they then won another tight contest in the Wiltshire Senior Cup, eventually winning 2-0. In this latest meeting the league leaders went in front in the first half through Louis O’Shea, a player who is currently in fine goal scoring form, netting for the third consecutive game. However, visitors Stratton were back on level terms on the hour mark, Ashton Gleed netting for the first time this season. With Wroughton looking for a second to maintain their 100% winning start they suffered a setback when Aaron Maximen was sent-off following what both sides described as a harsh decision. Down to ten men, in the end Wroughton had to settle for a point which maintained their unbeaten start but finally ended that winning run. Certainly, an impressive result for Stratton Juniors to start the New Year in their first season in the league.

Whilst Wroughton were dropping their first points of the season the other headline makers on the day were Pewsey Vale who picked up their first win of the season at the twelfth attempt. Goals from James Guthrie and Connor Marsden secured that first victory of the season, as they pulled off a surprise 2-0 win over Melksham Town Reserves who had gone into the game on the back of a six game unbeaten run. Whilst Pewsey remain bottom of the table, the win lifted them to within two points of Ludgershall Sports who were without a game this weekend.

The big game of the day to kick off the New Year in the Premier Division was at the Red House where third in the table Purton entertained second placed Shrewton United. In an entertaining game between two of the league’s leading sides, Lee Himsworth put visitors Shrewton in front with a well taken goal after a fine passing move which started in the Shrewton defence, with Himsworth initiating and finishing the move in style. A couple of minutes later Dean Smith then extended the visitors lead, getting on the end of a Craig Lewis corner to head past the Purton keeper to make it 2-0. The win for Shrewton made it five wins on the bounce in the league for Joe Sheldrake’s side. As a result of the win and Wroughton dropping points Shrewton moved level on points with the leaders but having played four more games. Purton dropped to fifth in the table due to results elsewhere and will look to bounce back next week when they entertain league leaders Wroughton in the Fountain Trophies Cup First Round.

Kintbury Rangers moved up into third spot following a 3-1 home win over Cricklade Town. Games between the two sides are traditionally tight affairs with three of the previous five meetings ending in draws and the other two games seeing one win for each side by a one goal difference on both occasions. This time around an impressive first half performance saw Kintbury lead 2-0 at the break courtesy of goals from Tom Mahoney, with his eighth of the season, and Fabio Pinto. Jonathan Peachey-Score pulled one back for Cricklade but Charlie Allsop ensured it would be Kintbury who took all three points with a late third goal for the home side.

Corsham Town Reserves remain in fourth spot but dropped two points as they were held to a 2-2 draw at the Southbank Ground by visitors Marlborough Town who have a habit of picking up results against Corsham. The visitors Marlborough went in front against the run of play when Jake Farrell scored his seventh of the season but Corsham were back on level terms by the break, Daniel King with the equalising goal which also took him to seven for the season. Corsham went in front after the restart thanks to an own goal but Marlborough pushed hard for an equaliser. Corsham’s keeper Joe King pulled off a fine save to keep his side in front but the visitors were not to be denied as in the dying moments of the match Aaron Presley netted his sixth of the season following a defensive slip up to ensure the points were shared as Marlborough came away from the Southbank Ground with their third draw in the last three seasons and are now unbeaten in their last six visits to Corsham in the league.

Frome Collegians made their first visit to the Gerard Buxton Ground and started well against their hosts Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Having hit the bar on fourteen minutes they went close again with twenty minutes when Max Pollock was played in, but he fired straight at the Bassett keeper Ellis Parker. They finally did break the deadlock on the half-hour mark, Ben Griffths shooting from wide on the left hand side, his shot just making it over the line to give the visitors the lead which they deserved on the balance of play up to that point. The hosts had the chance to get back on level terms six minutes from the break with a free kick on the edge of the box. However, the free kick from Bailey Gallagher was fired into the wall and when the ball rebounded to Gallagher his header from the edge of the box was held confidently by visiting keeper Josh Bond. Gallagher was not to be denied for long though. The home side were awarded another free kick, this time Tyrhys Mifsud saw his shot saved by Bond but the ball fell to Gallagher who fired in to make it 1-1 two minutes before the interval. There was still time for the same player to hit the cross bar as it remained level at the break. It was a different story in the second half as the interval seemed to knock the visitors out of their stride and it was the home side who dominated proceedings. Charlie McCuish put them in front for the first time on the hour mark when he fired in from the edge of the box after claims for a penalty were waived aside after Bailey Gallagher went down in the box, the ball falling to McCuish who fired in to the top corner of the net for his eighth of the season. Three minutes later his tally for the season rose to nine as he got on the end of an excellent cross from Gallagher to make it 3-1 to the home side. The game was made safe twenty minutes from time when substitute Kabin Rai scored with a looping header from the edge of the box to make the final score 4-1 to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.

Action from the game between RWBT Dev and Frome Collegians

The last side from the league to win the Wiltshire Senior Cup were Trowbridge Town and they were in Quarter Final action this weekend with Toolstation Western League side Calne Town the visitors to Woodmarsh. Trowbridge were looking to cause a cup upset against a side who are going extremely well at the top end of their Step 6 division. Unfortunately, there was no upset on the day but it was mighty close as Trowbridge pushed their visitors all the way. Calne took the lead from the penalty spot through Jamal Chevolleau and it remained 1-0 at the break. Nick Taylor pulled Trowbridge level on 67 minutes with his second goal of the season. It remained 1-1 at the end of normal time and with no goals in extra-time the match was decided on penalty kicks. Calne edged the penalty shoot-out 4-2 to join Bemerton Heath Harlequins and Corsham Town in the semi-finals. The Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League’s sole representatives are now Wroughton who play their twice postponed game against Laverstock & Ford at New College's ground at Supermarine this coming Tuesday night, the tie switching to Wroughton’s home fixture after the double postponement at Laverstock & Ford’s ground.

Results, Saturday 4th January 2020

Premier Division

Corsham Town Res 2 Marlborough Town 2

Kintbury Rangers 3 Cricklade Town 1
Pewsey Vale 2 Melksham Town Res 0
Purton 0 Shrewton United 2
Royal W. Bassett T D 4 Frome Collegians 1
Wroughton 1 Stratton Juniors 1

Wiltshire Senior Cup
Trowbridge Town 1 Calne Town 1 (AET) (Calne won 4-2 on pens)

Wroughton Triumph Over Step 6

Opposition to Make Semi Final

8th January 2020

Congratulations to Wroughton who last night knocked-out Step 6 opponents Laverstock & Ford to progress to the semi-final of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup. The last time that a side from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League made it through to the final was way back in Season 2003-4 when Trowbridge Town defeated Corsham Town in the final and Wroughton will be looking to end that barren run. They join Bemerton Heath Harlequins from the Sydenhams Wessex League and Toolstation Western League sides Calne Town and Corsham Town in that semi-final draw following last night’s impressive 3-1 win over their higher league opponents. In a tight contest Wroughton got an early lead through when leadings scorer Shane Hibbert put them ahead with his 20th goal of the season. With both sides creating further scoring opportunities it was home side Wroughton, playing the match at New College’s ground at Swindon Supermarine, who eventually made one of their chances count, with Aaron Maximen adding a second on the stroke of half time to make it 2-0 at the break. Laverstock & Ford stepped it up after the break and went close on a couple of occasions to reducing the deficit but a second of the game from Aaron Maximen put Wroughton 3-0 ahead and in touching distance of a cup upset. Laverstock & Ford, who had won 7-2 in their league on Saturday, continued to try and get back in the tie and were rewarded with a goal from Tommy Campbell-Smith to make it 3-1. However, that was to be the end of the scoring as Wroughton held out to secure a superb victory over the Sydenhams Wessex League side.

After their cup win over Laverstock & Ford, Wroughton are now unbeaten in 15 games in all competitions and they have every chance of making it through to the final of the Wiltshire FA’s oldest and most valued competition. Next up for Wroughton though, as they look to win trophies on three fronts, is their Fountain Trophies Cup First Round tie this coming Saturday against Purton. Wroughton have struggled against Purton in the league since Purton returned from the Hellenic League but, having knocked them out of the same competition last season, Wroughton will be looking for a repeat of that Fountain Trophies result to keep the treble hopes alive on Saturday.

Midweek action in the Premier Division this week in the end was limited to just the one game as the game at Malmesbury Victoria between their Development side and Melksham Town Reserves fell victim to the continued wet weather. The game that got the go ahead was at Corsham Town’s Southbank Ground, where Corsham Town Reserves met Frome Collegians. On another wet Wiltshire evening Corsham Town Reserves were looking to move within a point of the top two with a victory over Frome Collegians. When the sides had met on the opening day of the season Corsham had won comfortably 5-2 but came into the game without a win in their previous two outings. Frome themselves were also on a bad run of form with just a solitary single point to show from their previous four league games.

Corsham Town Reserves started the game on top and went close early on, hitting the woodwork on five minutes and creating a number of other good chances. Despite this good start they fell behind to a goal on the counterattack on fifteen minutes, Max Pollock slotting home for his seventh goal of the season. The visitors had a couple of further chances to extend their lead, but it remained 1-0 to Frome at the break.

Corsham started the second half fired up and were well on top in the early exchanges of the second period, creating a number of good chances. They finally got back on level terms on the hour mark, leading scorer Dan Lardner with the equalising goal, netting his 15th of the season. Corsham continued to push forward and went in front for the first time in the match twelve minutes from time thanks to a goal from Chay Forrester. As the game moved into its closing stages it looked like Corsham would be successful in closing that gap to the top two to just a single point but all their good work in coming from behind was undone a minute from time when Frome were awarded a penalty that was duly put away by James Hounsell to level matters at 2-2.

A good away result for Frome, who bounced back from a poor second half last Saturday at the Gerard Buxton Ground, to earn a point against one of this season’s leading sides. For Corsham that is now three games, all at home, without a win and they have another tough looking home fixture this Saturday when Kintbury Rangers visit the Southbank Ground. Whilst disappointed by not getting the win, the point gained did lift them into third spot above Kintbury ahead of Saturday’s encounter between the two sides. Last season the game at the Southbank was a tight affair that Corsham edged 2-1 and when the sides met at Kintbury earlier in the season it finished 1-1 in another close encounter and Saturday is set to be yet another tight affair and the top league game of the weekend.

Penalties Needed to Decide

Exciting Cup Tie

11th January 2020

On a horrible afternoon for football with a howling wind making it difficult for everyone, five games survived the weather, four in the league and one in the Fountain Trophies Cup First Round. In that cup match, league leaders Wroughton took a break from their quest for the title with another cup match following on from their heroics in midweek in the Wiltshire Senior Cup. In a dramatic afternoon of action at the Red House, they are through to the next round of the league cup competition, keeping the possibility of a treble on track, but it was a close-run thing. Leading scorer Shane Hibbert put Wroughton in front from the penalty spot before Jack Duckers equalised for Purton following a defensive mix-up. They game remained level at the end of ninety minutes sending the match into extra time. Extra time goals from Tom McCulloch and Will Backhouse put the home side Purton 3-1 up and it looked like Wroughton’s unbeaten start to the season was about to end. However, Wroughton dug deep and a second penalty of the afternoon from Hibbert, his 22nd of the season, brought them back into the tie. Tyler Wilkinson, with his fourth of the season, then levelled matters and with neither side able to find a winner it meant penalty kicks would be required to decide who progressed to the Second Round. It was a tense shoot out with sudden death required to settle it. With the shoot-out tied at 6-6, Tom Price put a seventh away for Wroughton and then Wroughton keeper Jack Gibson bame the hero as he saved the final Purton spot kick to make the final score 7-6 in Wroughton’s favour and it is they who progress to Round Two.

The three sides just behind Wroughton in the table had a frustrating weekend with their games postponed due to waterlogged pitches. The top league game of the day was scheduled to have been the match at the Southbank Ground between Corsham Town Reserves and Kintbury Rangers, but the pitch at the Southbank had not recovered from the game played in heavy rain in midweek. Shrewton’s trip to Trowbridge was the other game lost to a waterlogged pitch.

Melksham Town Reserves, who are one of two sides from the league who have applied for promotion to Step 6, closed in on the top five that they will need to crack to be eligible for the possibility of promotion with a narrow 1-0 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. The only goal of the game came courtesy of Harvey Flippance with his ninth league goal and twelfth of the season in all senior competitions for Melksham Town Res. The win saw Melksham move to within four points of fifth placed Purton and five points behind the other side who have applied for promotion, Kintbury Rangers. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development, whose three-game winning run was brought to an end remain one place below Melksham in the table.

Pewsey Vale’s rejuvenation continues with a second consecutive win and their third game unbeaten, the latest success being a come from behind victory over Malmesbury Victoria Development. Gareth Jones put the visitors Malmesbury in front before Connor Marsden replied for Pewsey on the stroke of half time, scoring for the third consecutive game, to make it 1-1 at the interval. A second half winner from Ryan Thomas ensured Pewsey moved off the bottom of the table for the first time this season as the game ended 2-1.

Cricklade Town look like they have put their poor run of results behind them as they secured their second win in their last three games. Two goals from Alex Baker and one from Luke Richards put them 3-0 up and in a commanding position. However, further chances to extend the lead were not taken and two late goals for the home side through Christopher Deane and Jamie Conway made the game look a lot closer than should have been the case on the balance of play on the afternoon. As a result of the win Cricklade Town climbed above Frome Collegians into ninth spot in the table. For Marlborough that is now 15 without a win ahead of another tough looking encounter next week away to Melksham Town Reserves.

Stratton Juniors moved up a couple of places in the table into 11th place as they completed a second win of the season over visitors Ludgershall Sports. Star of the show was Josh Morse who scored both Stratton goals in their 2-0 win at Meadowcroft. With that Pewsey win it meant Ludgershall slipped to the bottom of the table. They will be hoping for a change of fortune next week when they are in Fountain Trophies Cup action away at Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.

Results, Saturday 11th January 2020

Premier Division

Corsham Town Res v Kintbury Rangers - Postponed
Marlborough Town 2 Cricklade Town 3
Melksham Town FC Res 1 Royal WBT D 0
Pewsey Vale 2 Malmesbury Victoria Dev 1
Stratton Juniors 2 Ludgershall Sports 0
Trowbridge Town v Shrewton United – Postponed

Fountain Trophies Cup First Round
Purton 3 Wroughton 3 (AET) (6-7 on pens)

Shrewton Just Edge It

as Chasing Pack All Win

18th January 2020

Shrewton manager Joe Sheldrake who had to play in goal today (picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

With league leaders Wroughton without a game this weekend the chasing pack all had the opportunity to make up ground on the leaders. The four sides who saw their games survive the weather all took full advantage of that opportunity. In the top game of the afternoon, second in the table Shrewton United were looking to go back level on points with the leaders having had three points removed from their total following the withdrawal of Holt FC. They had a tough looking fixture though with Cricklade Town, a side who had won five of the last seven meetings, the visitors to the Recreation Ground. Shrewton manager Joe Sheldrake’s plans ahead of the game were also hit when his goalkeeper became unavailable at short notice and he was forced to put on the gloves for only his third appearance of the season. It had been a tight affair when the two sides had met on the opening day of the season and so it proved again, but in contrast to that first game when the sides had shared nine goals, it remained 0-0 at the break in the return game. Visitors Cricklade had much the better of things in that opening forty-five and should have been ahead but they were unable to find a way past the Shrewton manager in goal. However, it did look ominous for the home side that their poor record against Cricklade would continue when the visitors eventually took the lead after the restart, Alex Baker scoring from a free kick to make it 1-0 to Cricklade. The Shrewton side, who had not been at their best up to that point, responded well to this set back and began to finally create some chances of their own. They got themselves back on level terms when Craig Lewis fired in with a shot across the goal which found its way into the Cricklade net to give him his third goal of the season since he re-joined Shrewton from Pewsey Vale. Shrewton tails were now up and, shortly after coming on as substitute, Tyren Harrington set up Lee Weeks who chipped the Cricklade keeper from the edge of the box to put the home side ahead for the first time in the game. Both sides continued to create chances in the closing stages with Cricklade pushing hard for the equaliser but Shrewton held out to ensure they moved level on points with Wroughton, but having played four more games. Cricklade Town remain in eighth spot in the table.

Kintbury Rangers moved to within a point of third placed Corsham Town Reserves who saw their own game at Pewsey postponed. Kintbury did so thanks to a narrow win over visitors Frome Collegians courtesy of a late penalty at the Recreation Ground. Veteran Danny Lachacz had put Kintbury in front but Ross Knapton equalised for Frome just before the break as the teams turned round with the score at 1-1. It then remained that way until close to the final whistle when Kintbury were awarded a spot kick which Robbie Sadler duly put away to ensure promotion seeking Kintbury kept their challenge for a top five finish and possibly the title on track.

Trowbridge Town had not played a league game since the 23rd of November ahead of their trip to the Red House to take on fifth placed Purton, never an easy place to go and even tougher when you have had limited playing time in recent weeks. On a heavy pitch, both teams played some good football, but goals from Chris Avery and Sam English ensured that it was Purton who took all three points, as they ran out 2-0 winners to remain in fifth spot, a point behind Kintbury having played one game more.

The other side who have applied for promotion, Melksham Town Reserves, ensured they also stayed in touch with the top five with a comfortable home win over Marlborough Town at the InfiLED Stadium. Star of the show for Melksham was Harvey Flippance who fired in a hat-trick to move onto fifteen for the season for his side. Seth Wain, Kieran Pearce and Dan Sibley were also amongst the goals for Melksham in their 6-1 win. Marlborough’s consolation goal was scored by Jake Farrell with his eighth of the season. That is now just one defeat in the last nine games for David Macey’s in-form Melksham Town side ahead of next week’s tough looking trip to the Red House to take on Purton.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development became the seventh side to make it through to the quarter finals of the Fountain Trophies Cup with a comfortable 5-0 win over visitors Ludgershall Sports on a game played on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Ground. First half goals from Dale Richards and Kabin Rai put the home side 2-0 up at the break and further goals in the second half from Manuel Mesas, Lewis Tidy and an excellent solo goal from Ben Paul completed the scoring. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development now meet last season’s winners Kintbury Rangers in the next round.

Despite efforts by the league to see if Holt FC could continue it was confirmed at the recent Management Committee that they had withdrawn from the league. With Holt having played only ten league fixtures, lower than the 75% threshold, their record has been expunged from the league table in accordance with FA rules. Three sides at the top end of the table, Shrewton United, Kintbury Rangers and Purton all lost three points as a result of the Holt withdrawal, with Trowbridge Town also having thee points removed from their total. Although they also lost a point from their total, promotion seeking Melksham Town were probably the biggest gainers having dropped two points when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Holt. Malmesbury and Ludgershall also both had a point removed from their total as a result of the games against Holt being declared void. As well as the league table the leading goal scorers’ chart below has also been adjusted for the Holt withdrawal.

Results, Saturday 18th January 2020

Premier Division

Kintbury Rangers 2 Frome Collegians 1
Melksham Town Res 6 Marlborough Town 1

Pewsey Vale v Corsham Town Res - Postponed

Purton 2 Trowbridge Town 0

Shrewton United 2 Cricklade Town 1

Stratton Juniors v Malmesbury Vics Dev - Postponed

Fountain Trophies Cup First Round
Royal Wootton Bassett Town 5 Ludgershall Sports 0

Midweek win for Cricklade Town

in Premier

22nd January 2020

Cricklade Town continued their excellent record against Malmesbury Victoria Development with a hard-fought win on Wednesday night at the Flying Monk. With the pitch at Malmesbury under water the previous week, after the nearby river flooded the ground, all credit to the groundsman at the Malmesbury club for repairing the pitch in such a short space of time to enable the game to go ahead. Cricklade had completed a league double over Malmesbury in each of the previous three seasons and started as pre-match favourites but given the heavy conditions, and with the home side fielding a strong side, it always looked like it was going to require a massive effort to come away with all three points. The sides turned around at the break with the game yet to see a goal as both sides found the conditions hard going. The deadlock was finally broken after the interval when Malmesbury’s Gareth Jones headed in from close range for his sixth goal of the season to make it 1-0 to the home side. It looked like it would get even tougher for visitors Cricklade, with that recent perfect record in serious danger, when they had a man sent off. However, as often can be the case, the ten-man side rallied and got themselves back on level terms with a fourteenth of the season from leading scorer Jonathan Peachey-Score with a strike from twenty-five yards out. With their tails up the ten men then created another excellent goal, Chris Tewkesbury scoring after some good build up play to put Cricklade in front for the first time in the game. Malmesbury pushed for an equaliser but were unable to take advantage of the extra player and Cricklade held out to take all three points to move to within three points of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development in seventh spot. With eight of their remaining eleven fixtures at home, Cricklade will be hoping that this home advantage can see them climb into the top five by the season end.

Shrewton Move

Top of the Table

25th January 2020

Dean Smith who scored the winner that sent Shrewton United three points clear at the top of the table

With Wroughton once again without a fixture, Shrewton had the opportunity to take over at the top of the table by avoiding defeat against visitors Frome Collegians. This was the third meeting of the season between the two sides, when they had met in the league at Frome back in September it had finished 2-2 after Frome scored two late goals to share the points, whilst Shrewton had won 4-2 at home in the Fountain Trophies Cup the following month. It was another tight game in the third meeting with Shrewton eventually edging it. Visitors Frome Collegians led 1-0 at the break, Sonny Burbridge scoring with a stunning strike from distance. However, a controversial penalty incident saw Shrewton get back on level terms. The initial spot kick was saved by the Frome keeper Liam Ashman only for the officials to order the kick to be retaken deciding that the keeper was off the line in making the save. Craig Lewis made no mistake with the re-taken penalty to level things up at one each. Dean Smith then scored what turned out to be the winner for Shrewton. The win saw them go three points clear of Wroughton at the top of the table but having played five more games than the second placed side. Shrewton have a tough looking month coming up with two games against both in-form Melksham Town Reserves and Corsham Town Reserves, including a Fountain Trophies Cup tie, but go into February at the top and the division’s leading scorers.

Corsham Town Reserves moved level on points with Wroughton but have also played five more games than the side in second spot, winning 5-2 away at Stratton Juniors to complete the league double over their Swindon based opponents. Two first half goals from Ryan Withers and one from Jake Dodge gave Corsham a 3-1 lead at the break, Ryan Major scoring for Stratton from the penalty spot. Second half saw Withers complete his hat-trick, with Ben Selman also on target for the visitors, Scott Garrett scoring a second for Stratton Juniors.

Marlborough Town have had a tough time of it of late and went into their tough looking fixture with Kintbury Rangers on the back of a run that had seen then go 16 games without a win. That has now stretched to 17 but arguably the midweek team building meal they had this week has had a positive effect as they picked up probably their best result of the season, holding fourth placed Kintbury to a goalless draw. Both teams created chances but were none were taken as the sides shared the points. That is the second time in the last four games that Marlborough have drawn with one of the top four sides so that elusive win cannot be far away.

The big match of the day was at the Red House where sixth placed Melksham Town Reserves were fifth placed Purton’s visitors. Melksham are one of the form sides in the division with just one defeat in their previous nine games ahead of their trip to Purton. That great run continues as a hat-trick from top young striker Harvey Flippance, his second in consecutive weeks which took him to eighteen for the season to add to the nine he has scored in the U18 Division for FC Chippenham, secured a 4-2 win for the visitors. Their other goal was scored by Cullen Wylie, Jamie Tuck and Chris Avery with the Purton goals.

Pewsey Vale have been one of the form sides in the division in recent weeks, travelling to Royal Wootton Basset Town Development on the back of a three-game unbeaten run with wins in their last two games. In a good game of football played on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Ground it was a really tight affair in the first forty-five minutes with neither side able to take the chances that came their way. The lively Connor Marsden went closest for the visitors with a shot the went just over the bar and Dale Richards and Charlie McCuish both had good chances for the home side but were unable to find the net. The second half saw the home side start to get on top and Nick Mason went close with a powerful shot which just went wide of the post. The deadlock was finally broken on 75 minutes. Pewsey keeper Sam Tuttle did well to keep the initial shot from the right hand side out but the ball fell to Bailey Gallagher close to the touch line at the far post and he fired in from the tightest of angles to make it 1-0 to Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. The home side extended their lead shortly afterwards, Josh Bolton getting on the end of a Ben Paul cross from the right-hand side to head powerfully into the net. With ninety minutes on the clock Bailey Gallagher then went on a mazy run into the box and was upended giving the home side a penalty. Gallagher having won the penalty took the spot kick and fired powerfully past Tuttle to make the final score 3-0 to the home side and bring Pewsey’s winning run to an end. Both sides remained where they started the day in terms of the respective league positions.

Action from the game between RWBT Dev and Pewsey Vale

Trowbridge Town ended a winless run with a 3-1 away win over bottom of the table Ludgershall Sports. Star of the show was Alex Pippard who scored a hat-trick for the visitors, his second hat-trick of the season. Aaron Rosser replied for Ludgershall with a header from a free kick from the edge of the eighteen-yard box. The win lifted Trowbridge a place in the table as they moved above neighbours Frome Collegians into ninth spot.

Results, Saturday 25th January 2020

Premier Division

Ludgershall Sports 1 Trowbridge Town 3

Marlborough Town 0 Kintbury Rangers 0

Purton 2 Melksham Town Res 4

Royal W. Bassett T Dev 3 Pewsey Vale 0

Shrewton United 2 Frome Collegians 1

Stratton Juniors 2 Corsham Town Res 5

Marlborough Town Bring

Winless Run To An End

1st February 2020

On a difficult windy afternoon in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League all of the top six sides failed to pick up a win in their respective games. However, before considering the games at the top end of the table the headlines on the day must surely go to Marlborough Town who finally ended a torrid run of results which had seen them go seventeen games without a win ahead of their visit to the Flying Monk Ground, home of Malmesbury Victoria. The previous week they had held one of the top sides Kintbury Rangers to a 0-0 draw and went into their game with Malmesbury Victoria Development looking to build on that excellent result knowing also that the Malmesbury game was a fixture they traditionally have done well in, having won five of the previous seven meetings between the two sides. Malmesbury themselves were also in poor form having lost five games on the spin. That has now stretched to six as they were well beaten by the visitors who ran out 6-1 winners to pick up their third and best win of the season. Jake Farrell led the way firing a hat-trick as he moved onto eleven for the season, Christopher Deane scored twice with Jamie Conway completing the scoring for the visitors. The consolation goal for Malmesbury was scored by Jack Duckers who scored his first goal for his new club having recently transferred from Purton.

The big match at the top of the table saw league leaders Shrewton United at home to an in-form Melksham Town side who went into the match with just one defeat in their previous ten games. Shrewton themselves were also in a rich vein of form having won six straight games ahead of Melksham’s visit. It was the home side who started the brightest and found themselves one goal to the good early on, captain Steven Holvey firing in from a Conor Cutler corner. Shrewton continued to take the game to Melksham and Charlie Utterson went closest to extending the lead but was denied by a good save from the Melksham keeper and it remained 1-0 at the break to the league leaders. It was a different story after the interval though as Melksham came back into the game strongly. They were awarded a penalty soon after the restart, but unfortunately for them leading scorer Harvey Flippance fired his spot kick past the post and the score remained 1-0 to Shrewton. Despite the let off Shrewton did not respond and continued to allow the visitors to have the better of things and Melksham were duly rewarded when Matty Lever, their recent signing from Devizes Town, put Melksham back on level terms getting on the end of a flick-on from a throw-in. Melksham continued to have the better of things and went in front for the first time in the game when Harvey Flippance made up for his earlier penalty miss with a well taken goal to make it 2-1. Shrewton responded by introducing substitute Craig Lewis, who had scored in each of Shrewton’s last two games. He almost made an immediate impact as he saw a header, his first touch of the game, well saved by the Melksham keeper. He was not to be denied though as good build up play between Tyren Harrington and Lee Weeks saw Weeks play in Lewis down the left-hand side and he cut inside his defender and fired a powerful shot past the Melksham keeper for an equaliser. Shrewton went in search of a winner and a couple of good chances fell to Lee Weeks but he was denied by the visiting keeper and it finished honours even at two each and the points shared. Despite dropping two points Shrewton remained top of the table due to results elsewhere.

Second placed Wroughton were up against Purton in sixth spot. When the two sides had met recently in the cup penalties had been required to settle matters and Purton also went into the game knowing that their recent league record against Wroughton is a good one, having won three of the four league meetings in the last two seasons. Wroughton’s unbeaten record this season remains intact, but they did drop points for only the second time this season as Purton’s good record against their opponents continued. Veteran Tom Dingle put Wroughton ahead, but George Drewitt equalised ten minutes from time for Purton as it finished 1-1 and both sides ended the day in the same positions in the table as they were before kick-off.

