The Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League got underway this week and whilst it was a successful start in the North Wiltshire Division with all five scheduled games getting played, just three of the scheduled six games in the Mid Wiltshire Division were played in the end, with Chippenham Town and Warminster Town both being unable to field sides and conceding the points to their opponents Trowbirdge Town Tigers and Corsham Town, and the game at Devizes being postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

The early leaders in the Mid Wiltshire Division are the side who have finished in the top two each and every season of the division’s existence, Melksham Town. A hat-trick from Luke Ballinger and one from Lee Morgan did the damage for Melksham in their 4-0 win over Calne Town.

The following night last season’s beaten league cup finalists Westbury United got their season off to a winning start, player manager and club chairman Philip Hampson getting one of the three goals with Nick Ross and Ryan Earney also on target for Westbury in a 3-0 win against Amesbury Junior Badgers. Martin Pearce was there with his camera and more of Martin’s excellent photos can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

The only other game to get played in the Mid Wiltshire Division was on Friday night at Green Lane and it saw the one new side in the division, Bishops Cannings, get off to a successful start with a 2-1 win over Radstock Town thanks to goals from Leigh Blanchard and John Ford.

The highest scoring game of the five matches played in the North Wiltshire Division was the game between the two new sides to the league, ExIntel and FS Swindon, who were playing each other at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on Wednesday night. The game saw ten goals with eight of them being scored by ExIntel in an emphatic 8-2 victory. Richard Clark, James Joyce and Junior Small all scored twice for ExIntel with Mike Backwell and Adrian Male getting the other two ExIntel goals, Kevin Robey and Marc Cowen replying for FS Swindon.

Last season’s champions Cricklade Town got their season off to a winning start at home to Royal Wootton Bassett Town but were pushed all the way by the visitors, the winner coming from a late disputed penalty. Stuart Hughes and Adam Smith with the Cricklade goals, Jeremy Newton scoring for Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

Last seasons double cup winners Coate have rebranded themselves as Nationwide in the summer and it was to be a winning start under their new name as first half goals from Adam Rudman and Paul Stonehouse secured a 2-0 win over Chiseldon.

The other two games in the division, both played at the new 3G facility at Moredon, were settled by one goal margins. On Tuesday night Andrew Copland put AFC Swindon 1-0 up 13 minutes from time in their game against Swindon Rovers, but the lead would last just two minutes as Lee Holland put Rovers back on level terms. A second from Holland five minutes from time secured all three points for Swindon Rovers.

North Wiltshire Division

Last season’s champions in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division, Cricklade Town, are once again the early leaders of the division after a convincing 14-1 win over Stratton Juniors at Moredon on Thursday night. After failing to score in last week’s opening game, last season’s leading scorer TJ Bohane returned to goal scoring form bagging five of the Cricklade goals. Adam Smith helped himself to a hat-trick, both Phil Corcoran and Stuart Hughes bagged a brace, with the other two goals coming through Marcus Hall and new signing Anthony McCusker.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town bounced back from last week’s narrow defeat at the hands of Cricklade with a big win of their own on Wednesday night, putting nine goals past AFC Swindon without reply. New signing Philip Hall scored four of the Bassett goals with the other five being shared around the team with one apiece for Josh Connolly, Mark Simpkins, Chris Head, Mark King and Jeremy Newton.

The same night last season’s runners-up Redhouse got their season off to a winning start with an 8-2 demolition of new side FS Swindon. Last season’s top scorer in the division David Pratt carried on from where he left off last season, getting four for Redhouse. New signing Nigel Baker helped himself to a hat-trick with the other Redhouse goal being scored by Fred Galrito. The two consolation goals for FS Swindon were scored by Jordan McCalla and Nick Zenonos.

It was a tight affair on Tuesday night at New College in the game between Chisledon and ExIntel with the only goal of the game coming three minutes from time, with Alex Rudd netting for ExIntel to make it two wins from their opening two games for the other new side to the division. For Chiseldon that is now a second defeat of the season.

Nationwide are another team to make it two wins from their opening two games on Tuesday night, goals from Andrew Goodchild and Marc Merritt giving them a 2-0 win over a hard working Swindon Rovers side who pushed them all the way, the second Nationwide goal only being scored a minute from time.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Thankfully all six games in the Mid Wiltshire Division went ahead this week and after just two games of the season the league table already has something of a familiar look to it with last seasons top two heading the table on six points. Last season’s runners-up Melksham Town were the biggest winners of the week in the division putting nine goals past Amesbury Junior Badgers. New signing Gary Higdon led the way scoring five of the goals in the 9-1-win, Tom Robinson with two, David Macey and Steve Tweddle, who has returned to Melksham after spending three seasons away with Chippenham Town, Corsham Town and Bradford Town, with the other goals. The consolation goal for Amesbury was scored by Stuart Duck.

Champions Corsham Town were made to work a lot harder for their three points by Westbury United, eventually securing the points thanks to goals from Jonathan Scott and Adrian Webb in a 2-1 win, Ryan Earney with his second of the season replying for Westbury. The win for Corsham saw them join Melksham at the top on six points.  

There are then seven sides on three points. Chippenham Town joined that group with a big win over new side Bishops Cannings who had opened their season with a win the previous week. James Weston led the way scoring a hat-trick for Chippenham with both Darren Chitty and Daniel Castle scoring twice in a 7-1 win, Grant Thirkell with the consolation goal for Bishops Cannings.

Radstock Town bounced back from their defeat at the hands of Bishops Cannings the previous week with a convincing 6-0 win over a struggling Calne Town side who have yet to score in their opening two games and have now conceded ten at the other end. Steven Knight led the way for Radstock with a hat-trick, Adam Pugsley bagged two adding to the one he scored the previous week, with Steven Gilham getting the other Radstock goal.

Devizes Town got their season off to a winning start after being frustrated the previous week when their game fell victim to a waterlogged pitch. This week they travelled south to Warminster Town on Friday night and returned with all three points thanks to an impressive 4-0 win. Last season’s top scorer Rhys Schell was once again amongst the goals smashing a hat-trick with the other goal coming through Chris Allen.

Durrington opened their campaign with a 4-2 win over Trowbridge Town Tigers, Aaron Aaron Hahnenfield and Clifford Sakyi getting the two goals for the Tigers.

North Wiltshire Division

With Cricklade Town the team without a game this week, Nationwide and ExIntel both had the chance to move clear at the top of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division. On Wednesday night at Moredon things looked to be going well for Nationwide as goals from Adam Rudman and Thomas Steptoe put them 2-0 up against Royal Wootton Bassett Town with just 13 minutes on the clock. However, Royal Wootton Bassett Town came back strongly in the second half to score two goals of their own through Josh Connolly to level matters up at 2-2. Despite having Richie Saunders sent off for a second yellow card Royal Wootton Bassett Town held out to become the first side to take points off Nationwide. However, because of the results elsewhere the point for Nationwide was enough to send them top of the table.

The same night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground, ExIntel also dropped their first points of the season when they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of last season’s runners-up Redhouse. ExIntel scored their goal as early as the fourth minute of the game, Richard Clark with the goal, but goals from last season’s top scorer David Pratt and Dean Hughes ensured Redhouse maintained their winning start to the new season. Redhouse are in a group of four teams on six points, a point behind Nationwide with a game in hand.

Biggest winners of the week were Penhill United who scored nine goals without replay on Thursday night against new side FS Swindon who have now lost all three of their opening games. There were hat-tricks for both Jamei Ashby and Lee Hollamby with further goals Chris Flanagan, Chris Allen and Gary Macieszonek in Penhill’s emphatic win.

The two games on Tuesday night saw three of the four teams looking for their first points of the season and two of the teams were to get themselves off the mark. At New College AFC Swindon were comfortable winners over Stratton Juniors to get their season up and running. Two second half goals from Andrew Copland and a last-minute effort from Gareth Walton to add to the first half goal from Andy Philpott did the damage for AFC Swindon. AFC Swindon moved up to eighth spot as a result of the win whilst Stratton Juniors, like FS Swindon, remain without a point after their three opening fixtures.

The other game on Tuesday night at Moredon saw Swindon Rovers and Chiseldon up against each other with Chiseldon still looking for their first point of the season after opening the season with two defeats. It was goalless at the break, but Craig Johnson fired Swindon Rovers in front eight minutes into the second half but Chiseldon got something out of the game with an equaliser five minutes from time through Adam O’Keeffe.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Action in the Mid Wiltshire Division got underway on Monday night and it saw a rare 0-0 draw in Veterans’ football between Calne Town and Chippenham Town at MOD Lyneham.

The following night Amesbury Junior Badger, who went the whole of last season without picking up any points, were gifted three points when Radstock Town were unable to field a side for the game at Tidworth.

The same night saw the big game at the top of the table involving last season’s champions Corsham Town and last season’s runners-up Melksham Town who both went into the game having secured the points from their first two games of the season. It was to be Melksham’s night at Green Lane, particularly in the second half. The teams turned around with the score at half time all level at 1-1 but four unanswered second half goals for Melksham saw them avenge the 3-0 defeat they suffered in last season’s corresponding fixture. The goals were shared around the team with one apiece for Robert Cousins, Aaron Ledgister, Tom Robinson, Steve Tweddle and substitute James Taylor, Jonathan Scott with that first half goal for Corsham.

On Thursday night at Nursteed Road, Devizes Town made it two wins from two with a 4-1 victory over Westbury United, with both Rhys Schell and Chris Allen both scoring twice for the home side, Dale Rowland with a consolation goal for Westbury in the final minute of the game. Devizes look like they could be one of the main title contenders for Melksham this season, with the two teams set to meet this coming Monday at Melksham.  David Giles was at the game with his camera and his excellent pictures from the game can be viewed on the League Facebook Page.

There were two games on Friday night to complete the action in the Mid Wiltshire Division. At Green Lane Bishops Cannings hosted Trowbridge Town Tigers and the game remained without a goal until four minutes from time when Tigers Clifford Sakyi broke the deadlock to give Trowbridge a second win of the season.

The other game on Friday night was at Warminster Town where the home side entertained Durrington who also look to be serious title contenders this season. The teams turned round with the game still looking for its first goal but second half goals from Ben Reilly, Toby Watson and David Whittaker for Durrington, with just one in reply for Warminster, gave Durrington all three points and maintained their winning start to the season.

North Wiltshire Division

Once again, all five scheduled games in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League were played this week and there is a familiar look to the top end of the table as the top three are the same as last season, with all three picking up wins this week.

On Tuesday last season’s runners-up Redhouse made it three wins from their opening three games with a 2-0 win against Chiseldon at New College. Goals from Nigel Baker and Dean Hughes maintaining that perfect start to the season for Redhouse.

The same night Nationwide maintained their unbeaten start to the season, picking up their third win in their four games to date. It was a tight first half against Stratton Juniors, with Nationwide leading 3-2 at the break thanks to goals from Thomas Steptoe, Andrew Goodchild and Paul Stonehouse. However, Nationwide upped their game after the break scoring four unanswered goals to run out 7-2 winners. Two more for Steptoe to complete his hat-trick, a second for Stonehouse and one for Adam Rudman. The win meant Nationwide maintained their one-point lead at the top of the table over Redhouse.

On Thursday night last season's champions Cricklade Town joined Redhouse in having a perfect record from their opening three games with a comfortable 10-0 win over bottom of the table FS Swindon. TJ Bohane was the star of the show scoring five of the Cricklade goals, Godfrey Chisanga and recent signing from Stratton Juniors Vince McMackin both bagged a brace and Stuart Hughes with the other Cricklade goal.

The previous night ExIntel returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Penhill United at Moredon to make three wins from their opening four games to join Redhouse and Cricklade Town on nine points, first half goals from James Joyce and Junior Small giving ExIntel the points.

The same night Swindon Rovers picked up their second win of the season to move up to fifth place in the table, goals from Taiwo Abolarin, Peter Byrne, Craig Johnson and Tim Hughes giving them a 4-2 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Chris Head and Greg Richardson with the two goals for Royal Wootton Bassett.

Mid Wiltshire Division

In the Mid Wiltshire Division, the shock news is that last season’s champions Corsham Town have pulled out of the league due to nobody stepping forward to take over the running of the side after Chris Jones advised he was no longer in a position to carry it on. Their scheduled game against Radstock Town on Monday night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch meaning their final game was the 5-1 defeat at the hands of last season’s runners-up Melksham. That result along with the other two games will be expunged.

Melksham Town’s home game against Devizes Town was another game to fall victim to the wet weather on Monday.

The one game that did get played on Monday was at Selwood Academy where Trowbridge Town Tigers picked up their second consecutive 1-0 win that means, after removing Corsham’s results, Trowbridge are the early joint leaders of the Mid Wiltshire Division with three wins from their opening four games, Johnathan Wilkins with the all-important goal against Calne Town midway through the second half.

Westbury United picked up their second win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Warminster Town with all four goals coming in the second half, Dale Rowland, Wayne Wheeler and Mark Young with the Westbury goals, Louis Sparey with the solitary reply for Warminster who remain the only side in the division without a point so far.

Two goals from Craig Lewis against Bishops Cannings mean Durrington secured their third win in their opening three games to join Trowbridge at the top of the table and are one of three sides with perfect records from their opening games, the other two being Melksham Town and Devizes Town.

The final game of the week was at Stanley Park on Friday night and it saw Amesbury Juniors pick up another useful point in a 1-1 draw away against Chippenham Town, Alan Farnish put Chippenham ahead midway through the first half but Amesbury were back on level terms within two minutes, Tom Bennett with the equaliser.

North Wiltshire Division

Last season’s top two sides both continued their winning ways this week to move above an inactive Nationwide at the top of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division. On Tuesday night at New College two goals from Fred Galrito and one from Nigel Baker saw Redhouse run out 3-0 winners against Penhill United to move two points clear of Nationwide with both sides having played four games and with Redhouse having a perfect record of four from four.

On Wednesday night Cricklade Town joined Redhouse at the top of the table on 12 points by maintaining their own perfect start to the season with a 4-1 win over a strong ExIntel side. Two more goals for TJ Bohane saw him take his tally for the season to 12, with the other goals coming through Phil Corcoran and Stuart Hughes. Cricklade led 3-0 but Richard Clark pulled one back for ExIntel early in the second half before Cricklade made sure of the points with a fourth.

The same night Swindon Rovers picked up their third win of the season with a 5-3 success against Stratton Juniors. Rovers were not at their best in the opening half but stepped up their game after the break to secure a 5-3 win that saw them move level on points with Nationwide but having played one more game than the top three sides.  Pete Byrne led the way for Swindon Rovers helping himself to a second half hat trick, Craig Kimmens and Tom Bailey with the other two goals for Rovers. The defeat for Stratton Juniors sees them still looking for their first point after their opening five games.

Wednesday night also saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town return to winning ways with a narrow 2-1 success over Chisledon, Jamie Saunders and Richie Saunders with the goals for Royal Wootton Bassett, Tom Chaston with the Chiseldon goal. The second win of the season for Royal Wootton Bassett sees them sit in mid table with seven points from their opening five games.

Two first half goals against FS Swindon were enough to give AFC Swindon their second win in four games. Andrew Copland opened the scoring on 11 minutes before an own goal doubled the lead. FS Swindon were unable to find a way back into the game and are the second side still looking for their first point of the season after losing all of their opening five games.

The new venue at Moredon has certainly helped with games being played in the division with all scheduled fixtures having been played in the division so far this season.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It is not the same story in the Mid Wiltshire Division where another game has been awarded this week, Westbury United being unable to field a side for their game against Durrington. The three points for Durrington seeing them join Trowbridge Town Tigers at the top of the table with 12 points from their opening four games.

