Action from the Division 1 game between Devizes Town Res & Kingsdown Dev which finished 2-2

(picture courtesy of David Giles)

Premier Division

The title race in the Premier Division looks like it could go down right to the final games of the season for the two contenders, as both Amesbury Town and Kintbury Rangers both won again meaning Amesbury retained their eight-point lead at the top, but Kintbury Rangers still have two games in hand. Whilst the top two both won again there was contrasting circumstances to the two victories. Leaders Amesbury Town had a comfortable afternoon away at Blunsdon. Amesbury went in front when leading scorer Josh Moore was felled in the box and Ally McCracken put the spot kick away. Amesbury doubled their lead from a corner kick and, as has been the case on numerous occasions this season, it was Jack Vallis who was on the end of the cross into the box, heading home to make it 2-0 to Amesbury at the break. Amesbury extended that lead early in the second half and it came from a high-press on a Blunsdon goal kick, Robbie Owen chasing down stand-in keeper Elliot Clack’s kick out, with the clearance deflecting direct into the net off Owen. Amesbury made sure of the three points following good build-up play in midfield ending with a defence splitting pass from Jack Langdown finding Ben Morris who rounded the keeper and tapped in for 4-0. There was still time for one more, Ben Morris scoring his second of the afternoon to complete a 5-0 away win for Amesbury.

In contrast Kintbury Rangers were involved in a much closer game against fourth placed Larkhall Athletic Development who had gone close against leaders Amesbury in midweek. Once again, they pushed one of the title contenders all the way with the game being decided by an early penalty for Kintbury which was put away by the Division’s leading scorer George Armstrong for his 39^th goal of the season. That was to be the end of the afternoon’s scoring as Kintbury secured their third 1-0 win in the last five games to maintain their title challenge. That was their final home game of the season, and they finish with four games on the road against Shrivenham, Wroughton, Kingsdown and Malmesbury Vics Development. They have the chance to close the gap to Amesbury when they travel to Shrivenham in midweek for one of those two games in hand.

George Armstrong whose early penalty was enough to see Kintbury Rangers defeat Larkhall Athletic Dev

Pewsey Vale manager Craig Kent made his first return visit to the Oakfields Stadium to take on former club Melksham Town Reserves and it will not be a visit he will look back on with any fondness after his side fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Fountain Trophies Senior cup finalists. On target for Melksham were Sam Whitehead and Archie Newman. The win for Melksham saw them move to within a point of seventh placed Blunsdon with two games in hand.

After two straight defeats Trowbridge Town were looking to return to winning ways when they entertained Wroughton at Woodmarsh. In a first half of limited chances the two sides turned around with the game still without a goal. The best two chances of the half fell the way of Trowbridge’s Jake Samuel, but he was denied by a goal line clearance and a save from the Wroughton keeper. It remained 0-0 until 12 minutes from time when the deadlock was finally broken and the goal, which would prove to be the winner, went the way of visitors Wroughton, leading scorer Jono Peachey-Score getting his 25^th goal of the season. The win for Wroughton saw them move level on points with their beaten opponents having played one game more.

Salisbury Development had pushed Pewsey Vale all the way in midweek and were hopeful of returning to winning ways in their penultimate game of the season against Kingsdown. However, it was to be an afternoon to forget for the young Salisbury side at the Ray McEnhill. They fell behind to a goal from Stefan Edwards. Kyle Parker then doubled Kingsdown’s lead before notching a second to put his side three up. Callum Wilkinson then rounded-off a good afternoon for the visitors with a fourth Kingsdown goal. The win for Kingsdown saw them move above Shrewton United into 12th place and with eight games still to play could well finish in the top half of the table in their first season in the Premier Division.

The final game of the afternoon was at the Flying Monk Ground where Malmesbury Victoria Development entertained bottom of the table Ludgershall Sports. It started well for the visitors as Aaron Joseph put them one up with just eight minutes on the clock. However, the lead did not last long, Joe Tranter restoring parity with his eighth goal of the campaign within two minutes of Ludgershall going in front. Malmesbury went in front for the first time in the game nine minutes from the break, young Beau Hicks firing in to give his side a half time lead. Malmesbury made sure of all three points on the hour mark, their third coming courtesy of an own goal. Despite Malmesbury having Ciaran Lyon sent off for a second yellow card and ending the game with ten men that was to be the end of the scoring as it finished 3-1 to the home side.

