It is very much as you were at the top end of the Under 18 Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League after the latest round of fixtures.

This week’s games got underway on Monday night when Pewsey Vale made their first ever visit to AFC Aldermaston. Pewsey were on a decent run ahead of the game having drawn with both Royal Wootton Bassett Town and Calne Town in their two previous games and that form continued as they picked up their third consecutive drawn game as it finished 1-1 at Aldermaston, once again highlighting that there is very little between all eight teams in the Under 18 Division this season. Dan Sandes scored for AFC Aldermaston with Jack Cady replying for Pewsey Vale. Both teams remained where they were in the league table at the start of the night.

The three games on Thursday night saw the top three in action and all three recorded wins. League leaders Devizes Town maintained their two-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a 2-0 home success over Radstock Town, both goals coming in the second half. The fact that it remained goalless for so long was mainly attributable to the performance of the young Radstock Town keeper. Tyler Moore eventually broke the deadlock before a second from substitute Jack Smith, his ninth of the season, secured all three points for Devizes who maintained their two-point lead at the top of the table.

Royal Wootton Bassett Town were at home to Calne Town, and it was the home side who went in front after 15 minutes, a hanging corner falling perfectly for Kevin Prouse, who guided a controlled side foot volley into the net from close range to make it 1-0. A second set piece goal followed eight minutes before the interval. This time the corner was played short to Jowan Partridge and, after taking one touch, he hit a powerful unstoppable shot from the right side of the area that rattled into the net off the crossbar. Royal Wootton Bassett went close to adding to their total on a couple of occasions, but it remained 2-0 at the interval. Second half saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town continue to have the better of things and they had several chances to put the game beyond the visitors, but none were taken, the closest they came being when a shot was pushed onto the bar by the Calne keeper with the ball rebounding to him. Just after the hour mark Calne started to have more possession and with just under twenty minutes to go, they got themselves back into the game. Home side Royal Wootton Bassett Town were guilty of some casual defending deep inside their own half and, after the visitor’s seized possession, the ball was eventually tapped in by Liam Brooks after his initial shot came back out off the post. That could have made for a nervous end to the game, but Royal Wootton Bassett Town saw out the closing minutes of the match to extend their unbeaten start to the season to five games and keep the gap to Devizes at just two points and with a game in hand. The goals from this game can be viewed on the Royal Wootton Bassett Town website (click here for link).

Biggest winners of the night were Melksham Town who were away at New College Swindon. When the two sides had met back in September at Oakfield Stadium it had ended all square at one goal apiece but in the return, Melksham made sure they maintain their good run which had seen them win three of their four games since that first meeting, by hitting five unanswered goals past the home side. Kegan Smart led the way bagging a brace and further goals from Archie Haggerty and Tom Dowell, all three players taking their total for the season to three, a further strike from Jordan Walker with his first of the season completed the scoring.

5 November 2021