Pewsey Vale have strengthened their side in recent weeks with a number of former players from their Hellenic League days returning to the club. Having lost 5-0 to Corsham Town Reserves in the Fountain Trophies Cup back in November they travelled to the Southbank Ground to take on their third placed opponents again looking to return to winning ways after suffering a defeat for the first time in three games the previous week and also to avenge that Cup defeat. It was a really tight affair that was ultimately to be decided in injury time when Cameron MacKenzie scored the only goal of the game to give Pewsey all three points. That is now just one win in the last five for Corsham who have hit a bit of a sticky patch but remain in third place in the table.

Fourth placed Kintbury Rangers failed to take advantage of the others above them dropping points as they went down to a Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development side who won their third straight game. Kintbury led 1-0 at the break courtesy of a Robbie Sadler penalty but the home side came back strongly in the second half to score three unanswered goals to win 3-1. On target for Royal Wootton Bassett Town were Ben Spackman, Manuel Mesas and Charlie McCuish, the latter moving into double figures for the season with his goal. Kintbury remain in fourth spot, Royal Wootton Bassett Town, who were the highest placed winners on the afternoon, stay in seventh place but closed the gap to Purton in sixth place to just two points.

Cricklade Town are starting to find some form and made it three wins in their last four games with a narrow 3-2 win away at Ludgershall Sports. Jonathan Peachey-Score was again on target for the visitors, as he moved onto fifteen for the season, Alex Baker netted his fourth of the campaign and an own goal completed the scoring for Cricklade. On target for Ludgershall Sports, who had led during the game before going down to ten men, were Ryan Howard, with his third of the season, and Joe Evans.

The final First Round tie in the Fountain Trophies Cup between Trowbridge Town and Stratton Juniors was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Results, Saturday 1st February 2020

Premier Division

Corsham Town Res 0 Pewsey Vale 1

Ludgershall Sports 2 Cricklade Town 3

Malmesbury Vics Dev 1 Marlborough T 6

Royal W. Bassett T D 3 Kintbury Rangers 1

Shrewton United 2 Melksham Town Res 2

Wroughton 1 Purton 1

Fountain Trophies Cup First Round

Trowbridge Town v Stratton Juniors - Postponed

Melksham Town Res into

Top 3 With Big Win

5th February 2020

Promotion chasing Melksham Town Reserves moved into the top three with an impressive 6-1 win over Frome Collegians last night. Harvey Flippance was once again the man with the goals firing a hat-trick making him the leading league goal scorer in the Premier Division this season with 19 goals to his name. He also heads the goal scoring charts in the Under 18 Division where he has scored 9 times for FC Chippenham. The other Melksham goals on the night came courtesy of Jamie Jordan, Cullen Wylie and an own goal, Jake Wright with the consolation goal for Frome who fell to their biggest defeat of the season against the in-form Melksham Town side. That is now just one defeat in their last 12 games for Melksham ahead of a tasty looking Fountain Trophies Cup Quarter Final this coming Saturday against a Wroughton side who are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season. Melksham are battling with Kintbury Rangers for the promotion place to Step 6 at the end of the season. Both sides are now in a qualifying top five position which bodes well for an exciting end to the season, both in terms of promotion and the league title race which also involves Shrewton United, Wroughton, Corsham Town Res and Purton.

Whilst Melksham and Kintbury are battling for that promotion place a couple of Wiltshire based sides are towards the bottom end of their respective Step 6 divisions and could face relegation to the league. New College Swindon are currently bottom of the Hellenic League Division 1 West with just one point from their opening 19 games. The FA have intimated that there could be reprieves from relegation but with this likely to be done on a points per game basis New College will need to start picking up some points soon if they are to avoid the drop. In the Toolstation Western League Devizes Town are currently third from bottom of their Step 6 league but are seven points clear of bottom side Bristol Telephones who they beat 5-2 when they met in December so should finish outside of the relegation spot.

In the league’s two feeder leagues, the Trowbridge & District League and the Swindon & District League, the Premier Division title race in both leagues is looking very interesting. In the Trowbridge & District League it looks to be a two-team battle for the title between Devizes Town Reserves and Marshfield. Both sides have expressed a desire to be promoted to the Wiltshire Senior League so will compete for that one promotion place from the T&DFL as well as the league title, with Devizes looking to bounce straight back from their relegation last season. Devizes currently head the table by a point but have played two games more than second placed Marshfield, who have yet to be defeated in the league. In the Swindon & District League there looks to be a three way battle for the title involving The Globe, Ruby Removals and Blunsdon. The Globe currently lead the table by a point but second placed Ruby Removals have a game in hand. Blunsdon in third spot can move to within a point of The Globe if they win their own game in hand on the current leaders in what again looks to be gearing up to be an exciting title race. All three teams are also through to the semi-final of the Advertiser Cup, the other semi-finalists being Redhouse. None of the sides from the Swindon & District League have asked to be considered for promotion to the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League for next season.

Corsham & Melksham Res into Semis

as Wroughton Lose for First Time

8th February 2020

The two big games of the day were in the quarter finals of the Fountain Trophies Cup. In an incident packed encounter at Shrewton it is visitors Corsham Town Reserves who progress to the semi-finals following a 3-1 win. It did not start well for them though as they had their goalkeeper Joe King sent off in the very first minute. Shrewton took advantage with Craig Lewis putting them 1-0 up but were unable to extend their lead and they were pegged back just before half time, Emilo Mudrak equalising for visitors Corsham. Despite the one man disadvantage it was Corsham who then went in front after the restart, Dan Lardner netting with is 16th goal of the season. They then further extended their lead, Ryan Withers heading powerfully into the net from a corner to make it 3-1 to Corsham. Shrewton then thought they had got themselves back into the game with a second goal through Steven Holvey, but the officials concluded the ball had not crossed the line. Shrewton’s players and management reacted angrily to the decision the upshot of which was that they had two players and their manager sent off and another player sin binned. With the numerical advantage now with Corsham the visitors saw out the rest of the game to progress to the last four, 3-1 the final score. After the day’s incident packed encounter, it should be noted that the two sides are set to meet each other again next week in the league.

A second reserve side join Corsham Town Reserves in the last four as Melksham Town Reserves finally ended Wroughton’s unbeaten run which had stretched to 17 games in all competitions ahead of their quarter final tie at the InfiLED. Melksham have been in good form of late, with just one defeat in their last 13 games. That form continued in the first half in their encounter with Wroughton as they raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Harvey Flippance, his 23rd of the season at Senior level, Josh Brigham and George Bendle. Whilst Wroughton had the better of things after the break they did not do enough to undo the damage done in the first 45 minutes as Melksham ran out 4-2 winners. Their fourth goal came courtesy of Cullen Wylie, Craig Bowden and Jamie McClaughlin with the Wroughton goals.

Back in the league Kintbury Rangers have had a bit of a wobble in recent weeks but they returned to winning ways with a 3-1 away win at Trowbridge Town. On target for Kintbury as they climbed above Melksham Town Reserves, their promotion rivals, into third place were Josh Davis, Fabio Pinto and Mark James. Tom Caldicott replied for Trowbridge with his second of the season.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development had the chance to move into the top six but after three straight wins they were unable to make it four as they were out fought by a Marlborough Town side who won consecutive matches for the first time this season. Marlborough triumphed 2-1 thanks to two goals from their leading scorer Jake Farrell. Royal Wootton Bassett Town’s own leading scorer Charlie McCuish replied for the visitors, but they were unable to find that elusive equaliser as they left Elcot Lane with nothing to show for their afternoon’s endeavours. For Marlborough Town the win saw them climb above Malmesbury Victoria Development into 12th spot.

Another side climbing a place in the league table were Stratton Juniors who moved above Frome Collegians into 10th place following a hard fought 1-0 win away at Pewsey Vale. Scott Garrett, Stratton’s leading scorer, was on target for the visitors as he moved onto seven for the season ensuring Stratton completed a league double over Pewsey.

The scheduled game between Purton and Ludgershall Sports was postponed due to the condition of the pitch at the Red House.

Results, Saturday 8th February 2020

Premier Division

Marlborough T 2 Royal W. Bassett T Dev 1

Pewsey Vale 0 Stratton Juniors 1

Purton v Ludgershall Sports - Postponed

Trowbridge Town 1 Kintbury Rangers 3

Fountain Trophies Cup Quarter Final

Melksham Town Res 4 Wroughton 2

Shrewton United 1 Corsham Town Res 3

Marlborough Town Make

it 3 Wins in a Row

15th February 2020

Ludgershall Sports and Marlborough Town defied Storm Dennis to provide the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with its only action this weekend, as the remaining six scheduled games all fell victim to the awful weather. Credit to Ludgershall for getting their game on and for the two sides and the officials for seeing the game through until the end in very difficult conditions. Marlborough Town made it three wins in their last three games with a 4-2 success that saw them climb two places in the table to 10th spot. Jake Farrell was once again amongst the goals for the visitors, taking his total for the season to 14, the other Marlborough goals coming courtesy of Luke Connolly, Jamie Conway and Josh Gregory. Joe Evans and Luke Sadler with the two Ludgershall goals.

Hopefully the weather will improve this coming week so that more games can get played next week. For some teams in the Premier Division it is already looking like a busy April in what is probably one of the wettest seasons in the league's history.

Premier Division Results

Saturday 15th February 2020

Ludgershall Sports 2 Marlborough Town 4

Corsham Town Res v Shrewton United - Postponed

Frome Collegians v Royal W. Bassett T Dev - Postponed
Kintbury Rangers v Melksham Town Res - Postponed
Malmesbury Victoria Dev v Trowbridge Town - Postponed
Pewsey Vale v Purton - Postponed
Wroughton v Cricklade Town - Postponed

Kintbury Rangers

Move up to 2nd Spot

22nd February 2020

After just the one game last week, a respite in the weather plus the use of a 3G pitch at Stanley Park meant four of the six scheduled fixtures survived the wet weather that continues to play havoc with football fixtures across the country. With leaders Shrewton United being without a game and Wroughton’s fixture with Ludgershall being one of the two postponed games, the three sides below them all had the chance to move above Wroughton with a win and at the same time move to within a point of the leaders.

The first game of the day was a midday encounter at Stanley Park on the 3G pitch between Trowbridge Town and Corsham Town Reserves. Goals from Joshua Hard, who was playing against his former club, and Miles Littlechild secured a 2-0 win for Corsham in difficult windy conditions as the visitors were rewarded for their efforts in helping to secure the facility for Trowbridge to use. Corsham successfully overcame a side they have struggled against in recent times, having gone into the game with just two wins in the previous 14 league meetings between the sides, that record was improved with the win which for a couple of hours meant they were in second spot.

By the end of the afternoon they had slipped back to third place when promotion chasing Kintbury Rangers moved back above them on goal difference following a hard fought win over visitors Purton, a team who like Trowbridge with Corsham, had recently had the better of things in games against their opponents, winning 5-1 at the back end of last season and then 5-3 at the Red House in October. In the latest encounter, Purton started the stronger but it was Kintbury who went in front against the run of play on 37 minutes, Tom Mahoney, dribbling into the box from the left and firing a low shot beyond the Purton keeper for his eighth of the season. In a half of very few chances, with the strong wind not helping matters, this was to be the only goal of the first period as Kintbury led 1-0 at the break. However, Kintbury were pegged back by visitors Purton on 64 minutes, Robbie Hendry scoring with a powerful shot from distance in his first game for Purton having recently joined on loan from Shrivenham. Kintbury were not to be denied though, Russel Benham firing in his fifth of the season from the edge of the box on 70 minutes, after a corner had been cleared to him to give Kintbury the 2-1 win and avenge that defeat earlier in the season at the Red House. The win ensured his side went second in the table and a point behind leaders Shrewton whilst Purton remain in sixth spot despite the defeat.

The third side looking to move within a point of Shrewton were Melksham Town Reserves who went into their home game with Cricklade Town in impressive form with just one defeat in their previous thirteen games in all competitions. However, opponents Cricklade were also enjoying their best form of the season with just one defeat in their previous four games. In an excellent performance against a strong Melksham Town Reserves side, goals from Jonathan Peachey-Score, with his sixteenth of the season, Max Scholefield and Elliott Corp gave Craig Kent’s Cricklade side their best result of the season as they ran out 3-1 winners, denying Melksham the chance of moving level with Kintbury Rangers and Corsham Town Reserves. Melksham’s goal was scored by Josh Brigham. Whilst Cricklade remained in eighth spot after this latest win which made it three straight wins, with a run of games coming up against sides at the wrong end of the table and with eight of their last nine games at home, they will be confident of getting themselves up into the top six by the end of the season. Despite the defeat Melksham remain in the top five and there are just four points separating those five sides in what is shaping up to be an exciting title race.

The final game of the day was at Meadowcroft where the home side Stratton Juniors were looking to make it two wins on the bounce against a Frome Collegians side who had not won for eight games, their last league win being back in November. Stratton Juniors went ahead when a cross from Ryan Major caught the wind and sailed into the net, but a Lee Handford goal restored parity for visitors Frome. There was to be a dramatic end to the encounter as Frome’s leading scorer Barry Sandquest scored in the final minute of the match to give his side a 2-1 win and end that barren run. The goal saw him move onto eight for the campaign and saw his side climb three places in the table up to ninth spot.

Premier Division Results

Saturday 22nd February 2020

Kintbury Rangers 2 Purton 1

Marlborough Town v Pewsey Vale - Postponed

Melksham Town Res 1 Cricklade Town 3

Stratton Juniors 1 Frome Collegians 2

Trowbridge Town 0 Corsham Town Res 2

Wroughton v Ludgershall Sports - Postponed

Weather Again Plays

Havoc with Fixtures

29th February 2020

The weather once again played havoc with the fixtures in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with just the one game surviving after Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development switched their local derby game with Purton to the 3G facility at the Gerard Buxton Ground. This was the fourth time that such a switch had been made with the three previous occasions seeing wins for the home side who clearly enjoy playing on the surface. However, that 100% record is no more as Purton left the Gerard Buxton Ground with a point following a wind affected match on the artificial surface. Indeed the wind was to play a big part in the afternoon’s proceedings with Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev being the first to go close to breaking the deadlock when Bradley Pagliaroli fired in a left foot curling free kick from just outside the area on the half hour mark which hit the angle between post and cross-bar. The deadlock in the match was finally broken six minutes before the break when a Steven Keir free kick from about 45 yards out caught the wind, completely deceived Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev keeper Adam House, and sailed over his head and into the net to make it 1-0 to Purton. That was the Purton’s captain’s second goal of the season. Three minutes later it got even better for Purton as the Bassett keeper was once again caught out, Chris Avery seeing his shot from outside the box go through a crowd of players and past the Bassett keeper it make it 2-0 to the visitors at the break. For Avery that was seven for the season as he moved level with Tom McCulloch as Purton’s top scorer this campaign.

With Royal Wootton Bassett Town manager Steve Yeardley missing the game due to illness, news of the half time score would certainly not have done much to cheer him up. His side sought to get themselves back in the game after the restart but on a couple of occasions the home side were denied by Purton keeper Dave Groom, who pulled off a couple of fine saves against his former club. However, Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev did finally manage to get themselves a foot hold in the game 15 minutes from time, although there was an element of good fortune with the goal, the referee’s assistant indicating an infringement in the box which resulted in the award of a penalty. The home sides Bradley Pagliaroli made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-1. The same player then restored parity in the match ten minutes from time but once again, as with Purton's opener, the wind played a big part in the goal. Pagliaroli fired in a free kick from 45 yards out which Purton keeper Groom got his hands to but the ball ended up in the back of the net to make it 2-2. Both sides had chances to get a winner, but it ended all square with the points shared. Both sides remain where they started the day in the table, Purton are in sixth spot with Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev one place and two points behind, having played two more games.

Hopefully the weather will be kinder next week allowing more games to go ahead.

Your Sport Swindon were at the game and their video highlights can be found by clicking on the link below:.

29-02-2020 Royal W. Bassett Town Dev v Purton (Premier Division)

Premier Division Results

Saturday 29th February 2020

Royal W. Bassett Town Dev 2 Purton 2

The following games were all postponed:

Cricklade Town v Marlborough Town

Frome Collegians v Ludgershall Sports

Melksham Town Res v Shrewton United

Stratton Juniors v Kintbury Rangers
Wroughton v Trowbridge Town

Both Games at the Top

End All Square

7th March 2020

Action from the big game at the top of the table between Corsham Town Res & Shrewton United (Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

The big match of the day in the league saw the leaders Shrewton United make the trip to Corsham to meet third placed Corsham Town Reserves for a third meeting of the season between the two sides. The previous two meetings, one in the league at Shrewton and a recent Fountain Trophies Quarter Final tie, had both seen wins for Corsham and Shrewton needed to avoid a third defeat of the season if they were to hold onto top spot in the table. Shrewton started well and went in front when Saul Johnson beat the Corsham offside trap and rounded keeper Joe King only to see his effort on goal strike the post but luckily for Shrewton Aidan Beardsley was on hand to net the rebound for his first goal for Shrewton. Leading scorer Johnson then got on the score sheet himself, again getting behind the Corsham back line and then lobbing keeper King from 20 yards out with a great half volley finish to make it 2-0. Corsham Town Reserves pulled a goal back before the break, Emilio Mudrak finishing with a powerful strike to make it 2-1. After the interval Shrewton had chances to extend the lead but were left to rue those missed chances when the Shrewton keeper Sam Gillot failed to deal with a Corsham Town free kick and the ball slipped from his grasp and into the net for 2-2. There was still time for both sides to try and find a winner but in the end the sides had to settle for a share of the spoils. With results elsewhere Shrewton remain top of the table whilst Corsham Town Reserves moved up into second spot a point behind having played one game more.

Action from the big game at the top of the table between Corsham Town Res & Shrewton United (Pictures courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

Wroughton warmed up for their big County Cup semi-final on Wednesday night against Calne Town with a short trip across to the other side of the M4 motorway to play local rivals Purton. Whilst unbeaten in the league all season Wroughton’s record against Purton in league matches was not good with just one win in five in recent seasons. Like with the Corsham and Shrewton match up, the two sides had already met twice this season, the league game at the Weir Field ending 1-1 and the Fountain Trophies First Round tie between the two at the Red House also finished level at the end of normal time, with penalties in the end deciding the tie in Wroughton’s favour. In the latest meeting on an unsurprising heavy pitch at the Red House Purton playing well went 2-0 up thanks to two early goals from Darren Regis. Purton then had a number of chances to extend their lead and were in the end made to pay for their missed chances as Wroughton got themselves back into the game with goals from new signing Matty Bennett, scoring on his debut for his new side, and Tyler Wilkinson. As the game went into its closing stages Wroughton had a shout for a penalty for a challenge on Shane Hibbert but the appeals were waived away by the referee and the sides had to once again settle for a share of the points. Wroughton remain unbeaten in the league as they attempt this coming week to become the first side from the league to make the County Senior Cup Final since Trowbridge Town back in season 2003-04.

