Kintbury Rangers attack the Trowbridge Town goal in their 1-0 win that saw them maintain the pressure on leaders Letcombe

(picture courtesy of Alwyn Bodman)

For the first time this season all 18 teams in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League were in action on a Saturday and the nine games produced a series of close games with four being decided by one goal margins, three by two goal margins, one being drawn and the final game being a lot closer than the final score line would suggest.

The two leading sides in the division, Letcombe and Kintbury Rangers, were both involved in close encounters which would be decided by a solitary goal. Letcombe were away at Kingsdown and a goal just after the half hour mark from player-manager Luke Stone following a corner proved to be enough to take all three league points for the league leaders. Kingsdown fought hard to try and get back on level terms, but that equaliser eluded them as Letcombe’s defence maintained a clean sheet for the second consecutive game and their sixth of the season in their eight league games to date. Letcombe have conceded just three goals in those eight league games to date.

It was another tight affair at Kintbury Recreation Ground where Trowbridge Town were Kintbury Rangers’ visitors. Last season’s two league encounters had seen the sides win their respective home games and Kintbury Rangers continued that trend with a second half goal scored by Jesse Bowers which in the end was all that separated the sides at the final whistle. Kintbury remain two points behind Letcombe with a game in hand, that game taking place this coming Tuesday when they host struggling Malmesbury Vics Development and where a win would see them move top of the table.   

More of Alwyn's pictures from this game can be viewed on the League Facebook Group page.

Pewsey Vale lost ground on the two leaders when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Calne Town Reserves. After a tough start to the season Calne have now lost just once in their last five games as they held a Pewsey side who were not at their usual best in front of goal. Two goals from Jack Smith saw Calne open up a 2-0 lead, but they were pegged back by strikes from Callum Ball and a 13^th of the season from Josh Fowler to level matters up at 2-2. Pewsey created plenty of chances to have claimed all three points, but the chances were either wasted, or Pewsey saw Calne's young keeper Lewis Clark deny them with a string of excellent saves in a man of the match performance for the visitors. The two points dropped by Pewsey saw them overtaken in the league table by both Melksham Town Reserves and Wroughton.

Melksham Town Reserves went into their game against Faringdon Town having won all of their games except the two fixtures against the two leading teams Letcombe and Kintbury Rangers. They made it three wins on the spin with a 3-1 victory with all four goals in the match coming in the second half. Melksham went in front almost straight after the interval and built up a 3-0 lead before Faringdon pulled one back late on through Kyle Bowyer. On target for Melksham were Kegan Smart and Liam Brooks, both netting their fourth goals of the season, and Aaron Masson who opened up his account for the campaign. The sixth win of the season for Melksham saw them move up to third spot in the table.

Wroughton sit one place and one point behind them after a 5-2 win over Larkhall Athletic Development, two late goals for the home side finally making sure of all three points against a hard-working Larkhall side. The goals were shared around the Wroughton side with Jono Peachey-Score, Dan Grieve, Nathan Barbeto, Regan Cook and Ryan Major all scoring one apiece. Two more goals for Thomas Dowell for Larkhall as he took his tally for the season to four.

There was another close affair at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground where Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development entertained Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves in a game switched to the 3G pitch due to a cricket match on the pitch adjacent to the stadium pitch. Both teams had a frustrating afternoon in a game that saw controversial sendings off on both sides and multiple cards being shown. For the home side the early sending off of the influential Flynn Walters meant it was always going to be tough ask to get anything out of the game and in the end an early goal from Bemerton’s Ryan Scott was all that separated the two sides. The two sides are set to meet again early in October in the Wiltshire Senior Cup.

Shrivenham have had a tough start to the season and went into their home fixture with Malmesbury Vics Development still looking for their first win of the season. Malmesbury have also had a tough start to the season and travelled to Shrivenham still looking for their first point of the campaign. It started well for the visitors, Malmesbury going in front on 21 minutes through Lewis King who got on the end of a cross from Tom Wynn Davis to fire Malmesbury in front. Shrivenham got themselves back on level terms just after the half hour mark following some sustained pressure on the Malmesbury goal, Brad Hirst netting his first goal in the Premier Division this season. Having restored parity, Shrivenham went in front four minutes later, Cody Frost capitalising on some sloppy defending to put Shrivenham 2-1 and it remained that way at the break. Shrivenham extended their lead within four minutes of the restart, Jacob Newdick scoring his third goal of the season to give Shrivenham a 3-1 lead. Malmesbury Vics rallied and got themselves back in the game 17 minutes from time, Joe Tranter coming off the substitute bench to net following a Matthew Jones long throw. Any hope of a comeback was ended though when Hirst bagged his second of the game to give Shrivenham a 4-2 win that saw them climb out of the potential relegation positions on goal difference.

Salisbury Development were once again unable to stage their home game at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium but did secure the use of the 3G pitch at Bulford where they had played several games last season. It was to prove to be an excellent afternoon for the young Salisbury side as they picked up their second win of the season in an entertaining affair against Park United. Goals from Jeremiah Prempeh and Tom Farnsworth gave Salisbury a 2-0 lead, but Park came back strongly to level matters up at 2-2, only to see Naman Gurung restore Salisbury’s lead. Park continued to press for an equaliser and did level matters up again at 3-3 only to see Omario Henry net what proved to be a winner for the home side. Another close game settled by a single goal margin, a sixth of the season from Ben Pring plus further goals from Jamie Norman and Joe Lamb for Park in the 4-3 defeat. The win for Salisbury also saw them climb out of the bottom four places.

