The Under 18 Division commenced this week but was restricted to just two fixtures due to County Cup matches impacting Bishops Cannings and Kintbury Rangers, neither of which took place in the end, and the withdrawal of Pewsey Vale from the division due to a lack of players.
The two games that did go ahead saw plenty of goals. Both matches involved established sides in the Under 18 Division up against newcomers to the league this season and it was the two established sides who game out on top. Radstock Town are now in their fourth season in the division and after achieving a couple of fourth place finishes will be looking to challenge for honours this season. They had exited the FA Youth Cup the week before losing 3-0 to Weston-super-Mare in the Preliminary Round but were keen to get their league season off to a winning start. A storming first half performance on Thursday in front of a three-figure crowd saw them score four first half goals and register a 4-1 home win over new side Bradford Town. Theo King set them on their way with the opener 18 minutes in and Bartek Grzywa extended the lead just before the half hour mark. Substitute Lex Southall made it 4-0 on 35 minutes and then last season’s leading scorer Lewis Wheeler added a fourth two minutes before half time to make it 4-0. Bradford Town then scored what proved to be a consolation goal to make the final score 4-1 to Radstock.
Royal Wootton Bassett Town and new side Kingsdown Lions served up an entertaining game at the Sustain Stadium which saw eight goals scored. It was the visitors Kingsdown Lions who went in front early on through Ben Payne, but Jacob Rendell-Haines restored parity before Jowan Partridge put his side ahead for the first time scoring from a free kick to make it 2-1 at half time. Kingsdown got themselves back on level terms early in the second half through Tommy Hellewell but it then very much became the Jacob Rendell-Haines show as the Royal Wootton Bassett Town forward smashed a second half-trick to take his tally in the game to four and give his side a 5-2 lead. There was still time for a consolation goal for Kingsdown, Tommy Hellewell with his second of the game as it finished 5-3 to the home side.
The other two sides from the division who had entered the FA Youth Cup also both went out at the Preliminary Round stage at the beginning of the month, both suffering heavy defeats. AFC Aldermaston were beaten 6-0 at home by Wokingham & Emmbrook whilst Warminster Town lost 8-0 away to Slimbridge.
Wiltshire FA County Youth Cup
The Wiltshire FA have made the draw for the First Round of the County Youth Cup with the seven Wiltshire based sides from the ten teams in the Under 18 Division this season all included in the draw. However, as in previous seasons the FA have included all teams in the cup that play at Under 18 level in the various youth leagues, not taking into account that it is the same players who are playing in midweek in the Floodlit League as are playing for teams on a Sunday. As a result, based on the Wiltshire FA website, it looks like both Melksham Town and Calne Town have conceded the fixtures that involved their Floodlit sides. In total eight ties in the First Round have been awarded already and looking at the list of teams who have given byes in the First Round it looks like there will also need to be some byes in Round 2. The old way of doing things, where just one team from each affiliated club represented that club in the competition and did so by applying to enter was so much better. Reverting back to that approach would reduce or remove the problem of so many awarded ties. The full draw for the First Round and the leagues which the various teams are playing in is shown below:
10 September 2022