Cricklade Town and Marlborough Town both went into their games this weekend as the form sides in the division. Cricklade had won their three previous games ahead of the visit of Frome Collegians. When the two sides had met at Frome back in December the two sides had shared seven goals with Cricklade coming back from two down to eventually edge it by the odd goal. On a heavy pitch at the Cricklade Leisure Centre the two teams managed to produce another game of seven goals, with this time round the scores being reversed with Frome Collegians edging it by that odd goal. Their star of the show was Barry Sanquest who fired a hat-trick as he moved onto eleven for the season with the winner for Frome coming courtesy of substitute Lewis Perrett. Both sides remained where they started the day in the league table but Frome reduced the gap to Cricklade in eighth spot to five points as a result of the win.

Marlborough Town meanwhile had won their previous three games and were also unbeaten in four ahead of their local derby with Pewsey Vale at Elcot Lane. In front of a large crowd it was Marlborough Town who extended that winning run to four games as Jake Farrell nipped in to beat the Pewsey keeper to the ball to score the only goal of the game. For Farrell that was his fifteenth of the season and he has also scored in every one of the games in that four-game winning run. The win lifted Marlborough a place in the table as they moved into 10th spot. For Pewsey that is their second consecutive 1-0 defeat and they will look to return to winning ways in midweek when Kintbury Rangers are scheduled to be the visitors to the Recreation Ground.

Two games were played in the Fountain Trophies Cup. In the First Round Trowbridge Town switched their tie against Stratton Juniors to their opponents ground to enable the one outstanding game in the First Round to go ahead. When the sides had met at Stratton in the league back in September it had finished 2-2 and another close encounter was anticipated and so it proved. Both sides were able to cancel each other out in open play and penalties were required in the end to settle matters. After the shootout was completed it is Trowbridge Town who progress to the quarter final courtesy of scoring five penalties to three for Stratton. The hero for Trowbridge was keeper Lukasz Bareja for his two penalty saves. The winners are now home to Cricklade Town in Quarter Final with the winner set to join Corsham Town Reserves, Melksham Town Reserves and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development in the semi-final.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development made it through to the last four with an impressive win over Kintbury Rangers in the Quarter Final match played on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Ground. The defending cup holders Kintbury travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett in the knowledge that the two previous meetings between the sides had seen them fail to win, an early season 1-1 draw at Kintbury being followed by a 3-1 defeat at the Gerard Buxton Ground in the league game which was also played on the 3G. The home side Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev went in front on 17 minutes, Josh Bolton firing in from the edge of the box after a cross from Manuel Mesas. It remained that way until a minute before the break when the Kintbury keeper Ross Thorne mishit a clearance from a backpass straight to Bailey Gallagher 25-yards out who fired back over the keeper’s head into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 to the home side at the break. It went from bad to worse for Kintbury soon after the restart when, from a throw-in on the right hand side, Charlie McCuish flicked on and, in trying to clear, Mark James sliced the ball over his own keeper Thorne’s head and into his own net to make it 3-0. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development wrapped things up as the game moved into the closing minutes, Dale Richards heading powerfully in from a Bailey Gallagher cross.

Josh Bolton & Bailey Gallagher who both scored in RWBT Dev's 4-0 win over

Premier Division Results

Saturday 7th March 2020

Corsham Town Res 2 Shrewton Utd 2
Cricklade Town 3 Frome Collegians 4
Marlborough Town 1 Pewsey Vale 0
Purton 2 Wroughton 2

Fountain Trophies Cup
First Round
Trowbridge Town 0 Stratton Juniors 0 (5-3 on pens)
Quarter Final
Royal W. Bassett Town Dev 4 Kintbury Rangers 0

Wroughton in County Cup

Semi Final Action

11th March 2020

The last time that a side from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League made it through to the final of the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup was way back in Season 2003-4 when Trowbridge Town defeated Corsham Town in the final. Wroughton have tonight the opportunity to emulate Trowbridge’s achievement when they take on Toolstation Western League Division One leaders Calne Town in the semi-final at Melksham Town’s InfiLED Stadium. This is the third attempted staging of the game, with the terrible wet weather of this winter twice forcing the game to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Highworth Town’s Save on Tyres Stadium.

In getting to this stage of the competition Wroughton received a bye in the first round and then met fellow Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side Stratton Juniors in the second round. Goals from their experienced two strikers Aaron Maximen and Shane Hibbert secured a 2-0 win over their Swindon based near neighbours at Meadowcroft setting up a quarter-final encounter with Sydenhams Wessex League side Laverstock & Ford.

The game against Laverstock & Ford was scheduled to be at Laverstock & Ford’s ground in South Wiltshire but, with the match twice postponed, the rules of the Wiltshire County Cup competitions state that the tie switches to the opponents ground following the second such postponement. With Wroughton not possessing floodlights, they secured the use of New College FC’s ground at Supermarine for the third attempted staging of the tie. In a tight contest Wroughton got an early lead when leading scorer Shane Hibbert put them ahead. With both sides creating further scoring opportunities, it was Wroughton who eventually made one of their chances count, with Aaron Maximen adding a second on the stroke of half time to make it 2-0 at the break. Laverstock & Ford stepped it up after the interval and went close on a couple of occasions to reducing the deficit but a second of the game from Maximen put Wroughton 3-0 ahead and in touching distance of a cup upset. Laverstock & Ford, continued to try and get back in the tie and were rewarded with a goal from Tommy Campbell-Smith to make it 3-1. However, that was to be the end of the scoring as Wroughton held out to secure a superb victory over the Sydenhams Wessex League side to set up tonight’s encounter with Calne.

Calne Town meanwhile also had a bye in the first round and have then knocked out two sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League to make the semi-final, defeating Cricklade Town 4-0 in the second round and then beating Trowbridge Town at the quarter final stage after a penalty shootout, the game having finished 1-1. Calne are currently top of the Toolstation Division One table but had hit a bit of a sticky patch with just one win in their three games prior to last Saturday's 3-2 away win over Bishops Sutton. That latest success made it two wins in two and a return to form for Wroughton's opponents.

Wroughton meanwhile have lost just once in 19 games in all competitions and they have every chance of making it through to the final of the Wiltshire FA’s oldest and most valued competition. For Wroughton the last month has been extremely frustrating for manager Adrian Wilkinson and his players with not only the semi-final being postponed twice but also all league games. Prior to last Saturday’s fixture at Purton, Wroughton had not played since 8th February a game that saw their one and only defeat this season in all competitions, ironically at the InfiLED Stadium against Melksham Town in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Thankfully last Saturday's game at Purton went ahead enabling the Wroughton players some actual competitive action in ahead of the big cup tie, Wroughton coming from two down to draw and extend their unbeaten league run. In order to keep their players sharp Wroughton have been hiring artificial pitches at Croft Sports Centre and the Grange during a period that manager Wilkinson described as “very frustrating” when we caught up with him last week. Whilst he has been able to keep his players active the use of the 3G surfaces has also come at a cost with goalkeeper Gary Eggleton landing awkwardly after catching a ball on the unforgiving surface and snapping an ACL which means he will now be out for the rest of the season. Wroughton would have had a goalkeeping issue tonight in any event, having enquired with the FA about signing an emergency keeper they were reminded about the rule in the FA County Cups that to be able to play in a semi-final or final you have to have played at least five games for the club. With Eggleton only recently having replaced Jack Gibson, who is also unavailable for the cup tie, Wroughton now have a goalkeeping crisis ahead of the semi-final even though they have had two other keepers signed on all season, with Gibson having played in the majority of games this season . The club have written to the FA asking for dispensation regarding the five-game rule given the circumstances but at the time of writing it is not clear whether the request will be granted which could mean an outfield player having to go in goal in the semi-final of the FA’s most prestigious competition.

In addition, Wroughton have now also lost the services of regular forward Aaron Maximen who is back playing for former club Highworth Town in the Southern League, although the good news is he will still be available for Wroughton in the County Cup and midweek games this season as he remains dual registered with Wroughton. Manager Wilkinson has been active himself in the transfer market bringing in the skilful Matty Bennett in from Hellenic League side Royal Wootton Bassett Town, although he is ineligible for the Wiltshire Senior Cup having played for his former club in the Premier Shield and would also have not met the five game rule. Promising youngster Ben Dodd, who started the season at Wroughton, is also now back playing for the club and manager Wilkinson goes into tonight’s game and the rest of the season in optimistic mood knowing he has a strong squad. Whilst Calne are going very well in the league, manager Wilkinson pointed out that his side had beaten them already this season, having won 1-0 in a pre-season friendly. He commented that they have some good pacy players up front and will have strength in depth in their squad and he expects them to be strong and direct. However, if his side can play like they did against Laverstock & Ford in that semi-final, Wilkinson is confident his side will win and give the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League their first finalist in 16 years. The winners of tonight’s tie will meet Bemerton Heath Harlequins in the final, Bemerton having come back from 2-0 down to defeat Corsham Town 3-2 in the other semi-final.

The big match action at the InfiLED Stadium kicks-off tonight at 7.45 PM and all the management committee and member clubs in the league wish Wroughton all the best in tonight’s encounter and hope they can continue to fly the flag for the league.