Blunsdon have struggled to field their strongest side in midweek fixtures and have consequently  saved their best performances for Saturday’s, this week picking up their second win of the season with a 2-0 home success over visitors Shrewton United with goals in the last minute of each half. Last season’s leading scorer Danny Hale broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time and whilst Shrewton pushed for an equaliser they found Blunsdon keeper Luke Kuczynski in fine form as he denied the visitors on several occasions. Blunsdon finally made sure of the three points a minute from time, Freddie Painter scoring a second to finally end any chance of Shrewton taking something from the game. Blunsdon remained in the bottom four on goal difference but moved above both Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development and Larkhall Athletic Development.

Division One

League leaders Marlborough Town went into their home game with Bishops Cannings unbeaten in their opening six games and three points clear at the top of the table. Bishops Cannings had also made a decent start to the season with three victories in their opening five games and they produced their best performance of the season to date to become the first team to lower Marlborough’s colours this season. Two goals from Caleb Hollow plus one from Sam Brewer did the damage for Bishops Cannings, Kieran Maidment and Dan Burke in reply for Marlborough. Marlborough created plenty of chances to have secured the three points but they just couldn’t put them away as they fell to that first defeat of the season.

The only other unbeaten side at the start of the day were Cricklade Town who had won all four of their opening games of the season, scoring 36 goals in the process, and who sat third in the table with two games in hand over the top two. They were up against a Devizes Town Reserves side who were level on points with Cricklade having played one more game but had also won four of their opening five games. In midweek against Purton, Josh Parsons had scored 12 goals, and he got his team off to a blistering start giving Cricklade Town the lead as early as the fifth minute. They were 2-0 up ten minutes later through Chilcott before Parsons scored his second of the game to make it 3-0 with just 16 minutes on the clock. Devizes rallied and prevented any further damage before half time. Parsons had a golden chance for a hat-trick when Cricklade were awarded a penalty, but the chance was spurned as their leading scorer failed to put the penalty away. Devizes got themselves a foothold back in the game 20 minutes from time, Finley Palmer notching his fifth of the campaign to make it 3-1. Any chance of a Devizes comeback was ended five minutes from time when Parsons did finally complete his hat-trick and take his total for the season to 19 after just five games. Cricklade are now the only unbeaten side left in the division.

Lambourn Sports started the afternoon in second place in the table ahead of their trip south to take on Bratton who sat in sixth place just three points adrift of Lambourn.  As was expected, it was a tight affair with Joe Edwards putting home side Bartton ahead but goals from Kias Bonner-Shea and an eighth of the season from Lewis Shaw turned things around for visitors Lambourn, who secured their fifth win of the season in what is turning into a much more successful second season in the league. The 2-1-win saw Lambourn move level on points with leaders Marlborough.  

Two teams who have had a tough start to the season were up against each other at the Red House where Purton were home to Stratton Juniors. Purton had lost all four of their opening games conceding 52 goals in those four games. Meanwhile opponents Stratton Juniors opening six games had seen them lose five of those games conceding 26 goals so the meeting between the two sides at the Red House was an opportunity for both sides to improve on their record to date. Having shipped 19 in midweek the Purton management would have been pleased with their first half showing that saw them take the lead through Joe Campbell before Stratton Juniors got themselves back on level terms from the penalty spot. However, Stratton Juniors upped their game after the break to run out 6-1 winners in the end. Star of the show for Stratton was Lewis Taylor who helped himself to a hat-trick, Sam Lowrie bagged a brace and leading scorer Corey Cullen took his total for the season to five.

Down Ampney were another side who had been scoring for fun in their opening five fixtures, averaging seven goals a game ahead of their visit to Bradford Town Reserves. At half time they trailed 2-1 to goals from Kieran Balchin and Harry Ledbury for Bradford Town and when Balchin scored a third early in the second half it looked Down Ampney were heading for their second defeat of the season. However, an eighth of the season from Paddy Cripps and one from Jack Hulbert saw Down Ampney pick up a useful away point, Harvey Coster having scored the Down Ampney first half goal.

Kingsdown Development and Pewsey Vale Development went into their meeting at Kingsdown School both looking for their second wins of the season. That honour went the way of the visitors Pewsey as player-manager Kierron Kiff scored twice with further goals from Alex Golder and Ben Hayward in a 4-0 win which saw Pewsey climb a couple of places in the table to fourth spot.

Kintbury Rangers Development travelled into Swindon for their game this weekend having gone three games without a win. Opponents Redhouse were also looking to end a three-game winless run which had seen them lose all three of those games conceding 15 goals in the process. Their recent defensive woes continued as the visitors Kintbury netted nine times in a high scoring game that also saw Redhouse bag three goals of their own. On target for Redhouse were Aaron Dale, Reece Pithers and Ryan Hackett, with a second half hat-trick from Harry Murtagh, plus two each for Charlie Allsop, Alfie Davis-Ellard and Jack Angell securing the three points for Kintbury and their biggest goal haul of the season so far.

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31 August 2024