Trowbridge Town Tigers had moved top of the table on Tuesday night with a 1-0 away win at Amesbury Junior Badgers, the only goal of the game coming ten minutes from time through substitute Luke Maidment. For Trowbridge that is now three 1-0 wins in a row as they look on track to enjoy their best season to date in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, having been one of the members of the league in the inaugural season back in 2019-20.

Devizes Town moved up to third spot on Thursday night with their third straight win of the season to maintain their 100% winning record so far this season. First half goals from Chris Allen and Rhys Schell put Devizes 2-0 up at the break against Radstock Town and a third from Timothy Saye made sure of the points for Devizes. Devizes sit three points behind the top two with two games in hand on Trowbridge and one over Durrington. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of David’ excellent pictures can be viewed on the League Facebook Group Page.

The weeks action in the two Veterans' divisions had got under way on Monday night when Calne Town picked up their first win of the season at the fifth attempt, two goals from Chris Robinson and one from Dan Allison giving them a 3-1 home win over Bishops Cannings, Adam Bewley with the Bishops Cannings goal. The win for Calne saw them move above their beaten opponents and into seventh spot in the table.

The final game of the week saw Warminster Town pick up their first point of the season and also become the first team to take points off Melksham Town as they held one of the favourites for the league title to a 1-1 draw, both goals coming in the second half.

Another full and completed schedule in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League which include a massive game at the top of the table between last season’s top two Cricklade Town and Redhouse on Wednesday night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. The night belonged to Cricklade as they sent a strong message of intent to the rest of the division that they intend to hold onto the title they won last May as two goals from Adam Smith and one from Phil Corcoran secured a 3-0 win. Cricklade have now won all five of their opening games.

The following night Nationwide moved above Redhouse into second place with a comprehensive win over bottom of the table FS Swindon to maintain their own unbeaten start to the season.  Leading 4-0 at the break Nationwide added a further six unanswered goals in the second half to run out 10-0 winners. Adam Rudman scored four, with two goals apiece for Marc Merritt and Neil Snow, with further goals from Mason Worthington and Pete Sealey.

ExIntel sit fourth in the table after a narrow 2-1 come from behind win over AFC Swindon. Gareth Walton had given AFC Swindon an early lead, but Simon Foster had levelled matters up before half time. A goal from Richard Clark midway through the second half for ExIntel proved to be the winner as ExIntel recorded their fourth win of the season.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town were made to work hard for the three points by Stratton Juniors but in the end goals from Sam Collier and Josh Connolly were enough to give Royal Wootton Bassett Town the three points on Tuesday night at Moredon. The third win of the season for Royal Wootton Bassett saw them move up to fifth place in the table.

The same night at New College, Penhill United were also recording their third win of the season securing a 4-2 victory over Chiseldon thanks to two goals from Jamie Ashby and one each for Gary Macieszonek and substitute Peter Myall, Daniel Vaughan and Adam O’Keeffe netting for Chiseldon both goals coming in the second half.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The Mid Wiltshire Division saw four games played and after the week’s action Durrington sit three points clear at the table after a hard fought 1-0 win over Calne Town on Wednesday night, Jesse Walters with the all-important goal for the leaders.

Devizes Town are looking serious title contenders this season and they remained three points behind the leaders with a game in hand following a comfortable 6-0 win over Chippenham Town at Green Lane on Tuesday night. Four more goals for the division’s leading scorer Rhys Schell who took his total for the season into double figures, Ashley Lock and Steve Bush with the other goals for Devizes who maintained their 100% winning start to the season and moved level on points with Trowbridge Town Tigers having played one game less.

On Monday night Warminster Town had recorded their first win of the season with a 3-2 away success against Radstock Town. On target for Warminster were Matthew Minnis, Louis Sparey and last season’s top scorer James Vincent who came on as a substitute for his first appearance of the season.

The final game of the week in the two Veterans’ divisions was on Friday night and it saw Bishops Cannings pick up their second win of the season with a 3-1 success over Amesbury Junior Badgers. Goals from David Mountford, Craig Hatton-Pocklington and Adam Bewley did the damage for Bishops Cannings, Sam Speakman with the consolation goal for Amesbury Junior Badgers.

Focus this week in the two Veterans’ Divisions was on the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup with just the one league game being played, that league game being in the Mid Wiltshire Division where Westbury United and Trowbridge Town Tigers met at Green Lane. Trowbridge went into the game knowing that victory would see them move joint top of the table with Durrington, but things did not go to plan as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat. Wayne Wheeler put Westbury ahead in the first half and whilst Clifford Sakyi equalised for the Tigers 11 minutes from time, Westbury substitute Nicholas Ross scored a second for Westbury and what proved to be the winner. The victory for Westbury saw them move to within three points of their beaten opponents with a game in hand.

The County Cup got underway on Monday night with Mid Wiltshire side Calne Town hosting AFC Swindon from the North Wiltshire Division. It was to be the North’s night as early goals from Jason Conn and Andrew Copland were followed by a hat-trick from Andrew Philpott as AFC Swindon ran out 5-1 winners, Antony Doyle with the consolation goal for Calne.

The following night just two of the three scheduled games went ahead with Devizes Town forfeiting their game against Cricklade Town due to being unable to raise a side. One of the two remaining games was an all-North Division affair between cup holders Nationwide and a much-improved Swindon Rovers who are having a good season. It was tight in the first half with the two teams turning around with the game still looking for its first goal. The deadlock was finally broken nine minutes into the second half, substitute Vince McMackin scoring on his debut for Nationwide, having recently transferred from Cricklade Town having also started the season at Stratton Juniors. Nationwide ensured their defence of the cup they won last April remained on track with a second goal two minutes from time from Andrew Goodchild.

The other game on Tuesday night was something of a one-sided affair between FS Swindon from the North Wiltshire Division and the league leaders from the Mid Wiltshire Division, Durrington. The long journey back south would have been an enjoyable one as they registered a big 7-1 win to progress to the Second Round. The goals were shared around the side with Craig Lewis scoring twice to double his total for the season, with then one apiece for Jesse Walters, Steve Moore, Keith Darling, Luke Mason and Ben Reilly, the latter joining Lewis as Durrington’s top scorer so far this season on four goals.

On Wednesday night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground there was something of a surprise result in the game between Redhouse and Penhill United. Two weeks previous, when the two sides had met in the league, Redhouse had been comfortable 3-0 winners but Penhill avenged that earlier defeat with a 1-0 cup victory, Peter Myall scoring what proved to be the winner just before half time. Whilst Redhouse pushed for an equaliser in the second half Penhill’s defence held firm to secure that place in the Second Round.

The final game of the round was on Friday night at Green Lane, and it produced another close encounter with penalties ultimately being needed to settle matters in the game between Bishops Cannings from the Mid Wiltshire Division and Royal Wootton Bassett Town from the North Wiltshire Division. It finished 1-1 at the end of normal time, Gavin Cook with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal and Jason Cole scoring for Bishops Cannings. In the penalty shoot out it was Bishops Cannings who held their nerve to progress to the Second Round, winning 4-3 on penalties.

After last week’s County Cup action this week attention turned to the League Cup. Unfortunately, as had been the case in last week’s County Cup, there were a number of ties where teams conceded matches, invariably where a team was away to a side from the other division. With three ties conceded, the future format of the cup competition will need to be discussed at Management Committee level with regionalisation of early rounds and/or increased fines for the non-playing of games both on the table for discussion. The three ties that did not go ahead were firstly the game between Mid Wiltshire Division side Melksham Town and ExIntel from the North Wiltshire Division, with the Swindon based side unable to raise a side, and Melksham now set to be at home to Warminster Town or Calne Town in the Second Round. The second awarded game was the tie between North Wiltshire Division side Penhill United and Radstock Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division, with Penhill now set to meet Redhouse in the Second Round. The final awarded tie was actually a Second Round game, the all Mid Wiltshire Division tie between Devizes Town and Chippenham Town, with Chippenham unable to raise a side for a game being played at their normal home ground, Devizes joining Bishops Cannings in the quarter final.

Four games did get played in the First Round and produced three close games and one comfortable passage into the next round. Last season’s cup winners Nationwide (previously known as Coate) were made to work hard in their initial defence of the trophy they won last April by a much-improved AFC Swindon side. In the end, penalties were needed to settle matters after neither side was able to find the back of the net in normal time. The penalty shootout went the way of Nationwide 3-1 with Nationwide now set to make a long journey south in the Second Round having been drawn away to Amesbury Junior Badgers.

This Wednesday Mid Wiltshire Division Durrington made the opposite journey to the one Nationwide are going to have to make when they travelled into Swindon for the second week running for a cup encounter. Having won comfortably the previous week, this week’s visit to take on North Wiltshire Division side Swindon Rovers was to prove a much tougher affair with Durrington eventually edging by the odd goal in a 2-1 win, all three goals coming in the second half. Ben Reilly registered his fifth goal of the season for Durrington with the other goal coming courtesy of an own goal, Taiwo Abolarin with the goal for Swindon Rovers. Durrington will be away again in the next round but with a much shorter journey having been drawn against Trowbridge Town Tigers.

The final two games in the cup were both all-North Wiltshire Division ties. Cricklade Town had a comfortable evening at home against Royal Wootton Bassett Town on the 3G at Cirencester Town. Leading 3-0 at the break two further goals in the second half completed a 5-0 win for Cricklade. Two more goals for TJ Bohane, Adam Smith also bagging a brace, with the other goal coming through Phil Corcoran. Bohane and Smith are now the two leading scorers in the North Wiltshire Division. 

The other all North Division tie between Stratton Juniors and Chiseldon produced seven goals with Chiseldon eventually edging it by the odd goal. Chiseldon’s Ritchie Miles and Stratton’s Neil Lee both scored twice for their respective sides, Ogedi Uzokwe with the other Stratton goal and the other two Chiseldon goals being scored by Sean O’Brien and Adam O’Keeffe. Cricklade Town will now be home to FS Swindon in the Second Round whilst Chiseldon also have a home time with Mid Wiltshire Division side and last season’s finalists Westbury United set to be their visitors. Full results to date and the Second Round draw is shown below:

There was one league game played this week in the Mid Wiltshire Division and it saw Trowbridge Town  Tigers move joint top of the table, level on points with Durrington, following a 2-0 win over Bishops Cannings. A penalty put away by Trowbridge Town's leading scorer Clifford Sakyi and an own goal being the difference between the two sides.

There are no scheduled fixtures next week due to half-term with the next round of the County Cup set for to recommence the following week.

After the break in fixtures last week caused by half term school holidays, this week saw the Second Round of the Wiltshire County FA's Veteran's County Cup taking centre stage, with six ties scheduled but, in the end, just five being played, with Amesbury Junior Badgers from the Mid Wiltshire Division conceding their tie against Chiseldon from the North Wiltshire Division.

Nationwide, the current County Cup holders from the North Wiltshire Division, had a comfortable evening on Tuesday night at Green Lane, scoring eight times without reply against Chippenham Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division. Both Marc Merritt and Vince McMackin scored twice, with Andrew Goodchild, Adam Rudman and Joe Anderson also getting on the scoresheet in the 8-0 win. Nationwide will be home to fellow North Wiltshire Division side Chiseldon in the Quarter Final, Chiseldon progressing without having a kick a ball as noted above.

It was to prove to be a good week for the North Wiltshire Division sides with the North also winning the tie of the round on Monday night at the Oakfield Stadium where goals from Stuart Hughes and Godfrey Chisanga gave last season’s beaten finalists Cricklade Town a 2-0 win over Mid Wiltshire Division side Melksham Town in a battle between two sides who are unbeaten in their respective division in league fixtures.

On Tuesday night there was an all-North Wiltshire Division tie between Penhill United and Stratton Juniors. When the two sides had met in the opening league fixture of the season, Stratton had led 2-0 at half time only to see Penhill comeback scoring three in the second half to take the points. It was something of a more one-sided affair in Tuesday night’s county cup fixture with Penhill running out 6-2 winners. Jamie Ashby led the way for Penhill scoring a hat-trick with further goals from Chris Angell, Steve Bunting and Gary Macieszonek. Penhill will now be away to Cricklade in the Quarter Final in another all-North Wiltshire Division contest.

There was another all-North Wiltshire Division tie on Wednesday night at Moredon where AFC Swindon  entertained ExIntel. AFC Swindon led 1-0 at the break thanks to an Andy Philpott goal but ExIntel turned things around in the second half scoring twice through John Horgan and Lewis Bryant to progress to the last eight. ExIntel will be home to Trowbridge Town Tigers from the Mid Wiltshire Division in the next round, the Tigers having been given a bye to the Quarter Final after Redlynch & Woodfalls withdrew from the cup.

Friday night saw the final tie of the week and it involved two sides from the Mid Wiltshire Division, Westbury United and Warminster Town. It was a close encounter that finished all square at the end of normal time, penalties being required to settle matters after it had finished 2-2. The penalty shoot-out saw Westbury United emerge victorious 4-3 to progress to the Quarter Final where they will meet the winner of the one outstanding tie between another two Mid Wiltshire Division sides, Bishops Cannings and Durrington, who meet at Green Lane this coming Tuesday.

The Quarter Final ties are all scheduled to take place in the first week of December.

In addition to the County Cup fixtures there were also two league games played, one in each division. In the North Wiltshire Division, Redhouse joined Cricklade Town at the top of the table after a comfortable 5-2 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Last season’s top scorer for Redhouse David Pratt led the way scoring a hat-trick, Fred Galrito and Nigel Baker with the other Redhouse goals, Jeremy Newton and Stuart Davidson replying for Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

The one game played in the Mid Wiltshire Division also saw the winning side move top of the table as Trowbridge Town Tigers picked up their sixth league win in eight games to go three points clear at the top of the table, although they have played more games than anyone else in the division. Their latest victory came in a close encounter with Radstock Town, Trowbridge winning by the odd goal in five. On target for Trowbridge in the 3-2 win were Johnathan Wilkins, Clifford Sakyi and Robert Mitchell. Radstock remain bottom of the table for now but having pushed the league leaders all the way that second win of the season cannot be too far away.

North Wiltshire Division

There were four games played this week in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division and it was to prove to be another good week for Redhouse and Nationwide at the top end of the table, both taking advantage of Cricklade Town’s inactivity to climb above them in the table.

The new leaders are Redhouse who secured a comprehensive 6-0 win over AFC Swindon on Wednesday night at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. Two goals for both David Pratt and Nigel Baker plus further goals from Fred Galrito and Chris Hawkins did the damage for Darren Garce’s side who sit two points clear at the top of the table but having played more games than the three sides immediately below them.

Nationwide maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 win over ExIntel at New College. Marc Merritt gave them a 1-0 half time lead. The same player then doubled their lead five minutes into the second half, and they made sure of the three points with a third through Adam Rudman 11 minutes from time. The win saw Nationwide also move above Cricklade into second place, those two points behind Redhouse but with a game in hand. Cricklade Town are in third spot a point behind Nationwide with a game in hand, and three points behind Redhouse but with two games in hand over the leaders.

Swindon Rovers climbed up to fourth place in the table with a 3-0 win over FS Swindon on Tuesday night at Moredon. First half goals from Sean Lewis and Oliver Moore saw them lead 2-0 at the break and a third from Peter Byrne nine minutes from time wrapped up the three points for Rovers who have made an excellent start to the season, with just one defeat in their opening six fixtures, that at the hands of Nationwide.