Wiltshire Senior Cup 2019-20
First Round
Devizes Town 1 Purton 0
Holt 3 Marlborough Town 2
Pewsey Vale 2 Shrewton United 4 (AET)

Bemerton Heath Harlequins bye
Calne Town bye
Corsham Town bye
Cricklade Town bye
Downton bye
Laverstock & Ford bye
Ludgershall Sports bye
Malmesbury Victoria bye
New College Swindon bye
Stratton Juniors bye
Trowbridge Town bye
Warminster Town bye
Wroughton bye

Second Round
Bemerton Heath H. 19 Ludgershall Sports 0
Calne Town 4 Cricklade Town 0
Downton 3 Warminster Town 2
Holt 1 Malmesbury Victoria 3
Laverstock & Ford 6 New College 0
Shrewton United 0 Corsham Town 3
Stratton Juniors 0 Wroughton 2
Trowbridge Town 2 Devizes Town 1

Quarter Final
Bemerton Heath H 5 Malmesbury Victoria 2
Corsham Town 3 Downton 1
Trowbridge Town 1 Calne Town 1 (2-4 pens)
Wroughton 3 Laverstock & Ford 1

Semi Final
Bemerton Heath H 3 Corsham Town 2
Wroughton v Calne Town

Final
Bemerton Heath H v Wroughton or Calne T

Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson

Wroughton did the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League proud last night as they pushed Toolstation Division One league leaders Calne Town all the way in the semi-final of the Wiltshire Senior Cup. They took their higher league opponents into extra-time but, in the end, the lack of game time in recent weeks took its toll as they ran out of steam in extra-time. This after going so close to winning the match in normal time.

The game started with a howling wind swirling around the InfiLED Stadium and ended with a the addition of a heavy downpour making conditions difficult all night but, given the wet weather of recent weeks, the pitch at Melksham was in superb condition allowing both sides to play some good football. Wroughton started brightly and went close in the very first minute when Aaron Maximen closed down Calne keeper Sam Thomson and the ball fell to Tyler Wilkinson just outside the box whose shot went wide of the far post and was cleared by the Calne defence. Wroughton’s tactic of quickly closing down the Calne defenders when playing the ball out from the back caused the Calne defence all kinds of problems in those opening minutes. Wroughton, with the wind behind them, were certainly on top in the opening exchanges but it was not all one-way traffic. On eight minutes Zak Mitchell broke down the right from his full back position but fired his shot well over. Calne went close on nineteen minutes to breaking the deadlock when the other full-back, Aaron Witchell, shot just wide from the edge of the box. Wroughton’s best chance of the half came just after the half-hour mark, Riegan Cook fed Shane Hibbert, Wroughton’s leading scorer, who beat his defender but saw his shot hit the outside of the post and go out for a goal kick. Both sides were playing some good football but were unable to create any clear-cut chances, with the Wroughton centre-back pairing of Chris Flanagan and Gareth Davies keeping Calne’s prolific marksmen Stuart Windsor very quiet in the first forty-five. The sides turned round at the break with the game yet to see a goal with Wroughton probably slightly on top and having created the better chances in a half that had seen both sides work hard and try to play the ball on the ground in difficult blowy conditions.

Wroughton replaced Ant Packer, who had been booked in the first-half for one foul too many, with youngster Ben Dodd at the start of the second half. With the wind behind them, Calne started to have more of the possession and went close on fifty-three minutes when Jamal Chevolleau saw his free kick deflected wide for a corner. The award of the free-kick had seen Calne’s Nathan Davis sin-binned for his reaction to the referee not awarding the free-kick when the initial offence was committed. The resulting corner saw another chance for Calne but as the well flighted kick was met by a Calne head it went straight at Wroughton keeper Kurtis Sharkey. Moments later Wroughton’s Aaron Maximen was booked for what appeared from where I sat to be just a good strong challenge as Wroughton pushed forward at the other end. In a good spell for the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side they had muted appeals for a penalty for a possible handball after a ball over the top had found Shane Hibbert, the ball was cleared by the Calne defence with a corner the referee Adam Gregory’s decision. On the hour mark Wroughton won a free kick twenty-five yards out but Maximen’s free kick caught the wind and sailed way over. Half time substitute Ben Dodd was involved in a lot of Wroughton’s best play in the second half, looking very assured on the ball. Unfortunately, he became the second Wroughton player to be harshly booked for what again seemed an innocuous tackle. Wroughton continued to press and another free kick award on the edge of the box saw full-back Craig Bowden go close as his low free kick was pushed round the post by Calne keeper Thomson.

Next up Calne went close to getting that first elusive goal as a good break down the left saw a shot fired into the box which saw Bowden clear the ball from just in front of his own goal line. The clearance fell to a Calne player on the edge of the box but his shot back in was deflected for a corner. Calne continued to press and went the closest to breaking the deadlock so far when an excellent free kick from Nathan Davis, now back out of the sin-bin, was brilliantly turned over by Sharkey in the Wroughton goal. Calne were now stepping up the ante and a spell of pressure saw them win three corners in succession, but they came to nothing. Sharkey was again called into action ten minutes from the end of normal time, Stuart Windsor for once escaped the shackles of the Wroughton centre-back partnership and found himself in front of goal with Sharkey racing out and the keeper did well with his feet to deny Calne’s prolific marksman.

As the game moved into the last five minutes of normal time Wroughton went in search of a winner and went close on three occasions. Firstly, five minutes from time good link-up play between Shane Hibbert and Aaron Maximen put Hibbert the wrong side of the final defender but a great last gasp tackle denied Wroughton’s top marksman just as he was about to pull the trigger and the ball went out for a corner. In Wroughton’s next attack it was Hibbert’s turn to this time set up Maximen one-on-one with Calne keeper Sam Thomson but the Calne keeper did well to deny the Wroughton player what could have been the winner. As the game moved into four minutes of added time Wroughton went close again when Maximen headed just over from a corner. Despite the endeavours of the two sides who had given it their all, there was to be no winner at the end of normal time and extra-time would be needed to settle matters. The lack of action in recent weeks had seen a couple of players from both sides struggling with cramp towards the end and the last thing both would have wanted was an extra-half hour.

Calne, playing the first period of extra-time, against the wind started brightly and shortly after Jamal Chevolleau had spurned a chance by firing straight at Wroughton keeper Sharkey he made amends. A mix-up in the Wroughton defence saw Chevolleau get behind the back four and just connect with the ball ahead of the out-rushing Sharkey to put Calne ahead. With Calne buoyed by the goal Chevolleau went close again in the 98th minute but this time he was denied by Sharkey. However, Sharkey turned from hero to villain when he upended Stuart Windsor in the box and the Calne number nine picked himself up and fired the resulting penalty into the net to make it 2-0 at half time in extra time.

The second period started with the wind having picked up and rain now lashing down. Calne extended their lead with a couple of quick goals from Jamal Chevolleau, his second of the game, and Josh McGory to make it 4-0. Very harsh on Wroughton given how well they had played in normal time but that lack of games in recent weeks certainly came back to haunt them in extra-time. To their credit though Wroughton did not give up and continued to look to get on the scoresheet and take some consolation from the game. After Shane Hibbert went close with one effort he was duly rewarded getting behind the Calne defence and firing in to make it 4-1. That was not to be the end of the night’s scoring tough as in injury time in extra-time Calne were awarded a second penalty for a foul on the edge of the box and Declan McStravick fired in to make the final score 5-1 to the Toolstation Western League side. There was no further time after that as the referee blew for the final whistle and the lights were switched off. Both sides had played well in difficult windy conditions in a game well hosted by Melksham Town. So, it is Calne Town who will be in the final against Bemerton Heath Harlequins, but they certainly knew they had been given a really tough game by the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side.

The excellent Your Sport Swindon were filming the game. Click on their logo for a link to the video highlights.

Meanwhile there was also action in the Premier Division last night as Pewsey Vale and Kintbury Rangers saw their game finally go ahead after the wet weather had twice seen the game postponed in recent weeks. Pewsey Vale were rewarded for their efforts in getting the game on with Connor Marsden and Ryan Banks scoring in the first five minutes to put Pewsey 2-0 up. However, promotion chasing Kintbury replied with two of their own through Callum Budd and Tom Mahoney to make it 2-2 at the break. That was to be the end of the scoring on the night as the two sides had to settle for a share of the points. The point for Kintbury lifted them above Corsham Town Reserves on goal difference in second spot, whilst Pewsey closed the gap to Malmesbury Victoria Development to five points.

Results

Wednesday 11th March 2020

Wiltshire Senior Cup Semi Final

Wroughton 1 Calne Town 5 (AET)

Premier Division
Pewsey Vale 2 Kintbury Rangers 2

Corsham Town Res

Return to the Top

14th March 2020

Action from the game at the top end of the table between Corsham Town Res & Purton (Picture courtesy of Jacob Price)

Two of the scheduled fixtures in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League went ahead this weekend with the ongoing pitch issues caused by the wet weather being once again the reason for a couple of the lost games.

In the first of the games that did go ahead Corsham Town Reserves, who started the day in third spot in the table, had the opportunity to go top of the league with a win over visitors Purton. When the two sides had met at the Red House back in September they provided an entertaining 2-2 draw with goals that day from Dan Lardner and Ryan Withers. Leading scorer Dan Lardner had failed to score in Corsham’s previous two games, but he rediscovered his goalscoring form in this return fixture with Purton when he put his side in front with a header for his 17th goal of the season. Ryan Withers had also not been on the scoresheet in Corsham’s last two games, although he had missed one and been substitute in the other. He was again substitute against Purton but came off the bench to net his 13th of the season with another header to make it 2-0 as the Corsham strike partnership took their joint tally to 30 for the season. In an entertaining game Purton were unable to find the net at the other end and Corsham ran out 2-0 winners to back top of the league, although they have played more games than the other four teams involved in the title race. They are scheduled to be back in action this coming Wednesday evening when Trowbridge Town are the visitors to the Southbank Ground. For Purton, after a tough run of fixtures, that is now six games without a win but they remain in sixth place and will hope to get back to winning ways in their remaining fixtures which are against sides below them in the table.

