We are now entering the business end of the season in the two Veterans’ divisions of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League with the teams chasing the two league titles all in action this week. There was a full programme for five games played in the Mid Wiltshire Division with the wet weather hopefully now coming to an end allowing games to go ahead on grass. On Monday night Melksham Town temporarily closed the gap at the top of the table to leaders Corsham Town with a second win over Calne Town in the space of week. They had won 5-2 the previous Monday and it was even more convincing in the return game with Melksham winning 4-0. It was very much the Kris Beasley show as the Melksham striker scored all four goals to take his tally for the season to 17.

Kris Beasley who scored all four Melksham Town goals in their 4-0 win over Calne Town

The same night third placed Warminster Town ensured they stayed in the title race with a 3-0 away success against Radstock Town. So far this season Warminster have very much been dependent on James Vincent and Louis Sparey for their goals, with both missing on Monday night they had to rely on others to find the back of the net,  with Steven Corbin, Jason Greatley and Jason Guy all notching their first goals of the season in the win over Radstock.

The third game played on Monday night saw Chippenham Town achieve back-to-back wins with a 3-1 defeat of Westbury United, completing a league double over Westbury having won the first meeting between the two sides back in October. Two more goals for Steve Tweddle who moved into double figure for the season. Ryan Nicholls gave Chippenham the lead on 11 minutes,  Tweddle scoring Chippenham’s second to give his side a 2-0 half time lead and then adding a third nine minutes from time to put his side 3-0 up. A late consolation from Paul Beavers for Westbury made the final score 3-1. The win for Chippenham saw them temporarily move above Devizes Town into fourth place, although they would be dislodged from that fourth spot later in the week.

Steve Tweddle who scored twice in Chippenham Town's 3-1 win over Westbury United

The following night league leaders Corsham Town were in action and had a comfortable win scoring seven unanswered goals against Trowbridge Town Tigers.  Leading scorer Simon Gray helped himself to a hat-trick to taking his total to 18 and sole leadership of the goal scoring chart in the Mid Wiltshire Division. Jamie Lyons and James Lye both bagged a brace to complete the big win for Corsham which also improved their goal difference which could be an important factor were they to drop points in any of their remaining four games.  They remain masters of their own destiny at the moment, win all four of their remaining games and they will be crowned champions of the Mid Wiltshire Veterans’ Division for the second time.

On Thursday night there was an entertaining game at Nursteed Road Devizes where Devizes Town met Durrington. The two sides were involved in a five-goal game that was just edged by Devizes to enable them climb back above Chippenham Town. Two more goals for Rhys Schell in the 3-2 win moved him onto 13 for the season, Dan Sloan with the other Devizes goal and Jesse Walters getting both Durrington goals in reply.

Rhys Schell who scored twice in Devizes Town's 3-2 win over Durrington (picture courtesy of David Giles)

Jesse Walters (seen here playing for Shrewton) who scored both goals for Durrington in their 3-2 defeat against Devizes Town (picture courtesy of Jacob Price)

The remaining fixtures of the top three teams are shown below. Whilst Devizes Town have probably dropped too many points to be considered a title challenger now, but they will certainly have a big say in the destination of the title with all of the top three still to play. The remaining fixtures are as follows:

All of the top three were also in action in the North Wiltshire Division in what could prove to be a pivotal week in the title race. On Tuesday night second placed Cricklade Town dropped points when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Chiseldon. Two goals from Adam O’Keeffe for Chiseldon with Marcus Hall and Mike Solan replying for Cricklade Town.

Whilst Cricklade were dropping those two points Coate made no mistake in their game against Swindon Rovers scoring six unanswered goals. Paul Stonehouse led the way with a hat-trick with further goals from Pete Monks, Adam Rudman and Neil Snow. The win saw Coate move to within four points of Cricklade with a game in hand.

The following night league leaders Redhouse were in action and they had another good night to open up a six point lead over Cricklade Town and maintain a ten point cushion over Coate having played one more game than Cricklade and two more than Coate. On target for Redhouse in a 4-1 win over Penhill United were Chris Hawkins who bagged a brace, also scoring for the third consecutive game, Mark Glover and Nolan Paul, Ben Jarrett with the consolation goal for Penhill. The destiny of the title remains in Redhouse’s hands, win all their games and they will be crowned champions of the North Wiltshire Division for the second time having previously lifted the title in Season 2021-22 but two of their three remaining games are against Cricklade Town and Coate. The remaining fixtures of the top three sides are as follows:

Chris Hawkins who scored two & scored for the 3rd consecutive game in Redhouse's 4-1 win over Penhil Utd

 The remaining fixtures of the top three sides in the North Wiltshire Veterans' Division are as follows: