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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was one game played on Wednesday night when Corsham Town Res, who had remained unbeaten at the Southbank all of last season, started their home programme with a visit from Malmesbury Victoria Dev who had suffered a heavy opening day defeat at Kintbury. Corsham carried on where they left off last season as they became the fourth side to move onto six points from their opening two fixtures. On target for Corsham in this one were Luca Consentino, Ed McCormack, Chay Forrester, Zac Hillier and last season’s top scorer Dan Lardner, Gareth Jones scoring for Malmesbury Victoria.
Action from Corsham Town Res 5-1 win over Malmesbury Victoria Dev on Wednesday night
(picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)
All the midweekresults plus Saturday’s fixtures are shown below:

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

Wednesday 21st August 2019
Corsham Town Res 5 Malmesbury Vics D 1

Saturday 24th August 2019
Corsham Town Res.  v  Wroughton
Frome Collegians  v  Kintbury Rangers
Holt  v  Malmesbury Vics. Dev.
Ludgershall Spts  v  Royal W, Bassett Dev.
Marlborough Town  v  Trowbridge Town
Melksham Town Res.  v  Purton
Pewsey Vale Dev v Cricklade Town
Stratton  Juniors  v  Shrewton United

Updated Thursday 22 August 2019
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