Amesbury Town Champions of the Premier Division

Premier Division

Amesbury Town were crowned champions of the Premier Division in midweek without kicking a ball, this after second placed Kintbury Rangers were beaten 2-0 by Kingsdown on the 3G at Kingsdown School meaning they could no longer catch Amesbury. Congratulations to Amesbury on winning the League but congratulations also to Kintbury Rangers on pushing them all the way and finishing well clear of the rest in runners-up spot. On Tuesday night a goal on 34 minutes from Josh Atwell had given Kingsdown the lead and it remained just the one goal at half time. In fact, it remained just that one goal between the sides until injury time when substitute Louis O’Shea added a second for Kingsdown to make sure of the points and end Kintbury’s hopes of a second Wiltshire Senior League title to add to the one they won back in 2017-18. Amesbury will be presented with the trophy this coming Saturday and for them it will be an immediate promotion back to the Wessex League after just one season down at National Feeder League level. Amesbury last won the league back in 1991-92 and will be lifting the trophy for the fourth time on Saturday, having also won the league back in season’s 1979-80 and 1990-91. There will be no league and cup double this season though as, following the abandonment of their cup semi-final against Larkhall Athletic Development, the decision of the Discipline Committee was that the score at the time of the abandonment should stand, with Amesbury deemed the cause of the abandonment, with the score 2-1 to Larkhall when the game was brought to a premature end. Next week’s Fountain’s Trophies Cup Final will now see Larkhall Athletic Development play Melksham Town Reserves at Corsham Town.

Kintbury Rangers, having finished in second place and having originally applied for promotion, could possibly still have been promoted if the FA permit two sides to move up from the league. Unfortunately Kintbury are not in a position to go up, with further work still needed to be done at their ground to be able to take promotion to Step 6.

Ahead of that cup final in just over a week’s time, Larkhall Athletic Development picked up their biggest win of the season in midweek with a 9-0 victory over bottom of the table Ludgershall Sports to guarantee a top five finish and potential promotion should the FA decide to allow two sides from the league to be promoted. First team regular Dawid Regula led the way with a hat-trick, Raphael Oppong bagged a brace, Spencer Dymond-Hall also scored twice, George McLellan and Harvey Kendrick with the other goals.

Another team climbing the table in the second half of the season are last season’s champions Trowbridge Town who still have their eyes on a top five finish despite spending a long part of the season in the bottom half of the table. They travelled to third placed Pewsey Vale on Tuesday night and inflicted a third straight defeat on Craig Kent's side with James Rustell and George Bendle both scoring twice in a 5-0 win, Josh Howlett with the other Trowbridge goal.

There was one more game on Tuesday night and it was an entertaining affair at the Weir Field with Wroughton and Melksham Town Reserves sharing six goals and the points. Two more goals for Wroughton’s Jono Peachey-Score to take his total for the season to 30, Charlie Sharland with the other Wroughton goal. There were also two goals in reply for Melksham’s Josh Bright, a goal from Tom Dowell completing the evening’s list of scorers.

There was one game on Wednesday night with Malmesbury Vics Development entertaining Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development in a local derby encounter at the Flying Monk. Two goals from Mani Mesas plus one from Flynn Walters did the damage for Royal Wootton Bassett in a 3-1 win, Beau Hicks with the Malmesbury reply as the visitors completed a league double over their near neighbours having won 4-1 back in October at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground. Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development remain in fifth place for the time being but could still be overtaken by a couple of sides.

The final game of the week in the Premier Division saw both Kingsdown and Trowbridge Town play their third game of the week on Thursday night as the two sides played catch up with their fixtures. The game was switched to Marlborough Town's ground as a result of Kingsdown's ground being unavailable and thank you to Marlborough for their collaboration in ensuring the game could go ahead. The switch was certainly to Trowbridge's advantage as Trowbridge secured an impressive 7-2 win over the side who had ended Kintbury's title hopes just two days earlier. It has been a good week for James Rustell who bagged a hat-trick to add to the two he scored on Tuesday night and the one he got on Saturday, Nick Taylor, George Bendle, Jake Samuel and Liam Milburn with the other Trowbridge goals.  That is now three wins on the spin for Trowbridge who moved up to eighth spot as a result of their latest success. With three games to go they sit just four points behind fifth placed Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development.

Division One

There were four midweek games in Division One, two on Tuesday night and two on Wednesday evening. On Tuesday night Bratton’s chances of league honours were as good as ended when they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Marlborough Town. Ben Starr gave them an early lead with just seven minutes on the clock but an equaliser from Harry Womersley ensured a share of the points for Marlborough. To be able to get runners-up Bratton now need to defeat Faringdon on Saturday, hope Faringdon do not pick up a point in their final game against Kingsdown Development, hope Purton are beaten at Devizes on Saturday and then win their other two games against Shrivenham Dev and Kintbury Rangers Dev.

Also on Tuesday night Cricklade Town, in their final game of the season, were looking to ensure an eighth place finish with a win away at struggling Lambourn Sports, but things didn’t go their way as they fell to a 3-2 defeat. For Lambourn, two goals for Scott Garrett and one for Miquel Brown, Josh Riggs with both Cricklade Town goals in reply. Cricklade remain in eighth spot but are vulnerable to being overtaken by Shrivenham Development if Shrivenham were to win both of their final games of the season.

Purton maintained their interest in the title race with a hard-fought victory away at Kintbury Rangers Development in a crazy game which saw the two sides share 11 goals, with Purton eventually edging it 6-5 thanks to a last-minute winner from Alex Hammond after being put through by Harrison Bennett. Purton secured the win despite ending the game with just nine men and having played 80 minutes with ten after Nick Stanley had been sent off early on. Two more goals for Gio Wrona for Purton, Hammond also scoring twice with Chris Jackson and Josh Connolly also on the score sheet for Purton. In reply for Kintbury Rangers there were two goals for Toby Thorp plus further goals from Ben Wright, Max Davis and substitute Troy Flitton. The win for Purton saw them move second in the table.

After just one win in their previous six games, Devizes Town Reserves returned to winning ways with a comfortable 6-0 away win at Pewsey Vale Development. Star of the show was Harvey Swain who scored four for the visitors, Eoin O’Grady and Toby Baker with the other two goals. The win for Devizes saw them climb up to fifth spot in the table.

Going in Saturday’s round of fixtures just three points separate the top three sides and any of the three teams could still win the league. Park United lead the way three-points ahead of Purton and Faringdon Town with both Park and Purton playing their final games of the season on Saturday. Park are away at Shrivenham Development with a 4PM kick-off due to Shrivenham staging a double-header with their first team in action at 1PM. Purton meanwhile have a tricky looking final game away to Devizes Town Reserves and Faringdon also have a tricky looking fixture away to Bratton and then finish the season on Monday with a game against Kingsdown Development. If Park win on Saturday they will win the league if Faringdon do not take maximum points from their two games. If Faringdon were to win both of their games, they would take the title as a result of their superior goal difference.  For Purton to lift the title they need to win and then hope either both Park and Faringdon lose their remaining games or Park lose and Faringdon take just three or less points from their two games and also fail to make up the three-goal differential in the two sides respective goal difference. It is going to be a fascinating Saturday in Division One.

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3 May 2024