Pewsey Vale who move back joint top with their win over Devizes Town Res
Pewsey Vale returned to action for the first time since 24th October when they entertained Devizes Town Reserves at the Recreation Ground last night. Going into lockdown Pewsey had lost just one of their opening ten games and sat top of the table. However, with no game last Saturday they had been dislodged from top spot by Melksham Town Reserves and the game against Devizes offered Pewsey the chance to return back to the top with a win, providing also that the new leaders Melksham Town Reserves dropped points at home against visitors Corsham Town Reserves. In contrast Devizes Town Reserves went into the game with just one win in their opening ten league games and based on previous form a comfortable home win could have been expected. However, the combination of a six-week lay-off, a heavy pitch and an organised defensive performance from the visitors, saw Pewsey struggle to find their pre-lockdown form. Whilst Pewsey had the better of things they struggled to create any clear-cut chances and it took until the 40th minute for the game to see its first goal, Harry Hoareau firing into the roof of the net following a goalmouth scramble for his fifth goal of the season. It remained 1-0 at the break.
After the restart Devizes Town Reserves enjoyed their best spell of possession in the match but without creating any goal scoring opportunities. It remained just the one goal separating the sides until twenty minutes from time when leading scorer James Guthrie played a neat one-two with Ryan Banks and then fired into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the box to make it 2-0 to Pewsey Vale. There were further chances for Pewsey’s Hoareau and Craig Simmons but neither found the net, whilst the best chance for the visitors came late on when Pewsey goalkeeper Louie Latouche pulled off a great save to deny Jordan Anning a Devizes goal as the game finished 2-0 to Pewsey. For Devizes this was an encouraging performance against one of the top sides in the division and they will look to build on that when they visit Odd Down Reserves on Saturday. For Pewsey Vale, the win saw them move level on points with Melksham Town Reserves at the top of the table ahead of Saturday’s derby encounter with Marlborough Town.
Melksham Town Reserves went into their game with Corsham Town Reserves on the back of eight straight wins, a run which had started with a 3-2 win at the Southbank Ground back in September. A win on Saturday had also seen them go two points clear at the top of the league and another win against Corsham would see them retain top spot. Corsham Town Reserves themselves were in good form though, coming into the game on the back of three straight wins. Melksham’s attack was boosted by the return from suspension of leading scorer Rhys Talmash but it was fellow strike partner Dan Sibley who was to put the league leaders ahead. Sibley then scored a second to move ahead of Talmash in the goal scoring chart with his 12th of the season. However, despite going two behind the visitors continued to battle away and goals from Ben Wickens and Jake Dodge ensured it was honours even on the night and the points shared. The one point was enough to see Melksham remain top of the table ahead of Pewsey Vale on goal difference, although Pewsey have three games in hand. Royal Wootton Bassett Town are three points behind the top two but with four games in hand over Melksham and having played one less than Pewsey. Saturday sees Melksham travel to Swindon to play Stratton Juniors, whilst Corsham Town Reserves are home to Malmesbury Victoria Development.