More action from today's game at the top of the table between Corsham Town Res & Purton (Picture courtesy of Jacob Price)

There was local derby action at Frome where the Collegians entertained near neighbours Trowbridge Town on the 4G pitch at Selwood Academy. Frome were looking to complete a league double over their neighbours having won 1-0 away at Trowbridge back in August. The game attracted a sizeable attendance for the level and the crowd witnessed an entertaining local derby. Max Pollock put Frome Collegians ahead with a goal in the first half, taking him to eight for the season, and the home side led 1-0 at the break. A much better second half for the visitors Trowbridge saw them get back on level terms through Mark Reynolds. Both sides then had chances to get the winner, but it remained 1-1. As a result, in their first season in the league, Frome are unbeaten against their neighbours in the two meetings and will have the local bragging rights but they were unable to claim that double. Frome remain in ninth place in the table with Trowbridge two places behind but with six games in hand on their neighbours.

With regard to the Coronavirsus situation the league continues to take advice from the Wiltshire County Football Association and the national Football Association who are issuing daily updates based on the latest government advice. This information is being directly shared with club secretaries and team managers as soon as we receive it. Midweek fixtures for next week remain on at the present moment in time.

Results - Premier Division

Saturday 14th March 2020

Corsham Town Res 2 Purton 0
Cricklade v Malmesbury Vics D - Postponed
Frome Collegians 1 Trowbridge Town 1
Marlborough T v Shrewton Utd - Postponed
Melksham T Res v Stratton Jun - Postponed
Wroughton v Kintbury Rangers - Postponed

Latest FA Coronavirus Update

Season 2019-20 Declared Null & Void

26th March 2020

Message From Hon. General Secretary

The following email message was sent to all club secretaries and team managers:

As you’re aware, The FA have declared that the current season is ended and all results are null and void. Unless instructed by The FA, I won’t be removing this season’s results from Full-Time and will leave them there for record purposes.

My understanding is that the decision was made by The FA Leagues Committee and is yet to be ratified by The FA Council and I’m aware that a number of clubs have written to The FA, asking them to reconsider. If there’s any change to this decision, I’ll obviously let you know.

I took part in a voice conference with the Wiltshire FA and the two District Leagues today. The consensus was that we now start planning for next season though as yet, we don’t know when it’s likely to begin or even when it’s going to be safe to hold an Annual General Meeting. I understand that The FA are looking at a system whereby Leagues can hold an AGM by phoning in. I’m not sure how that will work but again, I’ll let you know as and when I hear anything.

The League Officers and Management Committee have discussed next season (via e-mail) and are aware that many clubs will have lost income, either from this season’s remaining fixtures, income from clubhouse or summer events. To help all clubs, we’ve agreed that we won’t charge an Annual League fee next season and the first 20 players will be registered free of charge. This should save Premier Division clubs about £150 each and U18 Division and Vets clubs up to £70.

During the voice conference, we raised the matter of insurance as clubs will have paid a premium for 12 months insurance, but only received 8 or 9 months’ worth of cover. The Wiltshire FA are going to contact Bluefin Insurance to see if clubs will receive a rebate or a discount from next seasons premium.

Please contact me if you have any queries.

Stay safe.

Jim Thorn
Hon General Secretary
Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League

Update Re Insurance from Wilts FA (01-04-2020)

The following update has been provided by the Wilts FA regarding insurance:

Following the recent measures introduced by the Government to restrict outdoor activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bluefin Sport and our partner Insurer, AXA XL, have agreed the following approach in respect of Personal Accident insurance purchased via the National Game Insurance Scheme (NGIS), for the 2019/20 season :-

1. All Personal Accident policies to remain in force until the expiry date, 30 June 2020;
2. At the next renewal, all premiums will be discounted to reflect the period of inactivity, due to the Government measures, up to 31 May 2020.

By maintaining the Personal Accident insurance for the remainder of the policy period, this will ensure that cover is continuous for all Clubs/Teams, and hence, should the Government amend the restrictions in relation to outdoor activities, which means that some footballing activities can resume, prior to 30 June, the Personal Accident insurance will continue to cover the coaches, players and club officials, accordingly.

The Personal Accident insurance provided via the NGIS covers all organised footballing activities, so although all league and cup fixtures have been concluded for the 2019/20 season, the Personal Accident insurance will cover your affiliated Clubs/Teams in respect of :-

Friendlies
Training
Tournaments
Coaches, whilst attending County FA organised Educational courses
Club Social Events

Subject, of course, to adherence to the relevant advice / guidance issued by the Government and/or The Football Association.

The renewal invitation that will be issued in respect of the Personal Accident insurance for the 2020/21 season, will make specific reference to the premium adjustment made to reflect the period of inactivity due to the Government measures, thus ensuring full transparency, and avoid any misunderstandings, accordingly.

If there are any queries, please ask your Clubs/Teams to contact us on 0345 872 5060 or nationalgame@bluefinsport.co.uk.

Latest FA Coronavirus Update

FA Council Confirm Decision

9th April 2020

The following letter has been received by the league from the FA:

To: National League System Leagues Steps 3 to 7

RE: FA COUNCIL DECISION

Dear Colleagues,

The FA Council has today ratified the decision to conclude the 2019/20 season across Steps 3-7 of the National League System, Tiers 3 to 7 of the women’s football pyramid and the wider grassroots game

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, The FA has been working collaboratively with the leagues within the National League System , the Women’s Football Board, the Women’s Football Conference, and the wider grassroots game to identify the most appropriate way to conclude the 2019/20 season at each level.

The request to end the 2019/20 season was taken to The FA Council by the representatives of the relevant committees having been fully supported by The FA Board.

The FA Council’s vote today was overwhelmingly in favour of ratifying the decision.

This link will take you to the FA statements : http://www.thefa.com/news/2020/apr/09/fa-council-statement-090420

Kind Regards,

Laurence Jones
Head of National League System

Further explanation by Laurence Jones surrounding the decision can be found by clicking HERE.

Wiltshire Senior League

Premier Division - All-time Records

Who are the most successful team in the history of the top division in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League?

Comparisons over the years are made difficult by the fact that the first 16 seasons of the league saw winning teams receive two points for a win, with Season 1992-93 being the first from which it became three points for a win. Comparisons become more meaningful if an adjustment is made to the pre-1992-93 period by giving teams an extra point for their win and then making an assessment on a Points Per Game (PPG) basis to allow for the fact that teams have been members of the league for different periods of time.

The table below shows the record of every team that has played in the top division over the period from Season 1976-77 to the point at which play was ended in Season 2019-20 (the league website will include the results and tables at time of cessation in the History Section of the website). Where teams simply changed their names the records under the different names have been combined but where teams merged over the years these records have been left separate. Current members of the Premier Division are shown in bold.

On a pure adjusted PPG basis, the top four teams in the table are all there on the basis of one season, with FC Sanford leading the way on the back of their 2011-12 campaign which saw them average nearly 2.5 points per game. Melksham Town’s one season drop down into the Wiltshire Senior League in Season 1993-94 sees them in second spot with Supermarine Sports 2013-14 campaign putting them in third place, with Aldbourne Ferndale (formed from a merger of Aldbourne Park and Ferndale Athletic) in fourth spot on the back of their title winning season in 1994-95. The highest placed current member of the league, and the first where the record is based on more than one successful season, are Kintbury Rangers, who have averaged 2.225 points per game since joining the league.

Given the distortion that a single good season can create, a much better way to assess who has been the most successful team over the history of the league is to use a minimum number of games in the league, say, 100 games to make the comparison. The table below shows the position if this criteria is applied:

Applying the minimum number of games criteria the table is headed by the Park side who dominated the league in the early years, winning the top division title six times in the first nine years of the league’s existence. Their average PPG, when adjusting everything to three points for a win, was 2.074 in the 326 games they played. Two other sides have averaged over 2.0 points per game over the years from more than 100 games, the others being the Raychem side from the late 1990’s and the New College Swindon side who won the league twice in 2008-9 and 2009-10. Just below the 2.0 points per game mark are current league members Shrewton United who have averaged 1.974 in some 578 games, a really impressive record. Current manager Joe Sheldrake will no doubt be proud that his current side improved that record during Season 2019-20.

The final table below looks at the rankings based on total adjusted points over the 44-year existence of the league. In this final table four of the top six places feature current members of the league, with Melksham Town Reserves heading the table with Shrewton in third spot, Wroughton fourth and Corsham Town Reserves in sixth place.

League Vice President,

Ray Burroughs

14 May 2020

The Committee of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of League Vice President Ray Burroughs after a period of illness.

Ray will be well known to many who have played or managed in the league as the person responsible for all of the media reports in the newspapers across Wiltshire for many years, having taken over the role from Harry Beattie in 1994.

As some of you may know, Ray worked in the Railway Works in Swindon prior to becoming a reporter for the Swindon Advertiser, covering amongst other things horse racing, as well as his comprehensive coverage of local football. After finishing with the Advertiser Ray continued to write for the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald and other publications. He was very proud of his Swindon upbringing and was good friends with our long serving Fixture Secretary, Phil Cook, the two spending many a Saturday evening discussing the fortunes of Swindon Town and other sports when liaising over the Wiltshire League results and fixtures, as well as sharing details of their respective rounds of golf that week.

Many who have managed teams in the league over the years will remember that friendly voice on a Saturday evening calling to find out the names of the goal scorers and brief details of the matches played that afternoon to include in the following week’s newspapers. The coverage of our league was always comprehensive, with all four divisions of the league being featured in the round-ups. The legacy of Ray’s immense efforts for the league over the years can be found in the old newspapers held in the British Newspaper Archive at St Pancras London and Boston Spa, the newspaper library at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham and the Local Studies Collection at Swindon Library.

The thoughts of all those involved in the league are with Ray’s wife Jocelyn and family at this sad time.

Archived July 2021

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