Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
U18 Division - Shrivenham defeat Melksham
to join then at the top

Shrivenham who beat Melksham Town 2-1 last night to join their opponents at the top of the table (picture courtesy of Mike Wray)

League leaders Melksham Town travelled to Shrivenham on Thursday night looking to defend the U18 Division’s only 100% winning record after three straight wins to start the season. Opponents Shrivenham had suffered just one defeat, that at the hands of Chippenham Town, and a win for them would send them level with Melksham at the top of table.  It was the home side Shrivenham who created the better early chances but their strikers fired a couple of early shots over the top of the Melksham goal without troubling Melksham keeper Zak Beard.  Kieron Sutton then went close for Shrivenham, getting on the end of a Tyger Hall free kick, but his shot also went over the bar. However, despite Shrivenham creating the early opportunities, it was the visitors who were to go in front. Melksham's Olly Clarke gained possession from Shrivenham in his own half and sent a quick long defence splitting pass to the speedy Cameron Pearce whose pace saw him get beyond the Shrivenham defence, the keeper came rushing out but missed his attempted clearance allowing Pearce to run on and slot the ball  calmly into the empty net to make it 1-0 to Melksham. Shrivenham got themselves back on level terms with a similar type of goal. A long ball over the top saw Tyger Hall get behind the Melksham back line and this time it was Melksham keeper  Beard who missed his attempted clearance and Tyger Hall had the easy chance to tap the ball into the empty net for his fifth of the season. Shrivenham then went close to taking the lead with a header that went just over the bar and it remained 1-1 at the break. The third goal of the night resulted from yet another excellent long ball, this time the ball over the top seeing Bilal Durdu get beyond the Melksham defence. Despite a heavy first touch, he stretched to just reach the ball ahead of the advancing Beard to make it 2-1 to Shrivenham. It was Shrivenham who continued to create the better chances with Durdu going close to a second when his low shot from the left went just round the right hand post. A deflected Tyger Hall shot could also have created problems but was well dealt with by Zak Beard in the Melksham goal and there was to be no further goals on the night as Shrivenham secured a 2-1 win that saw them move level with Melksham at the top. With just FC Chippenham and Radstock Town the only unbeaten sides now, but with both having dropped points in their opening fixtures, and with the top sides continuing to take points off each other, it is certainly gearing up to be a tight and exciting Under 18 Division again this season. This game was covered by Your Sport Swindon and highlights of the game and the post-match manager interviews can be seen by clicking on the links below or by the links on the Your Sport Swindon page that can be accessed from the main menu.
There was another tight match involving two of the fancied sides at Radstock Town where Chippenham Town were the visitors. Despite missing a golden chance early in in the game the home side Radstock Town went in front after five minutes with a goal from Freddie Blacker. Chippenham Town got themselves back on level terms after 14 minutes, Harrison Dunsden with his first goal in the league this season. Radstock Town restored their one goal advantage on 27 minutes, when Toby Vining scored from a Blacker corner. Radstock did not hold the lead for very long though as Ben Wall levelled things up a minute later with what turned out to be the last goal of the night. However,  this was not the end of the evenings drama. A fortnight ago, in Radstock’s last league game against Royal Wootton Bassett Town, goalkeeper Lucas Purnell had been the hero with a late equaliser from a corner. Against Chippenham he was once again the Radstock hero, saving a penalty ten minutes from time to ensure that his side secured a point and maintained their unbeaten record in the league.

The final game on Thursday night saw FC Chippenham secure their first win of the season, with an impressive 8-0 away win at New College. Fabian Stanislas led the way with a hat-trick, Louie Lang and Archie Newman both netted twice and the other goal came courtesy of Charlie Hill, as last season's leaders at the time the season was brought to an early close show their intentions of once again being involved in the title race.

Finally, just a quick note to say that Calne Town have withdrawn their Under 18 side from the league for this season due to a lack of players, leaving the division with eight teams. Hopefully Calne can re-group and return to the Under 18 Division next season.

Results

Thursday 15 October 2020

Under 18 Floodlight Division

New College 0 FC Chippenham 8

Radstock Town 2 Chippenham Town 2

Shrivenham 2 Melksham Town 1

16 October 2020
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