Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Season 1988-89

Ahead of the season there were two changes to the League Officers or Management Committee.  M G Benson resigned as Referees' Appointments Secretary and was made a Life Member of the League.  M W E Farrow was elected as Referees' Appointments Secretary.  S W Moore resigned from the Management Committee.  Sadly, B W Phillips passed away during the season.

A key feature of the 1988-89 Season was that none of the winners of each of the four divisions had featured in the top places of the table in the previous two seasons. There was a new name engraved on the Division One trophy as Ferndale Athletic secured their first ever top division title finishing three points clear of second placed Sanford. Ferndale were worthy champions having led the way all season except for a couple of weeks in April when Sanford stole a march on them whilst they were not playing to head the table by a point. Sanford’s position at the top was only to be temporary as Ferndale won their games in hand to take the title, striker Kevin Roberts helping himself to 21 goals during the title winning season. Second in the league, Sanford were to also finish as runners-up in the Ghia Senior Cup, losing 2-1 to Amesbury in the final. At the bottom end of the table Marlborough Town, after a brilliant season the year before which had seen them promoted, found life in the top-flight tough going and were relegated back down to Division 2. Two Salisbury sides Old Manor and Laverstock & Ford also finished in the bottom three and departed the top division.

In Division 2 Devizes Town Reserves (pictured below) took the title finishing a comfortable six points clear of Trowbridge Town Reserves in second place. Devizes secured a return to the top division after a four-year absence by losing just two league games all season. There was a terrific fight for the third promotion place, ending up with three sides all on 32 points. The three sides were Shrewton, Burmah House and Corsham Town, with Shrewton edging in front of Burmah House by one goal, enough to give them a place in the top division for the next season.

In Division 3, Walcot Athletic were so far behind with their league fixtures due to lengthy runs in both cup competitions that they faced a hectic schedule at the end of the season to try and catch the sides who had been above them all season. They rose to the challenge which included playing four games in the space of five days, winning all four, to finish five points ahead of runners-up West Swindon. Last season’s champions Aldbourne Park were in third place, four points adrift of West Swindon. Walcot’s title triumph saw striker Steve Dixey finish the division’s top scorer with 26 goals with Gary Hogg not far behind him on 21. By winning the Ghia Junior Cup Walcot did the league and cup double, also making it to the semi-final of the Wiltshire Junior Cup where they lost narrowly 1-0 to eventual winners Broughton Gifford. At the bottom end of the table the three relegation positions were filled by Old Manor Reserves, Marlborough Town Reserves and Dunbar Wills Reserves. 

Division 4 champions Wroughton distinguished themselves by winning their first 21 games before losing two on the bounce. This was to prove just a temporary loss of form as they won their last three games to win the title by six points from Badbury, Blunsdon finished in third place. Wroughton joined Division 3 champions Walcot in being the only two sides in all four divisions to score over 100 goals. Top scorer in the division, and also the whole of the league, was Dave Lopez of Wroughton with 40 goals.

Marlborough Town won the E C Mills Sportsmanship Award.  Mrs M Withers of Shrewton Utd won the Club Secretary’s Award.  K S Gough was presented with the Ghia Referees Award.
Devizes Town Reserves champions of Division 2
League Top Scorers 1988-89

Division 1 - Season
D. Coker  (Amesbury)   29
K. Roberts (Ferndale Ath)  21
M. Merrett (Chippenham Town R)  19
S. Swinger (Amesbury)  18
M. Sykes (Laverstock & Ford)  17
M. Goodwin (Sanford)  17
G. Nardiello (Bemerton Ath)  16
P. Slattery (Ferndale Ath)  16

Division 2 - Season
R. Arklie (Stratton Red Eagles)  19
M. Stevenson (Avebury)  19
J. Wells (Burmah House)  16
P. Haigh (Purton Res)  13
A. Marsh (Stratton Red Eagles)  13
G. Wilkie (Avebury)  13 

Division 3 - Season
S. Dixey  (Walcot)  26
S. Morse (Walcot)  26
J. Angliss (Plessey Semics)  22
G. Hogg (Walcot)  21
T. McGill (Biddestone)  21
P. Cooke (Bemerton Ath Res)  17
M. Embling (Sanford Res)  16

Division 4 Season
D. Lopez (Wroughton)  40
M. Lusczcz (Badbury)  27
N. Hutchings (Ramsbury)  26
C. Glassland (Cricklade Town)  20
S. Mills (Ramsbury)  20
S. Reynolds  (Badbury)  19
Ghia Senior Cup 1988-89