There was an entertaining high scoring game at Moredon the following night between Stratton Juniors and Chiseldon. In a seven goal match which could have gone either way in the end Chiseldon edged it by the odd goal to pick up their first league win of the season. On target for Chiseldon were Ashraf Ali with two, Ermal Molla and Barry Cleminson, Matt Bown, Nial Francis and Ogedi Uzokwe with the three Stratton Juniors goals.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Whilst so far this season no league game in the North Wiltshire Division has had to be awarded due to sides being unable to raise a side, there were another two in the Mid Wiltshire Division this week as both Friday night's games saw the away sides unable to raise a side. Chippenham Town were unable to raise a side to travel to Warminster Town and Radstock Town postponed their game against Westbury United for similar reasons.

Whilst they called off on Friday, Radstock Town had played on Monday night away at Melksham Town, the two sides having agreed between themselves to bring forward their league fixture which resulted in a 2-1 win for Melksham Town, Gary Higdon with both the Melksham goals as he took his total for the season to seven.

On Tuesday night Calne Town picked up their second win of the season and it was a convincing one away at Amesbury Junior Badgers, Calne scoring six times without reply. Deane Slade led the way helping himself to a hat-trick, Chris Robinson, Paul Maddox and Stuart Ballinger with the other Calne goals in the 6-0 win. The win for Calne saw them climb up to sixth place in the table.

On Thursday night Devizes Town maintained their perfect start to the season with an impressive 4-0 home win over league leaders Trowbridge Town Tigers at Nursteed Road. They led 2-0 at half time thanks to goals from Ryan Banks and Nathan Vellenoweth and added two more after the break through leading scorer Rhys Schell and Rob Drown, to make it five wins from five games. The win saw them move joint second in the table, just three points behind Trowbridge but with four games in hand. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of Davis's excellent pictures can be found on the Devizes Town website which can also be accessed from a link on the League Facebook Page.

The one outstanding game in the Wiltshire County FA's Veterans' Cup was played on Tuesday night at Green Lane and it saw Bishops Cannings cause something of an upset based on league form. Opponents Durrington went into the game having won all five of their league games to date, including a 2-0 win over Bishops Cannings back in September. However, a stunning performance from Bishops Cannings who have won just two of their opening league games saw them run out 5-1 winners. They clearly like this cup competition having also defeated Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the previous round. There was a hat-trick for Adam Bewley with the other two goals coming through substitutes Paul Hermon and Bradley Mildon.

North Wiltshire Division

There are new leaders in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League following this week’s round of games, with Nationwide taking over at the top of the table after Cricklade Town dropped their first points of the season on Tuesday night at New College. On a night when goals were in short supply across the two games in the North Division, Cricklade Town were held to a 0-0 draw by Chiseldon. With leading scorer TJ Bohane absent Cricklade were unable to find a way through a resolute Chiseldon defence and had to settle for a point against an improving Chiseldon side who are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions.

There was a shortage of goals in the other game played on Tuesday in the North at Moredon between Penhill United and AFC Swindon. This game was also without a goal at half time but a strike from Penhill’s Daniel Hiscocks midway through the second half was enough to give his side all three points which saw his side up to sixth place ahead of Wednesday and Thursday night’s games.

On a freezing cold Wednesday night at Moredon, Royal Wootton Bassett Town picked up their fourth win of the season with a 3-1 win over bottom of the table FS Swindon. Two goals from Sam Collier plus one from Josh Connolly did the damage for Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Daniel Stroud with the FS Swindon goal.

The same night saw the big game at the top of the table at the Gerard Buxton Ground between league leaders Redhouse and Nationwide who started the night in third place in the table. Nationwide had the better of things in the early exchanges and tested Redhouse keeper Stewart Thompson on a couple of occasions. Nationwide finally found a way past the Redhouse keeper on ten minutes, a powerful run down the left by Paul Stonehouse saw him check inside and then curl a shot from just outside the area into the far corner of the net for 1-0 to Nationwide. Whilst Nationwide continued to have the better of things that was to be the only goal of the first half. Five minutes into the second half Nationwide doubled their lead. A ball into the box from the right found Adam Rudman and the Nationwide leading scorer fired past Thompson from close range to make it 2-0. Redhouse went close to pulling one back from a free kick that went just over and then went close again when Nationwide gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, but it was to be a night when the normally potent Redhouse strike force drew a blank as Nationwide won 2-0. The win for Nationwide saw them move clear at the top of the table, one point clear of their beaten opponents with a game in hand, with Cricklade three points behind but with a game in hand over Nationwide. Due to cup fixtures, Nationwide and Cricklade are now not set to meet each other until March. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlights by clicking on the link below or accessing the game via the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League Website where you can also find links to all the other games that have been covered by Your Sport Swindon across the various divisions.

The final game of the week in the North Wiltshire Division was on Thursday night at Moredon where ExIntel, who started the night in seventh place in the table, took on Swindon Rovers who started the night in fifth place and who were looking to move level on points with Cricklade if they could secure their fifth win in seven games.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The action in the Mid Wiltshire Division got underway on Monday night at Selwood Academy where the divisional leaders at the start of the week, Trowbridge Town Tigers entertained Warminster Town. Last season’s top scorer for Warminster, James Vincent, has been absent in the first few months of the season but had scored in both games since his return and he was once again amongst the goals in his third game back, scoring both goals for Warminster in a 2-0 win that saw his side move joint fifth in the table. After a difficult start to the season Warminster are now unbeaten in their last four league games.

Tuesday night’s game at Green Lane saw plenty of goals as Chippenham Town and Westbury United  shared six goals and the points following a 3-3 draw. Wayne Wheller scored twice for Westbury with Peter Sturman getting their other goal, James Weston, Darren Chitty and Robert Burton with the goals in reply for Chippenham Town.

The following night, with Trowbridge having dropped points on Monday night, Durrington had the chance to move level on points with the league leaders with a win against struggling Amesbury Junior Badgers. A dominant first half saw Durrington score four times and a further goal after the break rounded off a good night for Durrington who maintained their perfect start to the season in the league with their fifth straight win. There were two more goals for Jesse Walters to take his total for the season to six in all competitions, also moving onto six for the campaign was Ben Reilly, with the other two goals being scored by Craig Lewis and Shaune Smith.

On Friday night Devizes Town were involved in a local derby game against near neighbours Bishops Cannings at Green Lane. A sixth successive win for Devizes would see them move level at the top of the table with Durrington and Trowbridge Town Tigers and whilst it was mission accomplished in the end, they had to work hard for the three points against their local rivals, with the game decided by three goals in a minute minute spell in the second half. 0-0 at the break Bishops Cannings went in front on 33 minutes, Adam Bewley with his sixth goal of the season. The lead did not last long though as two minutes later Devizes were back on level terms thanks to an own goal. There was to be one more goal and it came within three minutes of the equaliser, Devizes' leading scorer Rhys Schell firing home for his 12th of the campaign with what proved to be the winner.  That is now six wins in six matching Durrington's record with the two sides with the perfect records not set to meet each other until the first week of January.  David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of Davis's excellent pictures can be found on the Devizes Town website which can also be accessed from a link on the League Facebook Page.

Warminster Town were back in action on Friday night when they hosted Calne Town in the one outstanding league cup tie. It was to prove to be a good night for the home side as they hit five goals without reply to book their passage into the Second Round where they will be away to Melksham Town.

North Wiltshire Division

As we approach the halfway stage of the season for the Veterans’ sides, the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division title race this season is proving to be one of the best since the Veterans’ Divisions were established. with four teams looking potential contenders for honours this season. Two sides have yet to taste defeat, last season’s champions Cricklade Town and last season’s double cup winners Nationwide, who lifted the two cups under the Coate name. Both have won all but one of their games to date, Cricklade drawing with Chiseldon and Nationwide drawing with Royal Wootton Bassett Town. The other teams in the title race are last season’s runners-up Redhouse, whose only defeats so far have been at the hands of Cricklade and Nationwide, and ExIntel who have lost three times but have won their remaining six fixtures to date.

Nationwide and Cricklade both picked up wins this week but whilst Nationwide’s 1-0 win over Penhill United  was a tight affair settled by a solitary Paul Stonehouse goal, Cricklade Town were big winners scoring 11 times against AFC Swindon. Star of the show for Cricklade was TJ Bohane who scored five in the 11-1 win to move onto 19 for the season, Adam Smith hit a hat-trick, Aaron Maximen scored two, with Phil Corcoran getting the other Cricklade goal. The consolation goal for AFC Swindon was scored by Andy Philpott.

After losing to Nationwide last week, Redhouse returned to winning ways, David Pratt scoring both goals for them in a 2-0 win over Swindon Rovers. That is now 12 for the season for Pratt who sits second behind Bohane in the Division’s goal scoring chart. Redhouse are a point behind leaders Nationwide having played one more game than the leaders and two points ahead of third placed Cricklade Town but having played two more games.

ExIntel  are a point behind Cricklade Town after they recorded an impressive 4-1 win on a freezing cold Wednesday evening at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground against Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Jason Stevens put them ahead volleying in from a corner. Jeremy Newton twice went close to putting back on level terms but was twice denied by saves by the ExIntel keeper. ExIntel extended their lead and again it came following a corner. On this occasion the corner was initially cleared but Royal Wootton Bassett then conceded possession on the edge of their own box and Simon Foster fired home for 2-0 from just outside the area. ExIntel continued to push forward and went 3-0 up with the best goal of the night, Richard Clark firing into the top corner of the net from the edge of the 18-yard box. Royal Wootton Bassett Town thought they had pulled one back early in the second half, but an offside flag saw the goal ruled out. ExIntel then went further in front from a scrambled goal from another corner, Royal Wootton Bassett Town had several opportunities to clear the ball, but it was eventually bundled in by Paul Litt to make it 4-0. There would be a late consolation goal for Royal Wootton Bassett though, Jamie Saunders scoring from the penalty spot to make the final score 4-1. Your Sport Swindon were there with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlights by clicking on the link below or by accessing from the Your Sport Swindon page of the website where all other games in the League covered by Your Sport Swindon can also be accessed.

Stratton Juniors and FS Swindon met the same night at Moredon with both teams looking to register their first points of the season. In the end it was mission accomplished for both sides as they both scored the one goal to share the points, Matt Bown scoring for Stratton Juniors and Craig Leeder with the FS Swindon goal.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were just two games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division this week with Storm Bert putting paid to all games scheduled to be played on grass pitches.  On Tuesday night at Green Lane, Westbury United recorded their biggest win of the season with a 6-1 home success over Amesbury Junior Badgers. Wayne Wheeler helped himself to a hat-trick, player-manager Phillip Hampson bagged a brace with Mark Young getting the other Westbury goal, Mark Rider with the consolation goal for Badgers. The win for Westbury saw them consolidate their fourth place position and move to within two points of the three sides who sit at the top of the table.

The only other game played was on Friday night at Warminster where Warminster Town’s visitors were Bishops Cannings. Warminster have certainly found their form after an indifferent start to the season, and they are now unbeaten in seven games in all competitions and recorded their fourth straight win in the league.

This coming week attention turns to the Quarter Finals of the Wiltshire Veterans' County Cup with the holders Nationwide home to Chiseldon, and last season's beaten finalists Cricklade Town hosting Penhill United at Cirencester. ExIntel are home to Mid Wiltshire Division side Trowbridge Town Tigers and there is then an all Mid Wiltshire Division tie between Bishops Cannings and Westbury United on Friday.

Wiltshire FA County Cup

The quarter final games in the Wiltshire County FA dominated this week’s action involving sides from the two Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. On Tuesday night current cup holders Nationwide, who won the competition last season playing as Coate, had a comfortable passage through to the last four on Tuesday night winning 6-0 against fellow North Wiltshire Division side Chiseldon. Paul Stonehouse led the way for the cup holders helping himself to a hattrick with further goals from Marc Merritt, Pete Sealey and an own goal.

The same night, last season’s beaten finalists, Cricklade Town, also made it through to the last four but it was a close-run thing in another all-North Wiltshire Division tie against Penhill United at Cirencester Town. Neither side was able to find the back of the net in open play meaning that penalties were needed to settle matters and Cricklade won the penalty shootout 5-4 to progress to the semi-final.

The following night there was an inter-divisional tie between ExIntel from the North Wiltshire Division and Trowbridge Town Tigers from the Mid Wiltshire Division. When the Veterans’ category was first started in Season 2019-20 Trowbridge had played in the competition in a single division based predominantly around the Swindon area. It was not to be a happy return to Swindon for the Tigers, going down to a solitary early strike from Lewis Bryant.  Bryant scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game with just seven minutes elapsed as ExIntel became the third side from the North Wiltshire Division through to the semi final.

The final quarter final tie was on Friday night at Green Lane and it was an all Mid Wiltshire Division affair between Bishops Cannings and Westbury United, guaranteeing the division at least one semi finalist.  Unfortunately the game did not go the full duration due to an injury to the Bishops Cannings goalkeeper that forced the game to be abandoned. Thankfully after a visit to the hospital we understand the keeper is on the mend with no serious damage but will be out for a while and all at the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League wish him a speedy recovery.  At the time of the abandonment his side Bishops Cannings led 3-0 thanks to two goals from Adam Bewley and one from David Mountford, with Westbury United also having had a player sent off. We now await advice from the Wiltshire FA as to whether the result at the time of the abandonment will stand or whether the game will need to be replayed.

League Games

In addition to the County Cup games there were two league matches in the North Wiltshire Division and four in the Mid Wiltshire Division.

In the North Wiltshire Division, AFC Swindon picked up their third win of the season with a narrow 2-1 success against Stratton Juniors at Moredon on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Andy Philpott and Andrew Copland, Shane Dodson with the reply for Stratton Juniors. AFC Swindon remained in eighth place but closed the gap to the sides just above them in the table.

The following night Redhouse moved back top of the table in the North Wiltshire Division with a 4-0 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town. Two more goals for leading scorer David Pratt plus one apiece for Michael Jones and Dean Hughes as Redhouse moved two points clear of Nationwide in second place but having played two more games.

The big game in the Mid Wiltshire Division was at the Oakfield Stadium, Melksham and the meeting of two sides, Melksham Town and Durrington, who started Monday night as unbeaten in league games prior to the fixture. It was to prove to be Melksham’s night as goals from Dean Flockton, Gary Higdon and Tom Robinson secured a 3-1 win for the home side to maintain their unbeaten start to the league season, Toby Watson with the solitary reply for Durrington who saw their unbeaten record end.

The same night Calne Town ended Warminster Town’s recent good run which had seen them win their last four games in all competitions, including a 5-0 win over Calne in the Veterans’ County Cup. On Monday night Calne avenged that cup defeat, a solitary goal from Paul Maddox giving them the three points in a 1-0 victory.

The following night Devizes Town went three points clear at the top of the table with a big 10-0 win away at Amesbury Junior Badgers. The division’s leading scorer Rhys Schell led the way helping himself to four more goals, Kieron Kiff scored a hattrick on his debut, all three goals coming in the second half, with Ray King, Ryan Banks and Tim Saye getting the other Devizes goals. Devizes have now won all seven of their league games to date and have only conceded two goals in those seven games as well as being the division’s top scorers with 33 goals in those seven games with Schell having netted 16 of those goals.

The same night Chippenham Town and Radstock Town fought out a 1-1 draw to share the points from their game, Darren Chitty with the Chippenham goal and Ben Cherry with the reply for Radstock Town. The point for Chippenham saw them remain in eighth spot whilst the point for Radstock saw them move level on points with Amesbury Junior Badgers at the bottom of the table.

North Wilts Division

It was a good week for the leading sides in both of the two Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.

