Wednesday night sees the re-staging of the Wiltshire County FA Veteran’s County Cup which was postponed back in early February. The final at Melksham Town FC will be contested by two teams from the North Wiltshire Veterans’ Division, Cricklade Town and Coate, both of whom are also battling with Redhouse for the League title.

Coate come into the game on the back of last week’s 2-0 win over Westbury United in the Veterans’ League Cup. They will be hoping their return to the Oakfields Stadium will see them do the cup double. Coate’s passage to the final saw them given a bye in the First Round. Thereafter it was three games against sides from the Mid Wiltshire Division. First up were Chippenham Town in the Second Round with goals from Brady Lilley and Kevin Gulliver seeing them through to the quarter final following a 2-0 win. Next up were Westbury United, a side Coate would go on to meet in the final of the League Cup. A goal in the very first minute was all that separated the two sides in that first meeting and was enough to see Coate through to the last four and a meeting with the leaders of the Mid Wiltshire Division, Corsham Town. It was to prove to be another close game as Coate again secured a narrow 1-0 win, Dan Kingsley with the all-important goal, again early on in the game.

Cricklade Town, like Coate, received a bye in the First Round and were drawn to fellow North Wiltshire Division side AFC Swindon in the Second Round. Richard Austen’s side secured a comfortable passage through to the quarter final stage, winning 8-1 with TJ Bohane leading the way scoring four times with further goals from Adam Smith (2), Matt Richards and Marcus Hall. Cricklade were drawn away to Winsley in the quarter final but with their opponents having recently folded Cricklade were given a bye to the semi-final. In that semi-final they wer drawn at home against the one side from outside the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, Redlynch & Woodfalls. Two goals from Adam Smith and one from Phil Corcoran secured a 3-0 win to set up the final against Coate.

The two teams have already met twice in the League with Cricklade Town having the better of things. The first meeting between the sides in October saw them draw 0-0. It was close again when the sides met in the return fixture in February, an own goal plus one from TJ Bohane giving Cricklade a 2-1 victory, Pete Sealey replying for Coate. It is expected to be another close game when the two sides battle it out to join Melksham Town and Bradford Town with their names on the cup.

23 April 2024