First Round
Aldbourne Park bye
Amesbury  7  Shrewton 0
Avebury  2  Sanford  4  (aet)
Bromham  2  Westbury  2
Calne Town  1  Pinehurst  6
Chippenham Town Res  1  Bemerton Ath  0
Devizes Town Res  0  Pewsey Vale  2
Dunbar Wills bye
Laverstock & Ford  1  Burmah House  2
Marlborough Town  0  FC Sporting  1
Melksham T Res  0  Malmesbury Victoria  1
Old Manor bye
Oldacre  1  Ferndale  1
Purton  1  Trowbridge Town Res  2
Supermarine  1  Stratton Red Eagles  0
Warminster Town  0  Corsham Town  3

Replays
Ferndale v Oldacre - won by Ferndale result to trace
Westbury  2 Bromham  1

Second Round
Aldbourne Park  3  Pewsey Vale  0
Chippenham T Res  5  Malmesbury Vics  1
Corsham Town  1  Sanford  5
Dunbar Wills  1  Burmah House  2
FC Sporting  0  Amesbury  1
Old Manor  0  Pinehurst  1
Supermarine  5  Westbury  0
Trowbridge Town Res  2  Ferndale  3

Quarter Final
Chippenham Town Res  1  Sanford  2
Amesbury  1  Burmah House  0
Ferndale  3  Aldbourne Park  2
Pinehurst v Supermarine - result to trace

Semi Final
Amesbury  3  Pinehurst  1
Ferndale  1  Sanford  2

Final
Amesbury  2  Sanford  1

As reported by the Gazette and Herald.
Amesbury won the Wiltshire County League Ghia Senior Cup on Saturday by defeating Sanford 2-1 in the final at Marlborough. They took full advantage of playing with wind and slope in the first half to get both goals in that period. But they had a scare early on when Kelvyn Heard broke through for Sanford and rounded goalkeeper Ricky Hibbs only for Phil Thorne to race back and just manage to kick the ball off Heard’s toe in the nick of time. A 15th minute goal by Steve Swinger then put Amesbury into the lead and making good use of their advantage they pressed forward for Carlo Downie to head them further in front from a centre by Mick Western to lead 2-0 at half time. Then it was Sanford’s turn to take charge but Hibbs was safe in goal and received good cover from an Amesbury defence in which Mick Hibbs and Will Sturgess- later named man of the match – excelled. Sanford, not at their best in this game, went close through Terry Black and Gary Cecil but had to wait until the last minute before Gary Sheeran scored their only goal of the game. Amesbury (pictured below) had the cup presented to them by Les Miles, a life member of the Wiltshire County League.
Ghia Junior Cup 1988-89

Preliminary Round
Minety  1  Corsham Town Res  2

First Round
Bemerton Ath Res v Dorcan  - result not traced yet
Biddestone  3  Bromhan Res  1 (aet)
Blunsdon United  0  Plessey Semics  1
Burmah H Res  0  Marlborough T Res  1
Corsham Town Res  7  Old Manor Res  0
Cricklade Town v Chiseldon - result not traced yet
Dunbar Sports  1  Walcot Ath  3
Ferndale Ath Res  5  Pinehurst Res  0
Malmesbury Victoria Res  0  Ramsbury  3
Oaksey  2  Wootton Bassett Town Res  3
Pewsey Vale Res  5  Wilton  1
Sanford Res  5  Oldacre Res  1
Stratton R.E. Res  2  West Swindon  3
Upavon  0  Aldbourne Park Res  10
Wroughton  1  Dunbar Wills Res  2
Badbury v Spartans - result not traced yet

Second Round
Aldbourne Park Res  3  Ferndale Ath Res  0
Badbury  4  Walcot Ath 4 (aet)
Corsham Town Res  0  Dunbar Wills  2
Cricklade Town  0  Ramsbury  2
Marlborough T Res  1 Bemerton Ath Res 2
Pewsey Vale Res  1  W. Bassett T Res  2
Plessey Semics  2  Sanford Res  2
West Swindon  5  Biddestone  2

Replays
Sanford Res  0  Plessey Semics  2
Walcot Ath  7  Badbury  3

Quarter Final
Aldbourne Park Res  1  Walcot Ath 5
Ramsbury  3  Plessey Semics  3
West Swindon  5  Dunbar Wills  0
W. Bassett Town Res  5  Bemerton Res  0

Replay
Plessey Semics  2  Ramsbury  3

Semi Final
Ramsbury  2  Walcot Ath  4
West Swindon  0  W. Bassett Town Res  1

Final
Walcot Ath  2  Wootton Bassett Town Res  1

As reported by the Gazette and Herald.
Walcot won the Wiltshire County League Ghia Junior Cup final after extra time against Wootton Bassett Town Reserves at Chippenham. It completed a double for Walcot of cup and league. Wootton Bassett gave them a hard game and had much the better of the first half play with Mick Karn, Barry Speirs and Frank Serratori all going close. Rob Langham, who was later named as man of the match, was safe in Walcot’s goal and one of his saves to deny Greg Smith’s shot in the 32nd minute was outstanding. Walcot’s first shot at goal did not come until the 35th minute with Norman Clark just wide but, after Langham had saved a Karn header, Walcot broke away to take the lead with a 42nd minute header by Stuart Morse. Even then Bassett almost equalised two minutes later when Speirs headed Paul Harper’s free kick against Walcot’s crossbar. Starting with a great save by Neil Twine from Morse in the 50th minute the second half was much more even but Wootton Bassett still had plenty of the play. Twine was again in action to save from Morse in the 65th minute, but the ball went straight to the other end for Chappell to equalise with a header from a 66th minute free kick. Another splendid save by Langham from Speirs and a miss from only two yards out by Gary Hogg for Walcot brought full time with the scores still level. Extra time saw Speirs shoot wide from eight yards range before, in the 106th minute, Jo McIllherren put Walcot in front with ten yards shot that gave Twine no chance. It still took two brilliant saves by Langham tipping shots from Harper and Steve Thomas one-handed over his crossbar to preserve Walcot’s lead. The cup was presented to the winners (pictured below) by Dave Stallworthy of Ghia Promotions.
Wiltshire Senior Cup 1988-89
Teams from other leagues shown in italics

Preliminary Round
Aldbourne Park  3  Penhill  1  (aet)
Amesbury  1  Downton  0
Avebury  1  FC Sporting  1  (aet)
Bemerton Athletic bye
Corsham Town  4  Old Manor  1
Ferndale Athletic  1  Burmah House  2
Highworth Town bye
Laverstock & Ford  3  Bromham  3  (aet)
Malmesbury Vics  1  Marlborough Town  2
Oldacre bye
Pewsey Vale  1  Wootton Bassett Town  2
Pinehurst  3  Dunbar Wills  1
Plessey Sports bye
Shrewton bye
Stratton Red Eagles  2  Purton  4
Supermarine  0  Sanford  1

Replays
Bromham  5  Laverstock & Ford  2
FC Sporting 3 Avebury  0

First Round
Amesbury  3  Sanford  2  (aet)
Bromham  3  Shrewton  2  (aet)
Burmah House  2  Marlborough Town  1
Corsham Town  0  Purton  6
FC Sporting  1  Aldbourne Park  3
Highworth Town  1  Oldacre  0
Pinehurst  5  Bemerton Athletic  1
Wootton Bassett Town  2  Plessey Sports  0

Quarter Final
Burmah House  0  Purton  1
Highworth Town  5  Amesbury  1
Pinehurst  3  Bromham  1
Wootton Bassett Town  0  Aldbourne Park  2

Semi Final
Pinehurst  0  Highworth Town  1
Purton  1  Aldbourne Park 1 (Purton won 6-5 on pens)

Final
Highworth Town 2 Purton 3  (aet)

As reported by the Gazette and Herald.
Wiltshire Senior Cup holders Purton retained the trophy at the County Ground in Thursday night’s final by defeating Highworth 3-2 after extra time. They lived up to their reputation of never losing in the final this time being their sixth appearance. It was only by means of a penalty shoot-out in the semi final that Purton reached Thursday night’s game and a shoot-out seemed imminent until in the last minute of extra time, Justin Stephens scored the winning goal. It was not until the 89th minute of normal time that substitute Paul Haigh headed Purton’s equaliser when Highworth almost had their hands on the cup. The game also started sensationally with one of the quickest goals ever scored at the County Ground – Dave Kelly netting for Highworth after only six seconds with a 45-yard lob which dropped over John Miles, who was deputising for the injured Stuart Whitbread. The unfortunate keeper also left another wind-aided lofted shot from Rohan Haines drop over his head in the 28th minute to put Highworth two up. But Purton were playing well with Steve Kelly and Paul Gibbons strong in defence and after Brian Jones and Steve Kelly went close, Stephens reduced the deficit in the 35th minute.

