Corsham Print
Wiltshire Senior League
Pewsey Go Clear At The Top,
Trowbridge Lose For First Time

Trowbridge Town on the attack in their 3-2 defeat at home to Corsham Town Development (picture courtesy of Martin Pearce)

Whilst half of the scheduled fixtures were postponed this weekend due to concerns relating to Covid, the two big games at the top of the table were amongst the four matches that did get played on Bank Holiday Saturday.
It was second in the table versus third when Pewsey Vale met Calne Town Reserves at Pewsey Recreation Ground in the top match of the day. Going into the match Pewsey had won all four games to date, whilst visitors Calne were the leading scorers in the division with 19 goals in their four games so far, three more than Pewsey who were on 16. Calne Town Reserves’ Jamal Chevolleau and Pewsey’s James Guthrie were the joint top scorers in the division with six goals apiece ahead of the game, with Calne’s Kieron Gleed just one goal behind. With so many of the leading scorers on show Saturday’s encounter had the potential to be full of goals. However, at the other end of the pitch the two team’s defences have been performing just as well as their strikers up to now with Pewsey having conceded just the one goal so far, and Calne conceding just three. Whilst Pewsey had a lot of possession in the first half it was visitors Calne who had the better chances and Pewsey had goalkeeper Louie Latouche to thank for still being on level terms at the break. 

In the opening five minutes the normally reliable Pewsey captain Liam Edmondson misjudged a header which fell to Calne player, but the chance was not taken. Halfway through the first half a shot from the edge of the box from Richard Hudson looked destined for the net but Pewsey’s young keeper managed to get a hand on it and tipped it onto the bar to deny the visitors with a superb save. Five minutes before the interval Calne had another golden chance. A ball over the top saw Latouche facing a one-on-one, the keeper saved but the ball fell to Kassa Anderson who unfortunately for the visitors blazed it over the bar. It remained 0-0 at the break but with Calne certainly having had the better opportunities to take the lead. 

It was a different story after the interval though as Pewsey stepped up their game, going close within a minute of the restart. The deadlock was finally broken on 54 minutes, leading scorer James Guthrie firing in a free kick for his seventh of the season. Around the hour mark the same player extended the home sides lead with a shot from outside the box. Any chance of Calne getting back in the game was effectively ended when they had a player dismissed for a reckless tackle on Rory England and Pewsey were able to see out the game without Latouche being tested again. Commenting after the game Pewsey manager Alistair Tuttle noted, 

“That was our toughest game so far, Calne were a strong physical side who got the ball down and caused us problems, particularly in the first half, the best team we have played so far. 

"Whilst we had a lot of possession in the first half we didn’t really create any chances, making poor choices in front of goal. Calne had the better chances, and two world class saves from Louie kept us in the game at the break. We were a lot better second half and after going ahead we dominated the game, they didn’t really trouble Louie after we went in front.”

Next up for Pewsey in midweek is a visit from Ludgershall Sports, whilst Calne are home to Frome Collegians.

Pewsey's James Guthrie who scored both goals for Pewsey in their 2-0 win over Calne Town Res

(picture courtesy of Dane Pollard)

The other big game of the weekend was at Woodmarsh where Corsham Town Development and Trowbridge Town were both looking to move into the top five with a win. Trowbridge went into the game unbeaten after their opening three games whilst Corsham had just lost the one, their opener at Frome and were unbeaten in their last three games. It was Corsham who started the better of the two sides going 2-0 up thanks to an own goal and a seventh of the season from Ben Wickens. Player manager Jamie Jordan then pulled one back for his side with his goalkeeper Brandon Sawyer claiming an assist after his goal kick sailed over the Corsham defence finding his manager whose volley flew into the net for 2-1. Corsham restored their two goal advantage when Wickens scored his second of the game and his eighth of the season to move joint top of the leading goal scorers chart with Pewsey’s James Guthrie. Trowbridge reduced the deficit when Mark Robinson fired in from a tight angle but there was to be no late equaliser this Saturday as Corsham held out for the three points that saw them move up into third spot in the table above Calne Town Reserves. Midweek sees Corsham travel to Odd Down Reserves, Trowbridge meanwhile visit Melksham Town Reserves.

Adam Mitchell in action against his former club for Corsham Town Dev & Corsham keeper Dave Cardus catching a Trowbridge cross in today's game

(pictures courtesy of Martin Pearce)

Wroughton’s Josh Barnfield, who was Wroughton Reserves top scorer last season, has had to bide his time this season with the prolific Shane Hibbert once again leading the line at the Weir Field. With Hibbert missing the game against Devizes Town Reserves, Barnfield was given the start and certainly sent a strong message that he wants to hold onto the shirt. He put his side 1-0 up at Nursteed Road early on but Devizes responded with goals from Jack Smith and Nick Taylor to lead 2-1. Barnfield got his side back on level terms with his second of the game before Jamie Rathbone and Sam Long got in on the act adding a third and a fourth for Wroughton to make it 4-2. Barnfield then completed his hat-trick to put his side 5-2 up and a late consolation goal from Jack Smith, with his second of the game for Devizes saw it finish 5-3 to Wroughton who picked up their first win of the season. Joint manager Ben Jarrett was delighted with the first win.

“It was a really pleasing performance, we were very happy with what we saw today, our season has started now. Josh fully deserved his hat-trick this afternoon, it was an impressive performance from him. We have had some tough fixtures at the beginning of the season, but we have some games coming up which give us a chance to impress and show other teams what we are about.” .
It was the proverbial “game of two halves” at Elcot Lane this afternoon where Marlborough Town played host to Malmesbury Victoria Development. After a storming first half visitors Malmesbury found themselves 4-1 to the good thanks to goals from Harrison Archer, Jake Fortune, Josh Gale and Ben Young. Whatever Marlborough manager Steve Chadwick said to his side at half time it certainly did the trick as they came out for the second half a different side and got themselves back level at 4-4, Zach Symon completing a hat-trick and Jamie Conway with his fourth of the season only to then suffer the heartache of conceding a goal two minutes from time, Harrison Archer getting his second of the game to give Malmesbury all three points courtesy of a 5-4 score line Commenting after the game Malmesbury joint manager Troy Prentice noted that his side had been cruising at half time, but his players had thought they had won the game at the break and were nearly made to pay for their complacency. 

“If I am being honest, they deserved a point and we didn’t deserve the win based on our second half performance”, said Prentice. 

Marlborough manager Steve Chadwick reply to being told this was, “Troy is being generous. We got what we deserved after falling behind 1-4.”

Next up for Marlborough is a midweek trip to Purton for a game against former manager Andy Ealey’s new side, whilst Malmesbury are home to Wroughton.
28  August 2021
Share by: