Wiltshire Senior League

Corsham Print

Wiltshire Senior League

Premier Division

Leaders Pewsey Vale Beaten

By Corsham Town Dev

Corsham Town Development Season 2021-22

(picture courtesy of John Cuthbertson)

A combination of waterlogged pitches and a couple of teams being unable to raise sides this weekend meant only half of the scheduled eight fixtures in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League went ahead. The weeke nd had been scheduled to see all the top four in action against each other, however, the match between second place Royal Wootton Bassett Town and Trowbridge Town was one of the games postponed, the wet weather and unauthorised use of the pitch at Woodmarsh resulting in the game having to be postponed. This postponement gave Pewsey Vale the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table, but they faced a tricky looking fixture away at fourth placed Corsham Town Development in the other big game scheduled for the weekend. Corsham had finally lost their 100% winning record in 2022 last week when they were beaten at Royal Wootton Bassett Town but were expected to be difficult opponents for the leaders, as they had been when the two sides met at Pewsey last September when a solitary goal from Harry Hoareau was all that had separated the teams. Pewsey Vale went into the game unbeaten in 14, having won 12 of those 14 games, whilst Corsham were also in good form having won 11 of their previous 15 games. The two sides had also met in last season’s Fountain Trophies Cup final which had been another close encounter decided by a stunning free kick from Pewsey’s Ryan Thomas.

There was to be no happy return to the Southbank Ground for Pewsey as their long unbeaten run was finally ended by an impressive performance by the home side and Dan Sibley in particular. Sibley had been Melksham Town Reserves top scorer last season and had scored on his debut for Corsham last week at Royal Wootton Bassett Town. He carried on where he left off last week putting his side 2-0 to the good against the league leaders. A headed goal from leading scorer Harry Hoareau with his 25th of the season brought Pewsey back into the game but Sibley scored again to restore his sides two goal advantage and complete his hat-trick. A penalty from James Guthrie reduced the arrears to but Corsham safely saw out the remainder of the game to secure the win and inflict only the second league defeat of the season on Pewsey. Pewsey retain their six-point lead at the top of the table, but second placed Royal Wootton Bassett Town now have three games in hand with the two sides still to meet again before the end of the season. Pewsey manager Alistair Tuttle had no complaints about the result commenting afterwards:

“We did not win any of our personal battles today and Corsham should have been out of sight by half time. The final score flattered us really.”

In contrast joint Corsham manager Tom Crawford was obviously delighted with his own sides showing,

“A superb all-round performance from us today, with Dan Sibley the hat-trick hero making it four in two games for us."

Calne Town Reserves finally ended their run of defeats last weekend with a useful point away at Shrewton United and were looking to close the gap to the top four when they entertained Marlborough Town. Marlborough came into the game having exited the Wiltshire Senior Cup at the semi-final stage in midweek, going down 8-0 to Wessex League leaders Bemerton Heath Harlequins. Their recent league form had seen improvement in recent weeks though with Marlborough having drawn their previous two league games after a long run of defeats. That uptick in form continued as a solitary goal from Daniel Burke in the first half gave his side an excellent 1-0 away win. A free kick in the box from out wide saw Burke react quickest to pick up the second ball and net for his fourth goal of the season. The win for Marlborough avenged the 5-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Calne at Elcot Lane back in October and saw them move to within a point of Stratton Juniors in the league table, although Marlborough have played the most games of any side in the division with just three more games to complete their season.

Shrewton United are one of two teams to see a manager departure this week with Joe Sheldrake being replaced in the dugout by Matthew Sleeman. Sleeman’s first game in charge this weekend saw the visit of Purton to the Recreation Ground. Whilst Purton have been having a tough season, they picked up their second win of the season a fortnight ago and the first meeting between the two sides at the Red House had seen Shrewton have to work hard for the three points, eventually securing a 3-1 win. It was something of a more comfortable win for Shrewton in the return, as new manager Sleeman got off to a winning start, two goals apiece for both new signing Dalitso Mandson and Aiden Compton, with an own goal completing the scoring in a 5-0 win for Shrewton. The victory saw Shrewton climb three places in the table to sixth spot. The other team to see a managerial departure this week were Ludgershall Sports with manager Andy Fennell stepping down after a couple of seasons at the helm. Ludgershall’s scheduled game this weekend against Stratton Juniors was another one of the four postponed games.

Frome Collegians are another side making a big climb in the league table this weekend. A 4-1 home success over Devizes Town Reserves seeing them climb four places from 12th up to eighth spot in the table. Two more goals for Alex Pippard who has now scored five for Frome since his transfer from Trowbridge Town, coupled with a fifth of the season from Pete Weston and a third of the season from Joe Upshall, completing the scoring for the Collegians. The consolation goal for Devizes Town Reserves came from Hugh Clark. It is just one defeat in the last seven games now for Frome and with games against the bottom two to come this month they will be eying up a top six position by the end of the month.