With the wind behind them in the second half Purton had most of the play, and when Paul Haigh replaced Rob Preddy in the 61st minute they looked still more dangerous. Steve Paish (twice) and Mark Collier went close, but a good chance went to Highworth’s Glen Benson in the 83rd minute and he shot wide. Then Kevin Higgs suffered an awkward bounce when he was clear, With Highworth hanging on grimly, Haigh’s headers went beyond goalkeeper Paul Haines reach for the late equaliser. Then came the winner in the 120th minute. The cup was presented by Dudley Cradock, chairman of the Wiltshire F.A.
Wiltshire Junior Cup 1988-89
Teams from other leagues shown in italics

Preliminary Round
Blue Circle  0  Chiseldon  3
Enford  3  Tisbury  6
Lacock  3  Plessey Semics  7
National Semiconductor  6  Ramsbury  0
Oaksey  2  Sherston  1
All other sides had byes

First Round
Biddestone  2  West Hanham  0
Bratton  7  The Grove  1
Broughton Gifford  6  Minety  2
Brunel Roooms  2  Redlynch & Woodfalls  0
Cricklade Town bye
CS Magpies  2  Badbury  5
Dorcan  1  John Bull 2
Dunbar Sports - received walkover
Greatfield bye
Halfway House  4  Coatfields  1
Heytesbury  2  Glentoran  0
Liden Arms bye
N & S United  2  Chiseldon  4
Nomansland & Landford  2  Penhill RBL  1
Oaksey  3  Westbury Town  1
Pinehurst Community  2  Plessey Semics  7
Porton Sports  3  Bradford United 0
Potterne  4  Sunstrand  1
Raychem SSC - received walkover
Seend United  3  Kington Langley  0
Spartans  4  Durrington Dynamos  2
Steele Davis  3  Wroughton  11
Steeple Ashton  0  Nationwide Anglia  1
Stockton & Codford  3  Rudloe  2
Synchronme Special  0  Ashton Keynes  2
Tisbury  2  Swindon Hibs  0
Trowbridge Saints  0  Faraday  2
T.H. Bishopstone  5  National Semics  4
Uni Mill Rangers  1  Hilperton  2
Upavon  0  Dowty 3
Walcot - received walkover
W. Bassett Sports  2  Winterbourne Spts  1 

Second Round
Badbury  0  Wroughton  1
Bratton  3  Oaksey  0
Broughton Gifford  3  Nationwide Anglia  0
Brunel Rooms  4  Spartans  1
Chiseldon  1  Biddestone  5
Faraday  1  Heyesbury  5
Greatfield  3  Ashton Keynes  0
Hilperton  2  Dunbar Sports  4  (aet)
Liden Arms  0  True Heart Bishopstone  2
Nomansland & Landford  1  Wootton Bassett Sports  4
Plessey Semics  4  Halfway House  0
Porton Sports  3  Potterne  0
Raychem  SSC  2  Cricklade Town  1
Stockton & Codford  3  Dowty  1
Tisbury  2  John Bull  3
Walcot  5  Seend United  1

Third Round
Broughton Gifford  2  Greatfield  1
Brunel Rooms  2  Wootton Bassett Sports  2
Heytesbury  5  Raychem SSC  1
John Bull  1  Biddestone  3
Plessey Semics  2  Bratton  1
Stockton & Codford  3  Porton Sports  1
Walcot  6  True Heart Bishopstone  3
Wroughton  2  Dunbar Sports  1

Replay
W.Bassett Spts v Brunel Rooms - won by Brunel result not traced

Quarter Final
Broughton Gifford  6  Stockton & Codford  1
Brunel Rooms  0  Plessey Semics  1
Heytesbury  1  Walcot  1
Wroughton  2  Biddestone  4

Replay
Walcot  2  Heytesbury  1

Semi Final
Biddestone  2  Plessey Semics  1
Broughton Gifford  1  Walcot  0

Final
Biddestone  1  Broughton Gifford  4

As reported by the Gazette and Herald.
A sensational finish in Saturday’s Wiltshire FA Junior Cup final at Calne saw Broughton Gifford, Trowbridge League champions, score three goals in the last two minutes of extra time to win 4-1 against Biddestone. Wiltshire League (Division Three) side Biddestone made a good start by taking the lead in the 11th minute with a good header by Phil Martin which goalkeeper Sean Perrin got his hand to but could not hold. Broughton Gifford had more of the remaining first half play but were unable to create chances. Mark Hutchings and Colin McGill both hit good scoring chances wide of Gifford’s goal in the second half and Perrin saved well from another effort by Hutchings. A 71st minute penalty gave Broughton Gifford a chance to equalise but Martin Tasker saved Micky Bagg’s spot kick. Four minutes later, however, they drew level when Phil Hudson hit a free kick from 25 yards through the Biddestone defence into the corner of the net. Both sides missed chances in the extra time that followed and a penalty shoot out looked imminent until the 119th minute when Geoff Broom put Broughton Gifford in front. And seconds later substitute Dave Buckley added a third goal with Broom making it four for his side amid mounting excitement in the last minute. The cup was presented to the winners by Bernard Uzzell, Wiltshire FA cups secretary.
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