Action from Amesbury Town's narrow 1-0 away win at Trowbridge Town

(picture courtesy of Martin Pearce)

It was a less hectic midweek in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League this week with just two midweek fixtures scheduled but in the end just one of two was played. The first postponement of the season due to a waterlogged pitch took place on Wednesday night when Larkhall Athletic Development’s home fixture against Shrivenham was called off in the afternoon due to heavy rainfall. The one midweek fixture that went ahead saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development avenge the defeat they suffered against Blunsdon in the Wiltshire Senior Cup the week before. In the league encounter Royal Wootton Bassett Town had much the better of proceedings and two goals from Nathaniel Bell secured a 2-0 win which saw them move up into third spot in the table ahead of the weekend games. 

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development were denied the opportunity to build on that excellent midweek result when league leaders Kintbury Rangers called off their game this weekend late on Friday due to being unable to raise a side. Kintbury will now be the latest team to face discipline action for postponement of games.

Kintbury’s inactivity meant that Amesbury Town had the chance to move level on points at the top of the table but had a tricky looking game away at last season’s champions Trowbridge Town. The game was billed as the top match of the weekend but turned out to be something of a cagey affair that in the end was settled by a solitary goal midway through the second half scored by Amesbury Town’s Ben Morris. The goal came from a quick counterattack following a Trowbridge Town corner, Morris with a neat finish into the bottom corner of the net.  The win for Amesbury saw them move level on points with Kintbury at the top of the table but for Trowbridge Town their frustrating start to the season continues and they have now also seen their scheduled midweek trip to Salisbury postponed due to a rearranged FA Youth Cup game. Martin Pearce was at the game with his camera and Martin’s excellent photos from the match can be found on the League’s Facebook Group page.

Pewsey Vale are just three points behind the top two with a game in hand over Kintbury Rangers and two games in hand over Amesbury Town following a 5-0 win over Blunsdon. The game this weekend was originally scheduled to have taken place at Pewsey Vale but with Blunsdon advising on Thursday that they were unable to fulfil the fixture at the scheduled earlier kick-off time that had been agreed due to the Pewsey Carnival, the game was switched to Blunsdon. Blunsdon’s Reserves fixture in the Swindon & District League was also switched to their opponent’s ground, to enable both of Blunsdon’s fixtures to be played. A thank you for the efforts of both clubs and the co-operation from the Swindon & District League on Friday in ensuring both the two games were played this weekend. The match itself saw Pewsey prove too strong for an understrength Blunsdon side, Andy Rossiter scoring a hat-trick for the visitors and Mike Jones and Brandon Vincent with the other Pewsey goals.

Melksham Town Reserves impressive run of form continued this weekend when they secured their sixth straight win to move up into fourth place in the table, their latest success a 5-2 win away at Shrewton United. The victory was effectively secured in the first half as two goals from Jake Dodge and one from both Sam Whitehead and Tom Dowell gave Melksham a 4-0 half time lead. Shrewton pulled one back in the second half through Jack Steggles but a fifth for Melksham scored by Aarron Masson restored the four-goal advantage. Shrewton scored a second to reduce the final deficit, James Collins firing in on the rebound after Aiden Compton’s penalty had initially been saved to make the final score 5-2 to Melksham Town Reserves. That is now eight games unbeaten for Justin Flowers’ side after having lost their opening three games of the season and they now sit just four points off the top two.

Wroughton moved back up into the top half of the table with a comfortable 8-0 win over struggling Odd Down (Bath) Development at the Weir Field. Jonathan Peachey-Score led the way helping himself to a hat-trick, Max Scholefield scored twice to double his total for the season, and Sam Long opened his account for the season, Aaron Maximen and Luke Saunders with the other two Wroughton goals.  Odd Down will be hopeful they can pick up their first win of the season this coming week to end their tough run of results. On Wednesday they face another of the sides struggling at the wrong end of the table in Shrewton United before another trip to the outskirts of Swindon next Saturday when they play Blunsdon, another side on a bad run of league results of late.

Shrivenham are starting to find their feet in their new environment and picked up back-to-back wins for the first time this season with a 3-1 home success over Malmesbury Victoria Development thanks to two goals from Matt Horsell and one from Brad Hirst. When the two sides had met at Malmesbury in the first week of the season Malmesbury had won 3-0 and the young Shrivenham side demonstrated the progress they are making by avenging that earlier defeat.

Calne Town Reserves have not made as good a start as they did last season but picked up their third win of the season with a 4-0 success away at Ludgershall Sports. The damage was done in the first half, Harrison Sartin put Calne 1-0 up after 15 minutes before Asher Jones doubled their lead. A third from Luke Masero in injury time gave Calne a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the half time break. A second of the game from Masero after the restart ensured Calne would return with all three points and the win saw them climb up to 11^th place in the table.

Larkhall Athletic Development currently sit in mid table after a 2-0 home win over Salisbury Development. Both goals in this game came in the first half, Matthew Morris with the opener on 25 minutes and Matthew Talbot then doubled their lead ten minutes later. That was to be the end of the afternoon’s scoring as Larkhall picked up their fourth victory of the season to sit ninth in the table with games in hand over all of the five teams immediately above them in the table.

In Division One with league leaders Faringdon Town having a day off, Park United consolidated their second-place position in the table with a 3-1 home win over Shrivenham Development. Whilst not at their best they made sure of the three points thanks to goals from Zac Hillier, Charlie Norman and Jamie Norman to move to within two points of leaders Faringdon ahead of next week’s meeting between the two sides at the top of the division. The solitary strike for Shrivenham was scored by Max McCrae.

Purton’s bad spell continued as they were beaten for the second consecutive week, losing heavily away at Marlborough Town. Marlborough’s Jake Farrell has been in a rich vein of goalscoring form, and he helped himself to four more in a 6-2 demolition of one of the title favourites to make it 11 goals in the last five games and 16 overall for the season for the Marlborough striker. The other two goals were scored by Kieran Maidment and Harry Womersley, player-manager Matt Bennett and Ashton Glover with the two Purton goals. The win for Marlborough Town saw them move above their beaten opponents into third place in the table.

After their own impressive win over Purton last week, Devizes Town Reserves were looking to build on that fine result when they met local neighbours Bishops Cannings in their big derby game. It was to be an excellent afternoon for the Nursteed Road side as they ran out comfortable 6-0 winners over Cannings in the end, although the final scoreline does not reflect that it had been a competitive and entertaining game throughout, played in front of a large crowd. Both Caleb Hollow and Liam Moffat bagged a brace and there were further goals from Oliver Barnes and Kieron Gleed. The win for Devizes saw them move fifth in the table just a point behind Purton but having played one game more. The game was played in front of a massive crowd for a match at this level, with 262 spectators in attendance, a figure a lot of Southern League clubs would be pleased with. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his excellent pictures can be found on the League Facebook Group page.

Bratton came into their home game against Pewsey Vale Development as one of the form teams in the division, unbeaten in five and having won the last four. They extended that winning and unbeaten run with a comfortable afternoon’s work against Pewsey. Joe Moloney set them on their way just before the half hour mark after being set up by Jack Booth. It remained that way until ten minutes into the second half when Joey Edwards doubled their lead, heading in from a Joe Moloney corner. The game was finally put beyond visitors Pewsey five minutes from time, Drew Adams heading in a Joe Moloney cross for his eighth goal of the campaign. There was still time for one more, Joe Moloney getting his second of the game after playing a one-two with Tom Thomson. The 4-0 win extended that unbeaten run to six games and the winning run to five as Bratton stay sixth but open up a bit of the gap to the teams below them.

After starting without a win in their opening five games a rejuvenated Lambourn Sports made it three wins on the spin with a 3-1 home success over Kingsdown. Goals from Josh Dopson, Sam Broadbank and Mahmed Suhayb for Lambourn, with Josh Atwell replying for Kingsdown with his second of the season.

The final game of the week was at the bottom end of the table where Stratton Juniors entertained Wroughton Development who are now under the guidance of former Purton manager Frank Hunt. Hunt is already having an impact on their fortunes as they picked up their best result of the season following a 1-1 draw with last season’s Premier Division outfit. Max Wills on target for Stratton Juniors and Sam Fitchett with the Wroughton Dev goal. Stratton Juniors had a golden opportunity to take all three points when awarded a penalty two minutes from time but the normally reliable Corey Cullen missed the spot kick and the two sides had to settle for a point apiece. Wroughton remain bottom of the table but will no doubt be buoyed by picking up their second point of the season under the stewardship of their new manager. For Stratton the draw ended a run of three straight defeats and they will be hoping that this is the start of an uptick in their fortunes.

The game between Kintbury Rangers Development and Cricklade Town was postponed.

23 September 2023