In the North Wiltshire Division, the top three all picked up three points from this week’s fixtures, although in the case of league leaders Redhouse they were gifted the points by Stratton Juniors who became the first side in the North Wiltshire Division to fail to raise a side this season.

The action in the division had got underway on Tuesday night and the two games saw big wins for both the title chasing sides, Nationwide and Cricklade Town. Nationwide  entertained AFC Swindon at New College and made a blistering start scoring twice in the opening three minutes through Adam Rudman, his 11^th of the season, and Paul Stonehouse. Whilst AFC Swindon quickly pulled one back through their leading scorer Andrew Copland, there was to be no comeback as further first half goals from Neil Snow and Antony Quant put Redhouse in a commanding position at half time. Three unanswered goals in the second half for Nationwide completed a comfortable 7-1 win that saw them remain within two points of leaders Redhouse but still with those two games in hand.

The same night Cricklade Town were away to Swindon Rovers at Moredon and, despite missing a few of their regular players, also had a comfortable night running out 6-1 winners. The division’s leading scorer TJ Bohane was once again amongst the goals scoring four to take his total for the season onto 23. The other two goals for Cricklade were scored by Stuart Hughes and Adam Smith, Tim Hughes with the consolation goal for Swindon Rovers. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their camera and subscribers can view highlights by clicking on the link below or using the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League Website where all other games in the league covered by Your Sport Swindon can also be accessed.

On Wednesday night there was a close encounter at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground where Royal Wootton Bassett Town entertained Penhill United. Two goals from Penhill’s Peter Myall, with just one in reply for Royal Wootton Bassett Town, saw Penhill record their fifth win of the season to move above their beaten opponents into fifth spot in the league table.

The final game of the week in the North Wiltshire Division was on Thursday night at Moredon and it saw an improving Chiseldon  side register their second league win of the season with a 6-1 victory over FS Swindon  to close the gap to the sides immediately above them in the table. On target for Chiseldon were Adam O’Keeffe who scored twice, Richie Miles, Sean O’Brien, Shaun Smith and Barry Cleminson, Calum Dunn with the solitary reply for FS Swindon.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It was also a good week for the leading sides in the Mid Wiltshire Division with both Devizes Town and Melksham Town maintaining their unbeaten starts to the season in the league and Durrington returning to winning ways after their first defeat of the season against Melksham Town last week.

At MOD Lyneham on Monday night Devizes Town made it eight wins from their opening eight league fixtures with a narrow 2-1 away win over Calne Town. Two early first half goals from Josh Brigham put Devizes ahead at the break but Calne came back at them in the second half and pulled one back through Chris Robinson but were unable to find an equaliser as Devizes held out to return with all three points.

The same night Melksham Town maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 5-1 home success over Bishops Cannings at the Oakfield Stadium. Gary Higdon led the way for Melksham scoring twice to take his total for the season into double figures, with further Melksham goals from coming through Ian Dowell, Tom Robinson and Luke Turvey.

Durrington  maintained their title challenge with their seventh win in eight league fixtures, the only reverse so far being that defeat last week at Melksham. Their latest win came on Tuesday night at Green Lane where goals from Stephen Moore, Shaune Smith, Jesse Walters and Craig Appleby secured a 4-2 win over Chippenham Town, Robert Burton and Craig Fisher with the Chippenham goals.

Two fixtures were scheduled for Friday night but in the end just one was to go ahead, Westbury United being unable to raise a side for their home fixture with Calne Town gifting Calne the three points. The one game that did go ahead as at Warminster Town where the home side returned to winning ways with a 4-0 win over Amesbury Junior Badgers.

This coming week sees five games in the Second Round of the League Cup with there also being two league games in the North Wiltshire Division. In addition there is one re-arranged County Veterans’ Cup game between Bishops Cannings and Westbury United which is being re-staged after it was abandoned due to an injury with Bishops Cannings leading 3-0 at the time and Westbury down to ten men.

League & County Cup Games

It was another week of conceded cup ties in the Veterans’ League Cup, something that has blighted both both Veterans' cup competitions in Season 2024-25.

The one re-scheduled game in the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ Cup between Bishops Cannings and Westbury United, which had been rearranged by the Wiltshire FA following the initial abandonment with Bishops Canning leading 3-0 at the time and Westbury down to ten men, did in fact take place. However,  it ended up having to be awarded to Bishops Cannings, despite them losing the re-staged game, because Westbury played the player who had been sent off in the initial game and who was suspended at the time of the re-staging. Bishops Cannings will now be home to ExIntel in the semi-final.

Two of the scheduled games in the Second Round of the League Cup also ended up being awarded with FS Swindon unable to raise a side for their tie against Cricklade Town and Warminster Town unable to raise a side for their game against Melksham Town meaning that Melksham have now gone through two rounds without kicking a ball.

Three of the scheduled Second Round ties did get played with two games producing close encounters. The one exception was cup holders Nationwide’s long trip south on Tuesday night to take on Amesbury Junior Badgers  which was very much a one-sided affair with the cup holders from the North Wiltshire Division scoring 12 times without reply to progress to the last eight of the competition. Vince McMackin led the way for Nationwide scoring four, Neil Snow registered a hat-trick, Mason Worthington scored twice with further goals coming from Brady Lilley, Marc Merritt and Pete Monks.

The cup action had gone underway on Monday night with the all Mid Wiltshire Division tie between Trowbridge Town Tigers  and Durrington. With the two sides separated by just one place and three points in the league table a close encounter was anticipated ahead of the game, and it proved to be just that. Despite creating several chances, the Tigers were unable to find the back of the net but visitors Durrington proved to be more clinical in front of goal, taking two of the chances that came their way to make it through to the quarter final stage, Ben Reilly and Keith Darling with the two Durrington goals.

Having knocked Redhouse out of the Veterans’ County Cup earlier in the season, Penhill United were looking to achieve a cup double over the North Wiltshire Division league leaders Redhouse. That first cup encounter had been decided by a solitary goal from Penhill’s Peter Myall back in October. Once again goals were in short supply in the second cup meeting of the season between the sides with the game finishing 0-0 at the end of normal time meaning penalties would be needed to decide matters. In the penalty shootout it would prove to be Penhill who held their nerve to complete that cup double.

There is now one outstanding tie to be played between Chiseldon  and Westbury United, the tie having had to be re-scheduled due to the re-staging of the abandoned County Cup game. The re-arranged League Cup tie will now take place on January 15^th.

League Chairman Brian Busson and Jim Thorn made the draw for the quarter finals and the draw has thrown up two definite inter-divisional ties with a potential third depending on outcome of that Chiseldon v Westbury United game. The one cross-divisional tie sees two unbeaten sides in their respective divisions, Cricklade Town  and Melksham Town, drawn against each other for the second season running, with the tie, as was the case last season, set to take place at Cirencester Town. The first of the two inter-divisional ties which involves two teams from the North Wiltshire Division sees  Penhill United at home to Nationwide, whilst the confirmed all Mid Wiltshire Division sees Durrington  at home to Devizes Town. The winner of the outstanding Second Round game between Chiseldon and Westbury United  will be home to Bishops Cannings for a place in the semi-final.

In addition to the cup action, two league games were also played in the North Wiltshire Division. Stratton Juniors went into their game against ExIntel at Moredon with just the one point so far this season but doubled that total by the end of the night with their best result of the season, holding ExIntel to a 2-2 draw to move off the bottom of the table. On target for ExIntel were Richard Wells and Lewis Bryant, Kris Horwood and Gergo Komjati with the two Stratton goals.

It was another tight affair in the other league game played with Chiseldon just edging it over AFC Swindon by the odd goal in a 2-1 win, Sean O’Brien and Matt Hollingshead putting Chisledon 2-0 ahead before a goal from substitute Jeremy Hope five minutes from time brought AFC Swindon back into the game but there was to be no equaliser as Chiseldon saw out the closing stages without conceding to register their third league victory of the season.

Due to Christmas, there were now no games for two weeks in the two Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, the action recommencing on Monday 6th January.

County Cup Semi Final

The first cup finalist of the 2024-25 Season is now known but penalties were needed to break the deadlock in the Wiltshire FA Veterans’ County Cup semi final between Bishops Cannings, from the Mid Wiltshire Division, and ExIntel, from the North Wiltshire Division, on Friday night. At the end of 50 minutes, the efforts of the two sides had failed to produce a single goal meaning penalties were needed to decide who would make it through to the cup final which is set for Friday 21^st February. The penalty shoot out saw ExIntel hold their nerve with a 4-2 spot kick victory to reach the final where they will meet either cup holders Nationwide or last season’s beaten finalist Cricklade Town, in what will be an all North Wiltshire Division final for the second season running. 

League Games

The wet weather at the beginning of the week followed by a cold snap from the middle of the week took its toll on the league fixtures, with just one game played in the Mid Wiltshire Division and four games in the North Wiltshire Division. The one game played in the Mid Wiltshire Division saw Chippenham Town Youth pick up their second win of the season, a solitary goal from Craig Fisher four minutes from the end was enough to give Chippenham the points against Trowbridge Town Tigers who have now lost five games in a row in all competitions after their encouraging start to the season. The games on grass at Melksham Town and Radstock Town, and on Wednesday on the 3G at Bulford, all fell victim to the weather.

In the North Wiltshire Division ExIntel  had warmed up for that cup semi final with a league fixture on the Tuesday night at Moredon against bottom of the table FS Swindon. It would be a double victory in the week for ExIntel as suffered a surprise defeat, going down 3-2 to give an improving FS Swindon their first win of the season. On target for FS Swindon were Calum Dunn, Tom Brown and Niall Fegan, with Richard Wells and Matthew Gumm replying for ExIntel. The win for FS Swindon saw them move above Stratton Juniors in the table, with Stratton Juniors now the only team in the division without a win so far this season.

Stratton Juniors were in action on Wednesday night but fell to a 4-0 defeat at Moredon against Penhill United with Penhill scoring three times in the first half through Jamie Ashby, who bagged a brace, and Harry Etheridge, to put themselves in a commanding position at the break. Penhill eased up in the second half but were able to add one more, Etheridge getting his second of the game to make sure of all three points for Penhill who move to within a point of ExIntel in fourth place with two games in hand.

The week ends with new leaders at the top of the North Wiltshire Division. Nationwide returned to the top of the table following a hard fought 2-1 win against a much improved Chiseldon at New College on Tuesday night. It was 0-0 at the break as the two defences came out on top in the opening half but the deadlock was finally broken three minutes into the second half, Neil Snow firing in his fifth league goal of the season and take his overall total to eight for the campaign. Paul Stonehouse then added a second for Nationwide to take his own total for the season into double figures. Chiseldon pulled one back through their leading scorer Adam O’Keeffe with his sixth goal of the season but that was to be the end of the night’s scoring as Nationwide maintained their unbeaten start to the season and move a point ahead of Redhouse at the top of the table.

The game on Wednesday on the 3G at the Gerard Buxton Ground on Wednesday involving title chasing Cricklade Town was another game to fall victim to the weather, as the facility was taken out of action by the landlords due to the icy conditions.

County Cup Semi Final

The second semi final of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ County Cup took place on Tuesday night in what was a repeat of last season’s final between Nationwide  (previously known as Coate) and Cricklade Town. Back in April Coate had won 2-0 at Melksham’ Oakfield Stadium but Cricklade Town were to avenge that defeat on Tuesday night ta New College, although penalties were once again needed to decide which side would progress to the final. As in the first semi final neither side was able to find the back of the net meaning penalties were required to settle matters. Despite having had two players in the sin bin it was to be Cricklade Town who prevailed in the penalty shootout, winning 5-4 to take their place in the final against ExIntel which is scheduled for Friday 21^st February at Green Lane.

North Wiltshire Division

With Nationwide in County Cup action Redhouse had the chance to return to the top of the North Wiltshire Division with a win against FS Swindon. FS Swindon have spent most of the season at the bottom of the table and had only moved off that bottom spot last week with an impressive 3-2 win over County Cup finalists ExIntel. They carried on that much improved form and ran Redhouse close, eventually falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat that was enough to see Redhouse return to the top of the table. On target for Darren Grace’s side were Michael Jones and a 15^th of the season from David Pratt, Jordan McCalla with the goal for FS Swindon.

The previous night at Moredon AFC Swindon had secured their best result of the season with a 3-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town who have now lost four straight games. First half goals from Andrew Copland and Kris Russell put AFC ahead at the break and they added a third ten minutes from time through Richard Bailey to make sure of the points, Andrew Huggins with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal.

On Thursday night there was a close encounter between Swindon Rovers and ExIntel at Moredon with some late drama just as it looked as though Swindon Rovers would take all three points. Taiwo Abolarin had put Rovers 1-0 up at the break and Sean Lewis then doubled their lead ten minutes into the second half. ExIntel pulled one back three minutes later through Richard Wells and then in the final minute of the match James Joyce grabbed an equaliser to ensure a share of the points for ExIntel. The point apiece saw ExIntel remain fourth in the table and Swindon Rovers remained in sixth spot.

Chiseldon were meant to be in League Cup action at Moredon against Westbury United on Wednesday night but unfortunately Westbury became the latest side to be unable to raise a side in the cup, calling off on the day of the game. This meant that Chiseldon were given a walkover into the next out and Westbury will find they will have a pitch fee to pick up along with any league fine due to the late call off. In the end just three of the eight Second Round ties were actually staged, and changes are expected for next season’s cup competition.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The improvement in the weather this week meant that all five of the scheduled league games in the Mid Wiltshire Division went ahead. The action got underway on Monday night and it saw Durrington move level on points with Devizes Town at the top of the table although by the end of the week Devizes would move a point clear at the top. Durrington were away to Trowbridge Town Tigers at Selwood Academy and they returned home with all three points courtesy of a 4-0 win. Star of the show was Shaune Smith who helped himself to a hat-trick to move his total for the season to five, Toby Watson with the other goal.

The same night Radstock Town continued their recent improved form picking up their second win of the season with a narrow 2-1 win over Calne Town at MOD Lyenham, Jack Broadway and Adam Pugsley with the Radstock goals, Chris Robinson with the Calne goal. The win for Radstock saw them climb above Bishops Cannings in the table into ninth place.

The following night Melksham Town maintained their unbeaten start to the league season with an emphatic 13-0 away win against Amesbury Junior Badgers. It was a good night for Melksham’s Gary Higdon as he helped himself to seven goals to take over at the top of the Division’s goal scoring chart. The other six goals were shared around the team with one apiece for Michael Harrison, Aaron Ledgister, Nick Ridout, Tom Robinson, Luke Turvey and Adam Young. Melksham are now up to third spot, six points adrift of leaders Devizes Town, with two games in hand over the two sides above them in the table.

The same night at Green Lane, Chippenham Town Youth continued their recent good form with a 3-0 win over Bishops Cannings in game between two sides based out of Green Lane. That is now back-to-back wins for Chippenham and just one defeat in their last five league games. On target for Chippenham were Robert Burton with two and Craig Fisher.

The final game of the week was on Friday night at Green Lane with Devizes Town looking maintain their perfect start to the league season against an in-form Warminster Town. Since the return of James Vincent Warminster Town have seen their results improve and he was once again on the score sheet as Warminster became the first side to take points off Devizes this season as it finished 1-1, Josh Brigham with the goal for Devizes. The point for Devizes was enough to see them move back clear at the top of the table but Melksham still have those two games in hand and Devizes have now dropped the same number of points as Melksham. It is shaping up to be a tight contest between these two and Durrington for the league title. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his excellent pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

The two semi finals in the Veterans’ County Cup had both required penalties to settle matters and this week it was the turn of the League Cup to require spot kicks to decide matters as the first of the quarter final ties took place. Penhill United and Nationwide, both from the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division, were up against each other at Moredon. The one league game between the two sides this season had been a tight affair settled by a solitary early goal from Nationwide’s Paul Stonehouse and the cup encounter between the two was again to prove to be a close encounter. A strike from Pete Sealey gave Nationwide the lead but an equaliser two minutes from time for Penhill from Peter Myall meant penalties would be needed to decide matters. Nationwide held their nerve in the spot kick shoot-out scoring four times with just two successful penalties for Penhill meaning it was the current cup holders, who last season played under the Coate name,  who progressed to the semi final of the cup that they won for the first time last April.

North Wiltshire Division

Meanwhile in the league in the North Wiltshire Division, Redhouse extended their lead at the top of the table but not in the way would have liked as opponents ExIntel  were unable to raise a side and forfeited the scheduled game at Moredon on Wednesday night, only the second time this has happened in the North Division this season but on both occasions Redhouse have been the innocent victims.

Thankfully three games did get played in the North Wiltshire Division. On Thursday night Cricklade Town  closed the gap to second placed Nationwide with a comfortable 5-0 win over Stratton Juniors in a rare home fixture for Cricklade away from Cirencester Town, the game taking place at Moredon. Two goals from Marcus Hall plus further goals from Stuart Hughes, Aaron Maximen and Matt Richards did the damage for Cricklade who moved to within three points of Nationwide with a game in hand.

Chiseldon  have improved as the season has progressed and, after their recent narrow defeat at the hands of Nationwide, returned to winning ways in the league with a 2-1 success over Swindon Rovers at New College. Lee Wilson put Swindon Rovers ahead midway through the first half and it remained that way until eleven minutes into the second half when Engjell Molla brought Chiseldon back level. There was to be a dramatic end to the game though as Adam O’Keeffe scored a last-minute winner to give Chiseldon their fourth win of the season. The win for Chiseldon saw them climb one place in the table to seventh spot, just three points behind their beaten opponents with both teams having eight games to play.

The other game played in the North Wiltshire Division saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town continue their recent poor form, falling to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of FS Swindon and having both Gavin Cook and Josh Connolly sent off for two yellow cards apiece. Star of the show for FS Swindon, as they picked up only their second win of the season, was Tom Brown who helped himself to a hat-trick, Calum Dunn with the other FS Swindon goal, substitute Greg Richardson with the Royal Wootton Bassett Town goal. That is now five straight defeats for Martin Ohrlands side who continue to slip down the table and now sit in eighth place.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The two games on Monday night in the Mid Wiltshire Division saw plenty of goals with 14 in total scored. Biggest winners of the night were Radstock Town who hit nine unanswered goals past struggling Amesbury Junior Badgers. Jack Broadway led the way for Radstock helping himself to a hat-trick, James Billing bagged a brace with further goals from Alastair Cox, Ben Padfield, Adam Pugsley and substitute Michael Perry. The win for Radstock opened up a four point cap between them and Bishops Cannings and a six point gap over their beaten opponents at the bottom end of the table.

At the other end of the table Melksham Town maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 5-0 home win over Trowbridge Town Tigers. The Division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon bagged three more goals to take his total for the season to 20 with the other two goals coming through Tom Robinson and Ian Dowell. Melksham end the week still six points adrift of leaders Devizes Town but with two games in hand.

There was a close encounter on Tuesday night at Green Lane where Chippenham Town Youth  entertained Calne Town. The two sides had started the evening level on points and had drawn 0-0 in the first meeting between the sides back in September and it was to be another tight game decided in the end by just a single goal margin as Calne Town returned home with all three points following a 2-1 success.  It was all square at 1-1 at the break but Calne added a second goal in the second half to secure the three points, Paul Maddox and Chris Pitman with the Calne goals, Craig Fisher with the Chippenham goal. The win for Calne saw them move above their beaten opponents into seventh spot in the table.

Wednesday night saw a clash at the top end of the table at Bulford with Durrington hosting an in-form Warminster Town side who came into the game on the back of an impressive draw with league leaders Devizes Town the previous week. They continued their recent good form with a narrow 2-1 victory, becoming only the second side to defeat Durrington in the league this season, also avenging the 3-1 defeat they had suffered at the hands of Durrington at the beginning of the season. Carl Clarke and Louis Sparey with the two Warminster Town goals, Craig Lewis on target for Durrington.

Unfortunately, the final scheduled game of the week did not take place on Friday with Westbury United  once again unable to field a side for the third time in their last four games, handing leaders Devizes Town  the three points with there now being serious doubts over Westbury’s continued participation in the division.

The second quarter final tie in the Veterans’ League Cup was staged this week and it was an inter-divisional affair involving two teams who were unbeaten in their league games to date in their respective divisions, Cricklade Town from the North Wiltshire Division and Melksham Town from the Mid Wiltshire Division. The two sides had met at Melksham earlier in the season in the Wiltshire FA’s Veterans’ County Cup and on that occasion goals from Godfrey Chisanga and Stuart Hughes had given Cricklade a 2-0 win. On Tuesday night at Cirencester, Melksham were to avenge that earlier defeat in another close game, a solitary goal from Kris Beasley in his first game of the season for Melksham being the difference between the two sides. Melksham join Nationwide in the last four with the other two quarter final ties set to take place this coming week when Chiseldon from the North Wiltshire Division entertain Bishops Cannings from the Mid Wiltshire Division, with the other quarter final tie seeing two Mid Wiltshire Division sides, Durrington and Devizes Town battle it out for a place in the semi final. Your Sport Swindon were at the Cricklade Town v Melksham Town game and subscribers can view the highlights by clicking on the link below:

North Wiltshire Division

Whilst Cricklade were losing were going down to their first defeat of the season they would have been consoled by the league results involving their nearest rivals for the title, Nationwide and Redhouse both dropping points. On Tuesday night there was a massive shock at New College where bottom of the table Stratton Juniors picked up their first win of the season, inflicting a 6-1 defeat on previously unbeaten in the league Nationwide. Ahead of the game few would have predicted any sort of result for Stratton from the fixture let alone them putting six goals past a side who had only let in six goals in their previous ten league fixtures and started the night unbeaten. Star of the show was Nial Francis who scored four of the Stratton goals with Michael Gregory getting the other two Stratton goals.

The same night at Moredon Swindon Rovers returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over an out of sorts Royal Wootton Bassett Town,  who have now lost six games in a row, thanks to two goals from Lee Wilson and one from Taiwo Abolarin, Mark King with the consolation goal for Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

The following night, given the defeat for Nationwide, Redhouse  had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table when they entertained Chiseldon at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. When the two sides had met earlier in the season at New College, Redhouse had claimed all three points but had to settle for just the one point in the return fixture as neither side were able to find the back of the net in a rare 0-0 draw in Vets’ football. Whilst Redhouse did in fact their lead at the top of the table to six points, they will probably view this as two points dropped in their quest for the league title.

The same night ExIntel consolidated their fourth-place position in the table with a narrow 2-1 in over Penhill United at Moredon thanks to a first half goal from Lewis Bryant and a second from Adrian Male after the break.

Mid Wiltshire Division

In the Mid Wiltshire Division Durrington reduced Devizes Town’s lead at the top of the table with a resounding 6-0 away win at Green Lane against Bishops Cannings. There were hat-tricks for both Shaune Smith and Jesse Walters as Durrington picked up their ninth win in eleven league games to date. Whilst the deficit is now just one point, Durrington have played one more game than Devizes.

There were also six goals in the game between Amesbury Junior Badgers and Chippenham Town Youth but it was to finish honours even following a 3-3 draw, only the third time this season that Amesbury had avoided defeat in their 14 games. Stuart Duck had put Amesbury ahead but two Rob Pocock goals saw Chippenham 2-1 up at the break. However, two goals from Amesbury’s Richard Taylor in the second half saw them open up a 3-2 lead but a third from Pocock to complete his hat-trick six minutes from time ensured a share of the spoils for Chippenham.

The week’s action in the two Vets’ divisions had got underway on Monday night at MOD Lyneham when goals from Paul Maddox, Chris Robinson and Ben Trafford had given Calne Town a 3-0 win over Trowbridge Town Tigers which saw them climb above their beaten opponents into fifth spot in the table as they registered back-to-back wins for the first time this season. That is now eight straight defeats for the Tigers after a promising start to the season.

The final game in the division between Warminster Town and Westbury United on Friday night was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

League Cup

This week saw the two remaining quarter final ties in the Veterans’ League Cup played to complete the semi final line up.

Both games were played on Wednesday evening. At Moredon there was an inter-divisional affair when Chiseldon  from the North Wiltshire Division hosted Bishops Cannings from the Mid Wiltshire Division. The game went the way of the side from the North as goals from Craig Kelly, Adam O’Keeffe and Ricky Hewitson secured a 3-1 victory for Chiseldon, Nicholas Alexander with a late consolation goal for Bishops Cannings.

The other quarter final tie was an all-Mid Wiltshire Division tie involving two of the sides who are up there challenging for the league title, Durrington and Devizes Town. The two side have yet to meet in the league this season where Devizes Town remain unbeaten and Durrington have won nine and lost just two of their opening 11 games, with the two sides just separated by a single point at the top of the table. A close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that with Durrington eventually edging by a single goal margin following a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Shaune Smith and Keith Darling, Joshua Brigham with the Devizes Town goal. Durrington and Chisledon joining Nationwide and Melksham Town to complete the semi final line up giving two sides each from the two divisions.

League Chairman Brian Busson and League Secretary Jim Thorn have made the draw for the semi final and it guarantees a representative from each division in the final with Chiseldon  drawn at home to Nationwide  and Melksham Town drawn at home to Durrington. 

Mid Wiltshire Division

The league action in the Mid Wiltshire Division got underway on Monday night with three scheduled fixtures although only two were to be played. For the second time this season Warminster Town were unable to raise a side for a game away at Melksham Town, having also conceded a League Cup tie they now have gifted Melksham three points in the league.

The first of the two games that did get played saw Trowbridge Town Tigers finally end a run of defeats which had seen them lose eight straight games in all competitions. They brought that dismal run to an end by securing their biggest win of the season a 5-1 defeat of bottom of the table Amesbury Junior Badgers. The goals were shared around the side with five different scorers. Phil Lewis set them on their way with the opener before Clifford Sakyi doubled their lead. There was then a flurry of goals in the space of three minutes, Ralph Plummer putting Trowbridge 3-0 up before Stuart Dark pulled one back for Amesbury almost immediately. Trowbridge then quickly restored the three-goal margin a minute later, Jonathan Wilkins with their fourth goal to give them a 4-1 lead at the break. There was to be just the one goal after the break and it went the way of the Tigers, Mariusz Hoszko adding a fifth to round off a good night for his side.

The other league game on Monday night at MOD Lyneham was a somewhat closer affair between Calne Town and Westbury United settled by a solitary goal from Westbury’s Dale Rowland to give his side the three points. The win for Westbury saw them move above their beaten opponents on goal difference but having played three games less than Calne.

North Wiltshire Division

It was a busy week for teams in the North Wiltshire Division. In addition to Chiseldon’s cup tie there were four league games. Stratton Juniors had picked up their first league win of the season last week with that surprise comprehensive victory over Nationwide and they made it two wins on the bounce with a 3-1 victory over Swindon Rovers at Moredon on Tuesday night. Nial Francis who had been the star of the show against Nationwide with four goals was once again amongst the goals for Stratton, Michael Gregory and new signing Jason Tatum on his debut also finding the back of the net, Craig Kimmens with the Swindon Rovers goal. The win for Stratton saw them climb off the bottom of the table.

FS Swindon slipped back below Stratton Juniors following a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of AFC Swindon at New College earlier the same evening, with all three goals coming in the first half. AFC Swindon went in front on five minutes when a ball over the top saw Andy Philpott get behind the FS Swindon defence, the keeper came out but his attempted clearance came back off Philpott who found himself through on goal with an empty net in front of him. He still had a bit to do though as it was a tight angle, but he fired home for 1-0. FS Swindon then had their keeper to thank though for preventing them going further behind, saving with his feet when Andrew Copland was through on goal. Having survived that scare FS Swindon got themselves back on level terms when a Tom Brown ball into the box from the right deceived the AFC Swindon keeper to nestle in the far top corner of the net for 1-1. What would prove to be the winner was scored by Copland on 18 minutes, firing home from the edge of the 18-yard box to regain the lead for AFC Swindon. Although both sides created chances during the second half that was to be the end of the night’s scoring. The fifth win of the season for AFC Swindon saw them move above Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the table and into eighth spot. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights from the game by clicking on the link below:

Your Sport Swindon were again out with their cameras the following night capturing the action at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground where Redhouse entertained Penhill United. When the two sides had met in the League Cup recently it has finished 0-0 with penalties needed to settle matters. It was once again another tight affair with both sides again failing to find the back of the net and this time having to settle for a point apiece. The fact that it remained 0-0 at the end was due to a combination of some excellent goalkeeping and wayward finishing. Steve Bunting went close to giving Penhill the lead when he shot from distance from the left-hand side of the pitch. His shot looked destined for the net but Stuart Thompson in the Redhouse goal stretched to spectacularly turn the ball over the bar to prevent the goal. League leaders Redhouse went in search of the opener after the break and did have the ball in the back of the net following a free kick, however the goal was struck off by an offside flag and it remained 0-0. Redhouse continued to push for a winner and were denied on a couple of occasions by excellent saves from Penhill keeper Lee Bailey. The point for Redhouse extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points but they have played five more games than second placed Cricklade Town. Your Sport Swindon subscribers can watch the highlights of this game by clicking on the link below:

Cricklade Town moved up to that second spot with a 3-0 away win over ExIntel at Moredon on Thursday night. Adam Smith led the way for Cricklade scoring twice with the Division’s leading scorer TJ Bohane also on the score sheet with goal number 24 of the season.

North Wiltshire Division

There was a full schedule of league fixtures in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League this week and it was a good week for the chasing pack behind league leaders Redhouse. On Tuesday night Redhouse were away at second in the table Cricklade Town in a game that could prove pivotal in the final destination of this season’s league title. Goals from Phil Corcoran, Stuart Hughes and James Tinsley gave Cricklade a 3-1 win that saw them move to within four points of the leaders but with five games in hand, Dave Pratt with his 16^th goal of the season with the solitary reply for Redhouse. Cricklade are yet to lose in the league this season and look determined to hold onto the league title they won last season.  

Nationwide remain level on points with Cricklade having played one more game after they also closed the gap to the leaders with an emphatic 9-0 win over bottom of the table FS Swindon. Marc Merritt led the way scoring four of the Nationwide goals, Paul Stonehouse and Dan Kingsley both bagged a brace with Pete Sealey getting the other Nationwide goal. Whilst Redhouse remain top of the table for now, Nationwide look to be Cricklade’s main rivals for the title but with Cricklade and Nationwide yet to meet each other this season, points will be dropped by one or other side which will give Redhouse hope of still securing honours come the end of the season.  

ExIntel consolidated their fourth-place position with a come from behind win over AFC Swindon. Andrew Copland had given AFC Swindon a half time 1-0 lead but two goals in the final ten minutes from substitute Alex Rudd turned things around for ExIntel. ExIntel are four points behind Cricklade and Nationwide but have just four league games left to play. Ahead of those league games they have an important date this coming Friday night when they play Cricklade Town in the final of the Wiltshire Veterans’ County Cup at Green Lane with an 8PM kick-off.  

Penhill United sit four points below ExIntel following a 3-1 win over Chiseldon on Thursday night at Moredon. Two goals from Jamie Ashby and one from Joe Anderson inflicted the damage on Chiseldon, Adam O’Keeffe with the Chiseldon goal. Penhill, like Cricklade and Nationwide, are behind with their fixtures and will be eyeing up a top four finish if they can win those games in hand.

At the other end of the table Royal Wootton Bassett Town and Stratton Juniors had to settle for a point apiece following a 2-2 draw at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground, Steve Shaw and Mark Simpkins with the goals for Royal Wootton Bassett, Matthew Bown and Ogedi Uzokwe with the reply for Stratton Juniors. The point for Royal Wootton Bassett ended a miserable run that had seen them lose six straight games.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Unfortunately the fixtures in the Mid Wiltshire Division were also hit by the week’s wet weather with the two games scheduled to be on grass both falling victim to pitch issues, a waterlogged pitch in the case of Radstock Town and a massive sink hole in the case of Devizes Town which had also caused games in the Western League and Division One of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League to be postponed.

Two of the three games that went ahead impacted the top of the table and the week ended with new league leaders, Durrington taking over at the top after a 2-0 win away at Calne Town on Monday night, Declan McGregor and Shaune Smith with the Durrington goals, the latter taking his total for the season into double figures.

The following night Melksham Town moved up into joint second spot, maintaining their unbeaten start to the season in the league, with a hard fought 4-3 away win against Westbury United. Two goals from Tom Robinson plus further strikes from Adam Young and a 21^st of the season from Gary Higdon securing the win for Melksham, Matthew Mead, David Percival and Wayne Wheeler with the Westbury goals. Melksham became the last side to reach the halfway stage with their fixtures and like Devizes they have drawn one and won nine of those ten games with the two unbeaten sides yet to play each other as they both sit two points below Durrington with two games in hand.

The same night there was a big game at the bottom end of the table when Amesbury Junior Badgers entertained Bishops Cannings who started the night just above the Badgers in the table. Come the end of the night the two sides had swapped positions as Amesbury Junior Badgers picked up their second win of the season, winning 5-1 to avenge the 3-1 defeat they had suffered at the hands of Bishops Cannings back in October. Star of the show was Kieryn Fox who helped himself to a hat-trick with further goals from Richard Taylor and Aaron West. Whilst Bishops Cannings are now two points behind Badgers they have three games in hand.

With Half Term this week there is a very limited schedule of fixtures with just the one league game in the Mid Wiltshire Division involving Melksham Town and Calne Town and then the big County Cup Final on Friday night between Cricklade Town and ExIntel.

Wiltshire FA Veterans' County Cup

Last season Cricklade Town had been beaten in the Final of the Wiltshire County FA Veterans’ Cup by Coate (now rebranded as Nationwide) and were looking to go one better this season when they met ExIntel at Green Lane in this season’s final on Friday night. ExIntel, who are in their very first season in Vets’ football, had reached the final with victories over AFC Swindon, Trowbridge Town Tigers and Bishops Cannings. Cricklade’s path to the final meanwhile had seen them receive a walkover in the First Round over Devizes Town and then defeat Melksham Town, Penhill United and cup holders Nationwide, avenging last season’s cup final defeat.

Cricklade started the brighter of the two sides with TJ Bohane invariably involved in much of their attacking play. He went close with a header from a Steve Bizley cross and then again with a shot across goal from the right-hand side of the area that went just the wrong side of the post. The pressure eventually paid off with Cricklade getting themselves in front with a well taken goal. A long clearance from Steve Bizley saw Bohane take advantage of a poor defensive header to hold the ball up and then lay off a pass into the path of Phil Corcoran on the left-hand side of the box. Corcoran turned his defender before curling a shot into the top right-hand corner of the net giving the ExIntel keeper no chance.

ExIntel went close to an equaliser when they were awarded a free kick just outside the area. Richie Wells took responsibility for the kick and his excellent effort went close to finding the back of the net, coming back off the crossbar before being cleared to safety and it remained just the one goal in it at half time.

Whilst Cricklade had created the better chances in the opening half, it was a different story after the break as ExIntel went in search of an equaliser. A corner from the right from Adrian Male went close to going straight into the net, the ball coming back off the crossbar before being cleared to safety as Cricklade retained that narrow lead. ExIntel went close again when Alex Rudd was put in behind the Cricklade defence, but his side footed shot came back off the post as Cricklade once again had a lucky escape.

At the other end Cricklade went close to adding a second when Nick Stanley was dispossessed on the edge of the Cricklade box and Cricklade broke at speed, Ben Brown combining with Aaron Maximen to put Bohane in the clear down the right-hand side, his low cross into the box was met by Maximen but his powerful shot went just wide of the post.

ExIntel continued to push for an equaliser, but Cricklade held out to secure that narrow victory which saw them lift the County Cup for the very first time with Cricklade’s Steve Bizley being named the man of the match by the Wiltshire FA. ExIntel,  who had lost 3-0 and 4-1 to Cricklade in the league, had run their opponents close in this third encounter of the season, hitting the frame of the goal on those three occasions, and will no doubt look to build on this excellent performance in their final four league games of the season. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view the highlights by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below. Full details of this season's competition is also shown below.

Mid Wiltshire Division

With it being half term week, there was just the one league game this week, with Melksham Town looking to play catch-up with their fixtures in the Mid Wiltshire Division when they entertained Calne Town at the Oakfield Stadium. It was to prove to be a good night for the home side as they secured a 3-1 win to go top of the table and maintain their unbeaten start to the season in the league. On target for Melksham were the division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon with goal number 22 of the season, Ashley Groves and Tom Robinson with the other two Melksham goals, George Brown with the reply for Calne Town. The win for Melksham saw them go one point ahead of Durrington with a game in hand, with Devizes Town three points behind them, with Devizes having a game in hand over Melksham and with the two sides still to play each other this season.

Veterans' League Cup

The first of the two Veterans’ League Cup finalists is known with holders Nationwide making it through to the final for the second consecutive season after a come from behind win on Tuesday night against fellow North Wiltshire Division opponents Chiseldon, the winner coming in the final minute of the game. Nationwide had gone close to going in front early in the first half, first Paul Stonehouse being denied by an excellent save from Chiseldon keeper Matthew Clarke. Clarke then produced another good save to deny Marc Merritt. However, it would be Chiseldon who got themselves in front. Nationwide gave the ball away on the edge of the Chiseldon box and a long ball over the top from defence put Adam O’Keeffe clear of the Nationwide defence, his shot from the edge of the box saw Nationwide keeper Andy Phoenix get his hands to it but he could not prevent it going into the net. O’Keeffe who was proving a handful to the Nationwide defence went close to doubling Chiseldon’s lead with a powerful run into box ending with a shot across goal which just evaded the far post. O’Keeffe continued to be a threat in the second half, going close with another shot after cutting in from the left-hand side of the box and then putting a dangerous looking cross to the far post which was headed just over by Ermal Molla. Eventually Nationwide got themselves back into the game and it was no surprise that it was Stonehouse with the goal, turning on the edge of the box to fire a powerful shot through the legs of Clarke to level matters up at 1-1. Just as it looked like penalties would be needed to decide matters there was late drama. A free kick was conceded by Chiseldon right on the edge of their 18-yard box. Stonehouse took responsibility for the free kick smashing a powerful shot that Clarke did well to get his hand to but was unable to keep it out such was the power behind the shot. Unfortunately, Nationwide’s opponents in the final remain unknown as the other semi final between Melksham Town and Durrington was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and will now be restaged a week on Monday with contingency plans to switch to Durrington on Wednesday if it is postponed for a second time. Your Sport Swindon were at the Chiseldon v Nationwide game and subscribers can view highlights of the game by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

As well as the cup semi final it was a busy week of league action in the North Wiltshire Division with four games played. On Tuesday night Penhill United entertained Cricklade Town on the 3G at Moredon in what was the first league meeting between the sides this season. They had however met in the County Cup when penalties had been needed to decide matters after it finished 0-0. There were to be goals on this occasion though, Cricklade scoring twice through TJ Bohane and Aaron Maximen to register a 2-0 victory that saw them move to within a point of leaders Redhouse who were scheduled to play the following night.  

On Wednesday night Redhouse duly reestablished their four-point lead at the top with a comfortable 5-1 win over AFC Swindon at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. Fred Galrito led the way with two of the Redhouse goals, the other three coming through leading scorer David Pratt, Nolan Paul and Leigh Brown, Andrew Copland with the consolation goal for AFC Swindon. Redhouse have just three games to go and will probably need to win all three if they are to get league honours this season but will also probably need both Cricklade Town and Nationwide to drop points along the way as well.

The same night ExIntel bounced back from Friday’s disappointment in losing the County Cup Final with a 2-0 win over an improving Stratton Juniors side. Lewis Bryant put them ahead six minutes before half time and then a second from substitute Junior Small ten minutes after the break made sure of the points for ExIntel who consolidated their fourth-place position in the table.

The final game of the week was an entertaining affair at Moredon on Thursday night between Swindon Rovers and FS Swindon. Twice Swindon Rovers got themselves in front only be pegged back twice by the side who currently sit bottom of the table but have been picking up points of late. Taiwo Abolarin opened the scoring for Swindon Rovers putting his side ahead on 14 minutes with a well worked team goal. FS Swindon were back on level terms though shortly after, Tom Brown lobbing the Swindon Rovers keeper from distance to make it 1-1. Swindon Rovers would be back in front by half time though, Luke Wilson heading powerfully home three minutes before the break from a corner to give his side a slender half time lead. It remained a tight affair throughout, and FS Swindon got themselves back on level terms for the second time, Brown getting his second goal of the game. There was to be a winner though and it went the way of Swindon Rovers, Abolarin with the vital goal, getting his second of the game after referee Richard Leech played good advantage when Abolarin appeared to have been fouled on the edge of the box.  The Rovers striker stayed on his feet after the challenge to fire into the far corner of the net to give Rovers the three points in what had been a competitive and sporting contest between the two sides.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Melksham Town’s cup tie was not the only game to be postponed involving sides from the Mid Wiltshire Division due to a waterlogged pitch, the same fate befell the scheduled league game at Radstock Town where Westbury United  were set to be the visitors. This left just three league games on 3G pitches.

On Monday night Devizes Town moved level on points with Melksham Town at the top of the table with a 2-0 away win over Trowbridge Town Tigers, Rob Drown and Rhys Schell getting the two goals that maintained Devizes unbeaten start to the league season. 

The same night Calne Town picked up their seventh win of the season, completing a league double over Amesbury Junior Badgers in the process, with a 6-2 home victory at MOD Lyneham. Chris Robinson led the way helping himself to a hat-trick with further goals coming through Dan Allison, Stuart Ballinger and Paul Maddox, Lee Bates and Kieryn Fox with two goals for Badgers.

The following night Warminster Town moved up to fourth place in the table with a 2-0 away win over Chippenham Town at Green Lane thanks to goals from Lee Davidson and James Vincent. With all of their remaining six games being against sides below them in the table Warminster will be hoping they can bridge the current seven-point gap to third placed Durrington to achieve a top three finish, with the top three all still having to play each other twice due to cup runs.

North Wiltshire Division

The domination of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League by the top three sides, Redhouse, Cricklade Town and Nationwide continued this week with all three picking up big wins.

On Tuesday night at New College league leaders Redhouse put seven unanswered goals past Stratton Juniors  to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the table. Leading scorer David Pratt led the way in the 7-0 win adding four more goals to his tally to move onto 21 for the season, Dean Hughes bagged a brace with Nolan Paul getting the other Redhouse goal, his first of the season.

The same night second placed Cricklade Town matched that Redhouse result scoring seven of their own without reply against FS Swindon. The division’s leading scorer TJ Bohane added three more goals to his total for the season, that is now 28 for the Cricklade striker, Stephen Bizley and Adam Smith both scoring twice for last season’s champions as they continued their quest to retain the title to add to the Wiltshire County Cup that is already in the trophy cabinet. Cricklade remain those four points behind Redhouse but have five games in hand with Redhouse just having the two games to play.

Nationwide  were in action the following night looking to stay in touch with the top two when they travelled out of town to the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground to take on Royal Wootton Bassett Town who have been in poor form of late, with just one point from their previous seven games going into Wednesday night’s fixture. The game very much went to form with Nationwide winning 5-1 with Paul Stonehouse leading the way getting four of the Nationwide goals, Neil Snow with the other and Jeremy Newton with the consolation goal for Royal Wootton Bassett Town.

There was a close game on Tuesday night at Moredon between ExIntel and Chiseldon. When the two sides had met at the start of the season it had also been a tight affair settled by a solitary goal by ExIntel’s Alex Rudd to give them the three points. The return fixture was again settled by a one goal margin but this time it went the way of Chiseldon, avenging that earlier defeat, goals from Alastair Drew and Rich Miles giving them a 2-1 win, Jon Lee with the ExIntel goal.

The following night at Moredon AFC Swindon entertained Penhill United. AFC Swindon led 1-0 at the break thanks to a goal from Andrew Copland but the second half very much belonged to Penhill United. Joe Anderson brought Penhill back level nine minutes into the second half and two goals in the space of a two-minutes from Daniel Hiscocks and Jamie Ashby saw Penhill open up a 3-1 lead. Anderson then rounded off the nights scoring with his second of the game and a fourth for Penhill as it finished 4-1. The win for Penhill saw them move above Swindon Rovers into fifth place in the table.

Mid Wiltshire Division

It is a similar story in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division with again three teams battling it out for honours at the top of the table with all three again picking up wins this week.

Biggest winners of the week were Devizes Town who scored 14 times against an out of sorts Bishops Cannings side in the “Devizes derby” game. When the two sides had met earlier in the season Devizes had won by a single goal margin in a 2-1 win. In the return on Friday night at Green Lane it was very much a one-sided affair. Mark Dolman, Kierron Kiffand Jonathan Scott led the way with all three scoring hat-tricks, Rob Mitchell bagging a brace with further goals from Joshua Brigham, Nathan Vellenoweth and Tim Saye. The win saw Devizes maintain their joint leadership of the division. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his excellent pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

Earlier in the week Melksham Town had secured a 4-2 win away at Radstock Town which sees them tied with Devizes Town at the top of the table. Two more goals for the division’s leading scorer Gary Higdon, taking him onto 24 for the season, plus two for Aaron Ledgister secured the win for Melksham, Jack Broadway getting both Radstock goals in reply.

Durrington  remain just one point below the top two, having played one more game, this after a 3-0 away win against Amesbury Junior Badgers  on Tuesday night thanks to two goals from Shaune Smith and one from Jesse Walters as they warmed up for this coming Monday’s League Cup semi-final game against Melksham Town.

On Tuesday night at Green Lane, it finished all square in the game between Westbury United and Chippenham Town Yth, Wayne Wheeler and Luke Smith with the two goals for Westbury, Robert Burton getting both Chippenham goals in the 2-2 draw.

There was a controversial ending to the game on Friday night at Warminster Town where Trowbridge Town Tigers  were the visitors. With the game finely poised at 0-0 and it looking like the teams would be sharing the points, Warminster were awarded a late and contentious penalty which substitute Lee Davidson fired home to give his side all three points to maintain the seven point gap to Durrington, although Warminster have played two more games than the side immediately above them in the table.

The big game this coming week is that one outstanding League Cup semi final between Melksham Town  and Durrington with the winner set to meet Nationwide in the final.

League Cup

The second semi final in the Veterans’ League Cup on Monday night, like the earlier semi final involving Chiseldon and Nationwide, was a close affair between Melksham Town and Durrington that ultimately required penalties to settle matters. Melksham opened up a 2-0 half time lead thanks to a penalty from Lee Morgan and goal number 25 of the season from Gary Higdon.  Whilst the first half belonged to Melksham, it was a different story after the break as two goals from Ben Reilly brought Durrington back level meaning those penalties were needed to decide matters. It was Durrington who held their nerve to emerge victorious from the penalty shootout, winning 5-4 to line up a cup final date with Nationwide. The final is set to take place at Calne Town FC on Thursday 8^th May 2025.

Mid Wiltshire Division

In a busy week for Durrington they were also in league action in the Mid Wiltshire Division on Wednesday night and in what was to prove to be an excellent week for their veterans’ team, a 4-3 victory over Radstock Town saw them climb up to second place in the table. Top scorer Shaune Smith led the way scoring a hat-trick for Durrington, taking his total for the season to 16, Stephen Moore with the other Durrington goal, Jame Billing, Adam Pugsley and Jack Broadway with the three Radstock goals.The previous night

Devizes Town had gone clear at the top of the table with their 12^th win of the season to maintain their unbeaten record, but they were made to work hard for the three points by Calne Town. A first half goal six minutes before the break from Mark Dolman was all that separated the two sides come the end of the evening. Devizes remain a point ahead of Durrington with a game in hand, with Melksham three points behind Devizes with a game in hand, and two in hand over Durrington. As a result of how the various teams have progressed in the cup and where games have been postponed due to waterlogged pitches, Devizes have yet to play either Durrington or Melksham meaning four of their final seven game are against their rivals for the league table in what is set to be an exciting end to the season in the division. David Giles was at the game with his camera and pictures from the game can be found on the   Devizes Town website.

There were two other league games in the Mid Wiltshire Division. On Monday night Trowbridge Town Tigers and Westbury United shared the points following a 1-1 draw, Clifford Sakyi with his seventh goal of the season for Tigers, Wayne Wheeler with the Westbury goal as he took his tally for the season into double figures.

The final game of the week was on Friday night at Green Lane and it saw Warminster Town secure their ninth win of the season defeating Bishops Cannings 4-0 to consolidate their fourth placed position in the table, two goals for Nicholas Coles and one apiece for Lee Davidson and Dave Watkins.

North Wiltshire Division

There was something of a surprise in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division when Nationwide fell to a second league defeat of the season, two second half goals from Joe Anderson giving Penhill United the three points in a 2-0 win. The win for Penhill saw them open up a five point lead over Swindon Rovers and consolidate their fifth place position in the table.

Nationwide’ two rivals for honours at the top of the table did not slip up. Leaders Redhouse maintained their four point lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win over Swindon Rovers, Nolan Paul with the only goal of the game in what was Redhouse’s penultimate fixture of the season.

Whilst Redhouse were involved in a close game with Swindon Rovers on Wednesday,  the previous night second placed Cricklade Town were having something of a comfortable evening at the Corinium Stadium against AFC Swindon. A hat-trick from leading scorer TJ Bohane, taking his total for the season to 31, plus two from both Stuart Hughes and Marcus Hall, and further goals from Adam Smith and Steve Bizley giving Cricklade a 9-1 win, Andrew Copland with the consolation goal for AFC Swindon.

ExIntel remain in fourth spot in the table following a 3-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town, Alex Rudd, Nick Stanley and Junior Small with the goals for ExIntel, Stuart Davidson with the reply for Royal Wootton Bassett Town who also saw substitute Ben Gould sent off within a couple of minutes of coming on.

The other game in the division saw Stratton Juniors pick up their third win of the season with a 3-1 success over bottom of the table FS Swindon thanks to goals from Mike Gregory, Shane Dodson and Tatenda Majoni, Tom Brown with the reply for FS Swindon. Stratton Juniors, who have just the one game to play, are now five points clear of their beaten opponents who have two games to play.

North Wiltshire Division

With league leaders Redhouse without a game, Cricklade Town and Nationwide had the opportunity to reduce the gap at the top of the table and both took full advantage of the opportunity, both registering 4-0 wins. At the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on Wednesday night goals from TJ Bohane, Phil Corcoran, Stuart Hughes and James Tinsley gave Cricklade Town their 4-0 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town.  The win for Cricklade saw them move to within one point of Redhouse at the top of the table, with Cricklade having four games in hand and Redhouse just the one to play. Cricklade remain favourites to hold onto the league title they won last season.

On Thursday night Nationwide matched Cricklade’s result as two goals from Paul Stonehouse and further goals from Pete Sealey and Mason Worthington defeated AFC Swindon. The 4-0 win for Nationwide saw them remain six points behind Cricklade with both sides having five games to play, including two games against each other. The action in the Division had got underway on Tuesday night with games at New College and Moredon.

At New College, bottom side FS Swindon avoided defeat for the fourth time this season, securing a point following a 1-1 draw with Chiseldon. Craig Kelly had put Chiseldon in front but an equaliser from Adam Price ensured a share of the points. The result means that FS Swindon will now finish bottom of the table but their points tally will be the highest that a team finishing bottom has accumulated since the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division was established and their improved results in the second half of the season bodes well for next season.

Later that same evening at Moredon, Swindon Rovers secured win number eight of the season with a narrow 3-2 victory over Penhill United to move to within two points of their beaten opponents with the two sides set to meet again at the beginning of April. Two goals from Andrew Mark and one from Luke Wilson secured the win, Harry Etheridge and Chris Angell with the goals for Penhill.

Mid Wiltshire Division

Action in the Mid Wiltshire Division commenced on Monday night and it saw unbeaten Melksham Town maintain that unblemished record with a 2-0 away win at Selwood Academy against Trowbridge Town Tigers, Ashley Groves and Gary Higdon getting the Melksham goals. That is now 26 for the season for Higdon. The win saw Melksham Town join Devizes Town at the top of the table.

The following night at Green Lane Westbury United made it three games unbeaten with a 5-0 victory over Bishops Cannings with five different scorers with Marek Miszta, Nicholas Ross, Dale Rowland, Peter Sturman and Luke Smith all finding the back of the net. Westbury climbed a place in the table as a result of the win into sixth place, just a point behind Trowbridge Town Tigers with four games in hand.

Durrington picked up three points to maintain their title challenge but not in the way they would have wanted, Chippenham Town gifting them the three points as they were unable to fulfil a fixture for the fourth time this season in all competitions.

There were two games on Friday night to complete the week’s round of fixtures and Devizes Town returned to the top of the table with a hard fought 2-1 against Amesbury Junior Badgers who nearly caused a major upset. Badgers led 1-0 thanks to a first half goal from Lee Bates but two goals in the final five minutes of the match saved Devizes blushes, substitute Douglas Dickson levelling matters up before Rhys Schell scored a winner three minutes from time to give Devizes the three points and sole leadership of the division for now.

The same night Warminster Town maintained their recent good form with a fourth straight win with a goal in each half in a 2-0 win over Calne Town, Lee Davidson and James Vincent with the Warminster goals. So, a win for all of the top four sides in the division this week as the season moves into its closing stages.

Despite a warning from Secretary Jim Thorn to all clubs in the Veterans’ and Under 18s divisions about the use of Green Lane regarding encroachment on training sessions of other users and bad language at the venue, there was another incident at an Under 18 Division game and the Wiltshire FA are now seriously considering stopping staging games in both our Under 18s and Veterans’ divisions. An email was sent last night with the matter escalated by the facilities team Green Lane copying in the CEO of the Wiltshire FA. This would mean teams currently playing their home games at Green Lane would need to find alternative grounds if they wish to continue next season and if they cannot find a ground we may end up with a smaller division with less games for everyone next season, so please could all teams take on board the warning that Jim issued last week. 

North Wiltshire Division

The big game at the top of the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League was the match between league leaders Redhouse, who were playing their final game of the season, and Nationwide who, due to their cup exploits would still have four to play after Tuesday night’s game at New College. It was to prove to be Nationwide’s night as a hat-trick from Paul Stonehouse plus two from Pete Sealey saw Nationwide win 5-0 to move to within four points of the leaders with those four games still to play, two of which are against fellow title challengers Cricklade Town.

Another side playing their final game of the season were AFC Swindon and they would not end their season on a winning note as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Chiseldon. Goals from Edward Erekosima, Adam O’Keeffe and Ashraf Ali secured the three points for Chiseldon, Andrew Copland with the AFC Swindon goal who finished the season on 14 goals, over half the total goals scored by his club in the league.

The only other game in the Division last week was at Moredon on Wednesday night and it saw Penhill United secure a narrow 2-1 win over Royal Wootton Bassett Town thanks to goals from Jamie Ashby, his 17^th of the season, and Joe Anderson.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were also just three games actually played in the Mid Wiltshire Division with both Durrington and Devizes Town being gifted three points, with just Melksham Town of the three title challengers being given the opportunity to win their points on the pitch.  

The action got underway on Monday night at Radstock Town, and it saw Trowbridge Town Tigers become the first team in the Mid Wiltshire Division to complete their fixtures. They were to end their season on a winning note as well, goals from Clifford Sakyi and Phil Lewis securing a 2-1 victory, Sammy Dieng with the Radstock Town goal. Trowbridge currently occupy fifth spot in the table and, whilst they could still be overtaken by Westbury United and Calne Town, it has been Tim Brown’s side’s best season since they joined the league in 2019-20.

Melksham Town  were away against Bishops Cannings at Green Lane and were comfortable 5-1 winners against Bishops Cannings. There were three more goals for the prolific Gary Higdon, taking his total for the season to 29, with further goals from Tom Robinson and Ryan Tyrell, Craig Hatton-Pocklington  with the solitary reply for Bishops Cannings.

Five goals also for fourth placed Warminster Town  in their game away to Amesbury Junior Badgers  should see them secure a fourth place finish come the end of the season. Another three goals for James Vincent saw him move onto 14 in what has been a curtailed season for Warminster’s main marksmen, Tom Robson with the other two goals in a 5-0 win. Amesbury Junior Badgers became the second side in the Division to complete their fixtures.

Westbury United conceded their game against Durrington when they were unable to raise a side for their trip to Bulford on Wednesday night. The same story the following night when Chippenham Town were unable to raise a side for their game against Devizes Town. Chippenham also advised Radstock Town that they would not be able to raise a side for Monday night’s game against Radstock Town. The Chippenham club secretary has subsequently withdrawn the side from the league and under FA standard rules, because the 75% threshold has been past, the remaining two games against Melksham Town will be awarded to their scheduled opponents and these have already been reflected in the league table so that the three teams fighting for honours at the top of the table have full transparency of the current positions.

Devizes Town's John Stockman tackles Durrington's Craig Lewis who was to score the only goal of the game for Durrington in the big match in the Mid Wiltshire Division (picture courtesy of David Giles)

North Wiltshire Division

There were just the three games played in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League last week but one of three which could be pivotal in the destination of this season’s league title. That game was between Nationwide and Cricklade Town at New College. Cricklade won the league in both the previous two seasons and went into the game against Nationwide unbeaten in the league this season and looking favourites to defend their title and record a treble of title wins. Nationwide meanwhile are once again through to the League Cup Final for the second season running but having lost two games already in the league ahead of Tuesday’s encounter, realistically probably needed to beat Cricklade Town twice if they were going to deny them a treble of title wins. It was to be Cricklade’s night through as two goals from TJ Bohane and one from Adam Smith saw Cricklade maintain that unbeaten record with a 3-0 win to go top of the table and open up a six-point gap over their beaten opponents with a game in hand. Nationwide have just three games to play, including the return match against Cricklade, and will need to win them all and hope Cricklade drop points elsewhere if they are to deny Cricklade the title. The two goals for Bohane took his tally for the season to 34 whilst strike partner Smith moved onto 18 for the season.

Penhill United  climbed up to fourth place in the table with a 4-2 win over Swindon Rovers at Moredon on Thursday night. There were four different scorers for Penhill with Joe Anderson, Chris Angell, Gary Macieszonek and Kevin Halliday all finding the back of the net, Peter Byrne and Luke Wilson with the two Swindon Rovers goals.

Earlier in the week Chiseldon  extended their unbeaten run to four games with a 7-0 over Stratton Juniors, the third time they had beaten Stratton this season having also knocked them out of the League Cup. The two previous games had been tight affairs decided by a one goal margin but Tuesday’s game at Moredon was something of a one-sided affair. Three players all bagged a brace, Adam O’Keeffe, Richie Miles and Ashraf Ali with Alastair Drew getting the other Chiseldon goal. The win for Chiseldon saw them move to within a point of Swindon Rovers in the battle for a sixth-place finish with two games to play.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were four games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division and all were tight affairs. Melksham Town remain unbeaten after a solitary goal from Gary Higdon, his 30^th of the season, was enough to give Melksham a 1-0 win over Westbury United on Monday night at Melksham.

The following night Calne Town were playing their final game of the season away to Bishops Cannings at Green Lane. The two sides had to settle for a point apiece, Adam Bewley with the Bishops Cannings goal and Chris Robinson netting for Calne Town to end the season on double figures. Calne are now the fourth side to complete their fixtures and currently sit in seventh place although could still be caught by Radstock Town.

Whilst on Monday Melksham had maintained their unbeaten league record, the other unbeaten side ahead of this week’s round of fixtures, Devizes Town, fell to their first defeat of the season. Devizes were up against Durrington, the other side along with Melksham in the mix for the league title, and were beaten 1-0 on home turf at Nursteed Road. The all-important goal was scored by Craig Lewis four minutes from time and the win saw Durrington move two points ahead of Devizes having played one game more. Durrington remain four points behind Melksham with three games to go with the two teams still to play each other at Durrington. Devizes will look to bounce back on Monday night when they visit Melksham for another game that could prove pivotal in what is proving to be an exciting race for the title between the three sides. David Giles was at the game and more of David's excellent pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

The final game of the week saw Westbury United play their second game of the week, bouncing back from that defeat at Melksham on Monday night with a 1-0 win away at Warminster Town on Friday night in front of a large crowd.  

North Wiltshire Division

With a number of teams having already completed their fixtures there was a limited schedule of games in the two Veterans’ Divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League last week, with three games played in each of the two divisions.

In the North Wiltshire Division, the two teams battling out for the title both picked up comfortable wins on Tuesday night. Two more goals from the division’s leading scorer TJ Bohane plus one apiece from Phil Corcoran and Stuart Hughes secured a 4-0 win for Cricklade Town over Penhill United at Cirencester.

The same night Nationwide were also winning by a four goal margin against Swindon Rovers at New College to ensure the title race would last at least one more week. Leading 3-0 at half time thanks to goals from Neil Snow, Pete Sealey and Andrew Lynham, they added two more after the break from Paul Stonehouse and Radi Mahmuti, with Rovers getting just the one in reply through Craig Kimmens to make the final score 5-1. The win for Nationwide left them six points adrift of Cricklade having played one game more and one point behind second placed Redhouse with two games to go, one against ExIntel and one against Cricklade Town. The situation after this week's round of fixtures is that Cricklade now need just one point from their remaining games to claim the title and will look to do just that on Tuesday night when they entertain Chiseldon at Cirencester. 

After eleven games without a win Royal Wootton Bassett Town ended their season on a winning note with a 4-2 away win at Moredon against Chiseldon. Chris Head led the way with a hat-trick with Steve Shaw getting the other Royal Wootton Bassett goal. Adam O’Keeffe and Ermal Molla with the two Chiseldon goals. Your Sport Swindon were at the game and subscribers can view match highlights by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

Kris Beasley scores for Melksham Town in their 1-1 draw with Devizes Town in the big game at the top of the Mid Wiltshire Div

(picture courtesy of David Giles)

Mid Wiltshire Division

The big game of the week in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division was the first meeting of the season between Melksham Town and Devizes Town at the Oakfields Stadium. As expected, it proved to be a tight affair with Kris Beasley scoring for Melksham and Kierron Kiff for Devizes Town as the two teams had to settle for a point apiece following a 1-1 draw. The draw meant that Devizes remained six points behind the league leaders Melksham but with a game in hand. The two sides are set to meet again this coming week in the return match at Green Lane in what is Melksham’s penultimate game of the season, with Durrington to play in their final game of the season. David Giles was at the game and more of David's excellent pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

On the subject of Durrington, on the same night that both their two key rivals for the title were taking points off each other, they were recording a 4-1 away win at Radstock Town to move to within two points of Melksham Town with two games to play, which are against their two title challengers in an exciting climax to the season in the division. There were four different scorers with Alex Rigby, Shaune Smith, Toby Watson and Jesse Walters all finding the back of the net for Durrington. Durrington are four points ahead of Devizes having played one game more. 

The final game to be played in the division was on Tuesday night at Green Lane when Westbury United recorded their biggest win of the season, an 8-3 victory over Bishops Cannings. Leading scorer Wayne Wheeler added two more to his tally taking his total for the season to 12, Robert Youens also bagged a brace, and there were further goals for Mark Young, Dale Rowland, Thomas Crawford and Adam Casserley.  The three goals in reply for Bishops Cannings were scored by Adam Bewley, Marcus Rossi and Craig Hatton-Pocklington.

Radstock Town were scheduled to play their second game of the week on Friday night away at Warminster Town but they were unable to raise a side, gifting Warminster Town the three points.

North Wiltshire Division

The race for honours was finally decided this week in the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with two resounding 8-1 wins deciding the top two positions in the division. At Cirencester Town Cricklade Town were up against Chiseldon who had become something of a bogey side for Cricklade, with Cricklade having failed to beat them in their two previous league meetings, with Chiseldon being the only side to have taken points off Cricklade this season ahead of Tuesday night’s encounter. There were no problems for Cricklade in this latest game though.  A hat-trick from the division’s leading scorer TJ Bohane plus further goals from Lee Hayward, Pete Vallance, Stuart Hughes, Matt Richards and Aaron Maximen secured an 8-1 victory that saw Cricklade crowned as champions for the third season in a row, also securing a league and County Cup double.  

The same night Nationwide took on ExIntel at Moredon and it was to be another 8-1 win which saw Nationwide secure runners-up spot ahead of Redhouse. Paul Stonehouse led the way for Nationwide with four goals, Neil Snow netted twice and there were further goals from Brady Lilley and Mason Worthington. Congratulations to both Cricklade Town and Nationwide for securing league honours but also special mention to Redhouse who were up at the top of the table all season and went close to securing honours for a second consecutive season. Cricklade and Nationwide still have to play each other ahead of Nationwide’s League Cup Final date with Durrington at Calne Town on the 8^th of May.

Mid Wiltshire Division

The previous week Melksham Town and Devizes Town had fought out a close encounter at the Oakfields Stadium which had seen it finish honours even at one goal apiece. The return encounter at Nursteed Road was expected to be another close game and it proved to be just that with neither side finding the back of the net as it finished 0-0. The outcome following this is that Melksham now have a three-point lead over Durrington, who have a game in hand, who they play in their final game. Devizes are six points behind Melksham also with a game in hand and they also still have Durrington to play, with the prospect of a play-off being needed for either the title or runners-up still a possibility. Melksham are away at Durrington on Wednesday night and a win for them would see them crowned champions. However, if Durrington win and then avoid defeat against Devizes they would be champions. If it is a draw on Wednesday and Durrington beat Devizes a play-off would be needed for the title as goal difference does not count in the Veterans’ divisions. If Durrington win on Wednesday but then lose to Devizes there is then the prospect of all three teams finishing on 51 points if Devizes beat Radstock Town on Thursday and play-offs involving all three sides would be required to settle matters. Similarly, there is also a combination of results that could see a play-off being needed for runners-up spot, but all should become more clearer after this week’s two fixtures.

David Giles was at the game and more of David's excellent pictures can be accessed from the League Facebook Group Page.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There were just two games played last week in the two Veterans' divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, and both were in the Mid Wiltshire Division and impacted the race for honours.  

On Wednesday night it finished all square between Durrington and Melksham Town at Bulford with defences once again on top in a clash between the leading sides in the division, as Melksham drew 0-0 for the second consecutive game. As a result Melksham ended their regular league season unbeaten in their 20 league fixtures. The draw saw Melksham remain three points clear at the top with Durrington having the one game still to play. The position now is that Durrington need to beat Devizes in their final game to force a play-off for the title else they will finish as runners-up behind Melksham. 

The following night saw Devizes Town fall to a surprise defeat away at Radstock Town to end their hopes of finishing runners-up. A solitary goal from Radstock’s Jack Broadway was enough to give the home side all three points. Radstock end their season this coming Monday with another home game against Bishops Cannings.

North Wiltshire Division

The last two games of the season were played last week in the North Wiltshire Veterans' division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. With matters already decided the game at the Corinium Stadium between champions Cricklade Town and runners-up Nationwide had nothing riding on it accept for the fact that Cricklade Town had the opportunity to end their season unbeaten from their 20 league games. It was to prove to be Cricklade's night as they took control of the game early on and never looked in danger of not achieving that unbeaten tag. Leading scorer TJ Bohane fired them ahead with a well taken goal, making it 40 for the season for Bohane. Phil Corcoran then doubled the Cricklade lead going into the break with another well taken goal. Disaster stuck for Nationwide seven minutes into the second half when the influential Paul Stonehouse mistimed his tackle and brought down Bohane on the edge of the box when he was clean through on goal. A red card was shown to Stonehouse, which probably would not have impacted the result of this game on the night, but the ramifications will be felt this coming week as Stonehouse is now set to be suspended from Thursday's cup final against Durrington.  Cricklade added a third through Stuart Hughes  to end their season with a 3-0 win to finish with 19 victories and one draw from their 20 games, 12 points clear of Nationwide at the top of the table, registering their third consecutive league title in the process.

The other game played in the division saw Penhill United end their season on a winning note with a 4-1 win over bottom of the table FS Swindon. Gary Pike led the way for Penhill, scoring twice with further goals from Joe Anderson and Jamie Ashby, the latter ending his season with an impressive total of 18 goals for the season, Robert Goodright with the consolation goal for FS Swindon. It has been a good season for Penhill who have ended the season in fourth spot with 12 wins from their 20 games and they could well challenge for league honours next season. FS Swindon have improved as their first season  in the league has gone on and will be looking for an improved showing next season.

Mid Wiltshire Division

There was just the one game played last week in the Mid Wiltshire Division as unfortunately the crucial game at the top of the division between Durrington and Devizes Town did not take place with Devizes Town unable to raise a side.  The consequential award of the three points to Durrington means that a play-off will now be needed to decide honours in the division with Melksham Town and Durrington both ending the season on 52 points and with goal difference not being able to be used to differentiate teams as a result of games being awarded in the Veterans' divisions when a side cannot be raised. The play-off is set to take place next Tuesday, 13th May at Green Lane with a 9PM kick-off. Cup rules will apply so if the teams are level at the end of normal time penalties will take place to decide the league winners.

The one game that did take place saw Radstock Town and Bishops Cannings complete their fixtures when they met at Southfields Recreation Ground. It was to prove to be a good night for Radstock as they netted four times without reply to claim the three points. On target for Radstock in the 4-0 win were Jack Broadway with two, taking his final tally for the season into double figures, Adam Pugsley and Steven Gilham. The win for Radstock Town sees them finish the season in eighth place, one point behind Calne Town.

Thursday night saw the fourth staging of a Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League Veterans League Cup Final with the final being held at Calne Town’s ground for the first time.  The final saw a representative from both the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division and the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division contest the final for the third season running. Durrington, who still have the chance of winning their division having finished joint top with Melksham Town and set to play in a play-off for the title next Tuesday, were the Mid Wiltshire Division representatives. Durrington’s opponents were Nationwide who finished as runners-up in the North Wiltshire Division behind Cricklade Town. Nationwide went into the final as the holders of the cup having defeated Westbury United in last season’s final.

In a cup competition that has been blighted by a high number of awarded games it was fitting that two sides who have had to play in each and every round had made the final. In that First Round Durrington had narrowly defeated North Wiltshire Division opponents Swindon Rovers 2-1 whilst Nationwide needed penalties to see off fellow North Wiltshire Division side AFC Swindon after it had finished 0-0 at the end of normal time. Both sides were away from home in Round Two and were involved in two of three ties that actually got played, disappointingly five games having to be awarded due to teams being unable to field a side. Nationwide had a much more comfortable passage to the last eight, than the previous round, winning 12-0 at Amesbury Junior Badgers whilst Durrington won 2-0 away at Trowbridge Town Tigers. Thankfully beyond Round Two all games in the cup have been played.

In the Quarter Final both sides were made to work hard for their victory to take them through to the last four. Durrington were 2-1 winners at home against fellow Mid Wiltshire Division side Devizes Town who were the other side involved in the battle for honours in the Mid Wiltshire Division along with Melksham Town. Nationwide, for the second time in the competition, needed penalties to secure their place in the next round after their game with fellow North Wiltshire Division side Penhill United had finished 1-1. For the second time in the cup Nationwide held their nerve to progress to the next round.

The Semi Final saw two representatives from each division and with the sides from the same division drawing each other there was guaranteed to be one representative from each division in the final. Both semi finals proved to be tight affairs, Nationwide overcoming Chiseldon 2-1 whilst, in this round, it was Durrington who needed penalties to progress after they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with their main rivals for the title Melksham Town to set up the final with Nationwide.

Both sides went into Thursday’s final missing key players due to suspension and injury. Nationwide were without their leading scorer, former Forest Green Rovers and Mansfield Town player, Paul Stonehouse following his sending off the previous week against Cricklade Town. Meanwhile Durrington were missing leading scorer Shaune Smith, also due to suspension having been sent off in their league game against Melksham Town, and their second top scorer Jesse Walters due to a broken leg suffered in that  0-0 draw with Melksham Town in what was a costly game for Durrington. Despite both sides missing their leading marksmen the two sides produced an entertaining game that saw four goals scored in the 50 minutes. It was a Vets' game of a high standard with both sides competing hard for every challenge but with the game played in the right spirit in what was described post-match on social media by Durrington keeper Kevin Tobin as a “proper football match”.

The first five minutes of the game saw the two teams weighing each other up with Nationwide looking to play through the middle, whilst Durrington were also playing the ball through midfield but also looking to use the pace of Craig Lewis up front when the opportunity arose. The first real chance of the game went the way of Durrington, skipper Toby Watson seeing his low shot from distance deflected for a corner on seven minutes. The resulting corner came to nothing, but the deadlock was about to be broken. Two minutes later, a ball over the top put Lewis in the clear but still with some distance to cover. He took the ball on without the defenders being able to get back and catch him and he finished in style past the on rushing Nationwide keeper Andy Phoenix, firing into the bottom far corner of the net for 1-0 to Durrington.  Durrington were now very much in the ascendancy, and they doubled their lead ten minutes before the break with Lewis going from scorer to provider, his cross from the right being met with a well-placed header by Watson which gave Phoenix no chance for 2-0 to Durrington. Durrington continued to create the better chances, but it looked like it would be just the two goals going into the break with Nationwide still in the game. However, deep into injury time at the end of the half they gave the ball away cheaply just outside their own box and Watson punished them firing in for his second of the game to give Durrington a three-goal advantage at half time.

Credit to Nationwide who came out for the second half determined to try and get themselves back in the game and for the first time in the match they started to put the Durrington defence under some sustained pressure. However, the organised Durrington defence did well to limit the goal scoring opportunities for the Swindon based side. Nationwide were to get a lifeline eight minutes from time though when a shot from the edge of the box following a corner was adjudged to hit the hand of a Durrington defender and Nationwide were awarded a penalty. Captain Pete Monks took responsibility for the spot kick and fired home giving Tobin in the Durrington goal no chance. Nationwide then continued to push for a second, but Durrington never really looked in danger of conceding another and safely saw out the closing minutes to register a 3-1 win and lift the Veterans’ League Cup for the first time. The cup and individual player trophies were presented by League Chairman Brian Busson aided by League Secretary Jim Thorn, with Durrington captain and man-of the-match Toby Watson following his two goals the last to come up and be presented with the cup. Nationwide will now look to do a league and cup double when they play Melksham Town in the Play-off for the Mid Wiltshire Division this coming Tuesday night at Green Lane.

More photos from the cup final can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

Click on picture below to view PDF of the Cup Final Programme

Mid Wiltshire Division

The final honours in the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League were finally decided on Tuesday night after the title play-off at Green Lane, Devizes. Both Melksham Town and Durrington had finished level on 52 points after completing their 20 league fixtures, Melksham going unbeaten in their 20 games, winning 16 and drawing four. Meanwhile Durrington had lost two games, once against Melksham Town and once against Warminster Town and they also drew the other game with Melksham whilst winning all 17 of their other fixtures to give them those 52 points.  With goal difference no longer a deciding factor in the Veterans' divisions due to the awarding of games when teams cannot raise a side a play-off was needed to decide matters.

The play-off game on Tuesday night was a tight affair as was to be expected in a game between two very good veterans’ sides. Durrington were looking to complete a league and cup double having lifted the League Cup the previous week whilst Melksham were looking to win the league title for a second time having won the league in Season 2021-22 and having been runners-up in the other three seasons that the league has been operating the Mid Wilts Division.

The opening 20 minutes saw little by way of goal scoring opportunity as the two sides cancelled each other out but there the game came to life in the closing minutes of the first half. Firstly, on 22 minutes Craig Lewis went close for Durrington his shot coming back off the post and being cleared to safety. At the other end Melksham went close to getting that opening when Kris Beasley got his head to a corner, but the ball went just over the bar as it remained 0-0. However, he was not to be denied right at the end of normal time in the half, when he pounced on a shot initially saved by Durrington keeper Kevin Tobin which fell nicely for Beasley to fire home for 1-0 to Melksham.

The start of the second half saw Durrington seeking to get themselves back on level terms. Captain Toby Watson had the first real chance of the half when Durrington broke quickly from defence and outnumbered the Melksham defence with Watson deciding to shoot rather than pass to players who were in support, but the shot went well wide of the post. Next up a neat interchange between Phil Lawes and Ben Reilly saw Lawes in down the right flank but his dangerous ball into the box was unable to find a Durrington player and was cleared to safety. Durrington continued to push for an equaliser and a dangerous free kick into the box was well cleared by Melksham’s defence.  

At the other end Melksham had a golden chance to extend their lead when Steve Tweddle found himself in on goal, but his low shot went just wide of the post, and it remained 1-0. As the half wore on it was Melksham who regained the ascendancy and but for a couple of saves from Tobin Durrington could well have found themselves trailing by more. Firstly, he did well to save from Tom Robinson and then a ball over the top found Luke Turvey and his shot on the turn was again saved well by Tobin. Durrington were not out of it, and they hit the bar in the closing stages although if it had found the back of the net it would not have counted as the assistant referee was flagging for an offside. Melksham saw out the closing stages without conceding to see them confirmed as champions, retaining their unbeaten status, with Durrington having to settle for runners-up. Congratulations to both sides for their excellent seasons.