Division One

All fourteen teams were in action on a busy Saturday in Division One and there was another twist in the title race when league leaders Park United were held to a 2-2 draw by visitors Kintbury Rangers Development at Stanley Park. Toby Thorp scored both goals for visitors Kintbury, one at the beginning of each half, whilst Corey Harbour-Burgess got both of the Park United goals to take his tally for the season to 13. Kintbury had keeper Alex Braidwood sent off late on in the game but Park were unable to take advantage and had to settle for a point. The draw left them three points ahead of second placed Faringdon Town but having played one game more and with vastly inferior goal difference. Park’s final three games are away to Bratton and Shrivenham Development and home to Devizes Town Reserves, the latter game being the rearrangement of the abandoned game which Park had led 1-0 at the time of an injury to the referee that caused the abandonment.

Faringdon Town maintained the pressure on the league leaders with a convincing away performance at fourth place Marlborough Town. Faringdon came out the blocks at pace, scoring twice in the first four minutes. Morgan Watts put them ahead in the very first minute of the game as a corner which was recycled was turned into the net for 1-0. They doubled their lead three minutes later with an individual goal through Kyle Bowyer, running at the Marlborough defence his shot deceived the Marlborough keeper who thought it was going wide but nestled in the bottom corner of the net for 2-0 to the visitors. Faringdon continued to create chances in a rampant first half performance and went further in front just before the half hour mark, a low cross into the box being turned in at the far post by an unmarked Watts for his second of the game. Three became four just three minutes later when Marlborough conceded possession in their own half and the ball was fed to Bowyer who hit a well-placed shot into the far corner of the net to make it 4-0 to the visitors. It had very much been one-way traffic in the first half, and it could easily have been a lot more than the four that Faringdon had scored.

Whatever the Marlborough management team said to their players at half-time they certainly got a reaction as they pulled one back within three minutes of the restart, a cross from the right being bundled in at the far post by Alfie Dawson. However, Faringdon restored their four-goal advantage almost immediately Josh Forth getting on the end of a low free kick into the box at the far post to make it 5-1 to the visitors. Credit to Marlborough who did not let their heads drop and continued to try and get back into the game, creating several good chances. Twice they hit the crossbar and Faringdon keeper Jack Gibson pulled off a fine save to deny them a second goal. There was to be no further goals and Marlborough will be hoping they can bring that second half performance into next week’s fixture when the two sides are set to meet again at Faringdon. Before that Faringdon have a local derby against Lambourn Sports in midweek before ending their season with two away games against Bratton and Kingsdown Development. Your Sport Swindon were at Marlborough with their cameras and subscribers can view the match highlights by clicking on the link below or the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League Website where you can also access all other games covered by Your Sport Swindon. 

Third placed Purton have hit form at the right time of the season and went into their away game at Lambourn  Sports on the back of four straight wins. Gio Wrona has been in fine form in front of goal in those four wins helping himself to six goals. He was at it again on Saturday hitting a hat-trick, Joe Herbert bagged a brace and there were further goals from Alex Hammond, Ashton Glover, and a 16^th of the season from Levi Cox in an 8-1 win for Purton. Purton are three points behind Faringdon, also with four games to play, all of which are away from home.

Devizes Town Reserves were looking to stay in touch with the top four when they entertained Kingsdown at Nursteed Road. Despite their lowly position in the table, Kingsdown have shown much improvement as the season has progressed and had given a couple of the leading sides tough games in recent week. That form continued on Saturday as they returned from Devizes with a point following a 2-2 draw. They fell behind to a first half penalty, the spot kick being scored by Liam Moffat with his 17^th goal of the season. However, the second half saw Kingsdown score twice through Josh Atwell and Isaac Osazuwa, whilst Devizes were only able to add one to their tally through Eoin O’Grady as it finished honours even.

David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of David's excellent pictures can be found on the League's Facebook Group page.

Bratton moved above Devizes into fifth place with a hard fought 2-0 win over Cricklade Town. Jack Booth put them 1-0 up at half time, Brandon Thompson with the assist. Bratton then scored a second through Joe Moloney on 65 minutes to wrap up the three points. Whilst they trail the league leaders by 12 points, they have three games in hand and are very much still in the title race with a big game this coming Tuesday night against leaders Park United.  

Pewsey Vale Development registered their biggest win of the season with a 6-0 demolition of bottom of the table Stratton Juniors. Joseph Gargett led the way with two goals, with the other four being scored by Charlie Hewlett, Kierron Kiff, Jack Grief and Rhys Armstrong.

Bishops Cannings have the honour of becoming the first side in Division One to complete their fixtures although it was not to be a happy ending as they fell to a 4-0 defeat away against Shrivenham Development. Bradley Hirst bagged a brace for Shrivenham with the other two goals coming through Max McCrae and Matthew Slevin.

21 April 2024