Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Both Games at the Top End All Square
Action from today's big game at the top of the table between Corsham Town Res & Shrewton United (Picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)
The big match of the day in the league saw the leaders Shrewton United make the trip to Corsham to meet third placed Corsham Town Reserves for a third meeting of the season between the two sides. The previous two meetings, one in the league at Shrewton and a recent Fountain Trophies Quarter Final tie, had both seen wins for Corsham and Shrewton needed to avoid a third defeat of the season if they were to hold onto top spot in the table. Shrewton started well and went in front when Saul Johnson beat the Corsham offside trap and rounded keeper Joe King only to see his effort on goal strike the post but luckily for Shrewton Aidan Beardsley was on hand to net the rebound for his first goal for Shrewton. Leading scorer Johnson then got on the score sheet himself, again getting behind the Corsham back line and then lobbing keeper King from 20 yards out with a great half volley finish to make it 2-0. Corsham Town Reserves pulled a goal back before the break, Emilio Mudrak finishing with a powerful strike to make it 2-1. After the interval Shrewton had chances to extend the lead but were left to rue those missed chances when the Shrewton keeper Sam Gillot failed to deal with a Corsham Town free kick and the ball slipped from his grasp and into the net for 2-2. There was still time for both sides to try and find a winner but in the end the sides had to settle for a share of the spoils. With results elsewhere Shrewton remain top of the table whilst Corsham Town Reserves moved up into second spot a point behind having played one game more.
Action from today's big game at the top of the table between Corsham Town Res & Shrewton United (Pictures courtesy of John Cuthbertson)
Wroughton warmed up for their big County Cup semi-final on Wednesday night against Calne Town with a short trip across to the other side of the M4 motorway to play local rivals Purton. Whilst unbeaten in the league all season Wroughton’s record against Purton in league matches was not good with just one win in five in recent seasons. Like with the Corsham and Shrewton match up, the two sides had already met twice this season, the league game at the Weir Field ending 1-1 and the Fountain Trophies First Round tie between the two at the Red House also finished level at the end of normal time, with penalties in the end deciding the tie in Wroughton’s favour. In the latest meeting on an unsurprising heavy pitch at the Red House Purton playing well went 2-0 up thanks to two early goals from Darren Regis. Purton then had a number of chances to extend their lead and were in the end made to pay for their missed chances as Wroughton got themselves back into the game with goals from new signing Matty Bennett, scoring on his debut for his new side, and Tyler Wilkinson. As the game went into its closing stages Wroughton had a shout for a penalty for a challenge on Shane Hibbert but the appeals were waived away by the referee and the sides had to once again settle for a share of the points. Wroughton remain unbeaten in the league as they attempt this coming week to become the first side from the league to make the County Senior Cup Final since Trowbridge Town back in season 2003-04.
Matty Bennett, who scored on his Wroughton debut, and Tom Price on the ball in the 2-2 draw with Purton
Cricklade Town and Marlborough Town both went into their games this weekend as the form sides in the division. Cricklade had won their three previous games ahead of the visit of Frome Collegians. When the two sides had met at Frome back in December the two sides had shared seven goals with Cricklade coming back from two down to eventually edge it by the odd goal. On a heavy pitch at the Cricklade Leisure Centre the two teams managed to produce another game of seven goals, with this time round the scores being reversed with Frome Collegians edging it by that odd goal. Their star of the show was Barry Sanquest who fired a hat-trick as he moved onto eleven for the season with the winner for Frome coming courtesy of substitute Lewis Perrett. Both sides remained where they started the day in the league table but Frome reduced the gap to Cricklade in eighth spot to five points as a result of the win.

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

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

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development made it through to the last four with an impressive win over Kintbury Rangers in the Quarter Final match played on the 3G pitch at the Gerard Buxton Ground. The defending cup holders Kintbury travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett in the knowledge that the two previous meetings between the sides had seen them fail to win, an early season 1-1 draw at Kintbury being followed by a 3-1 defeat at the Gerard Buxton Ground in the league game which was also played on the 3G. The home side Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev went in front on 17 minutes, Josh Bolton firing in from the edge of the box after a cross from Manuel Mesas. It remained that way until a minute before the break when the Kintbury keeper Ross Thorne mishit a clearance from a backpass straight to Bailey Gallagher 25-yards out who fired back over the keeper’s head into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 to the home side at the break. It went from bad to worse for Kintbury soon after the restart when, from a throw-in on the right hand side, Charlie McCuish flicked on and, in trying to clear, Mark James sliced the ball over his own keeper Thorne’s head and into his own net to make it 3-0. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development wrapped things up as the game moved into the closing minutes, Dale Richards heading powerfully in from a Bailey Gallagher cross.
Josh Bolton and Bailey Gallagher who both scored in Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev's 4-0 win over Kintbury Rangers
Results
Saturday 7th March 2020
Corsham Town Res 2 Shrewton Utd 2
Cricklade Town 3 Frome Collegians 4
Marlborough Town 1 Pewsey Vale 0
Purton 2 Wroughton 2

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

Saturday 7 March 2020
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