Premier Division

With the four Berkshire based sides engaged in County Cup action, together with Trowbridge Town and Kingsdown, there was a reduced schedule of games in the Premier Division this weekend. With leaders Kintbury Rangers otherwise engaged it meant both Wroughton and Pewsey Vale had the chance to close the gap at the top and whilst both achieved that aim Wroughton will be the happier of the two sides.

Wroughton made the short journey across Town to play a Blunsdon side who they had defeated with a later winner last month. It started well for the visitors as they went in front with just two minutes on the clock, Jonathan Peachey-Score firing in with a perfectly placed free kick from distance which gave Blunsdon keeper Nathan Davies no chance. Wroughton had much the better of things going forward with Peachey-Score being denied on a coupe of occasions by Davies who was quick off his line to deny the scoring chances. The Blunsdon keeper then did well to deny Aaron Maximen on 22 minutes, the Wroughton striker combining with Peachey-Score only to see his effort saved with his feet by Davies. Luigi Herndandez went close to extending Wroughton’s lead when he headed just over from a corner and then Nathan Barbato saw his effort turned away by Davies as Wroughton continued to press. It wasn’t all one-way traffic through and Blunsdon created a few chances of their own with Eliot Wheatley’s corners in particular causing problems for former Blunsdon keeper Luke Kuczynski and his defence. After soaking up the sustained pressure without conceding Blunsdon got themselves back on level terms ten minutes from the break. A Wroughton attack down the left broke down and Blunsdon broke quickly, Zach Bruce threading a defence splitting pass into the path of Eliot Wheatley who rounded Kuczynski and fired into the net to level matters up at 1-1. Wroughton went close to restoring the lead almost immediately, Maximen muscling his way through five Blunsdon players before being tackled with the ball falling to Barbato whose first time shot was again well saved by Davies with his feet. There was to be no further goals in the half with the teams turning round all square and all to play for in the second half.

Having scored that early goal in the first half Wroughton repeated the feat in the second half, Maximen playing a neat one-two with Peachey-Score before coolly firing into the net for 2-1, with again just two minutes played in the half.  Blunsdon went close to levelling matters up almost immediately, Bruce shooting across goal after a corner had initially been cleared, Kuczynski getting the slightest of touches to divert the shot for a corner. Wroughton had dominated the midfield for much of the game with Bonsa Teshome, Max Scholefield and Jonny Davoille influential in much of their build up play and it was Teshome who would go close to extending his sides lead, twice being denied by keeper Davies and a defender on the line as Blunsdon somehow escaped. Wroughton did have the ball in the net three minutes later, Peachey-Score firing in after being put in by Maximen, but an assistant’s flag ruled the goal out. On 65 minutes Blunsdon went close to levelling matters up, a ball into Wheatley from Jamie Pidgeon saw Wheatley deceive the Wroughton defence with a drag back into the path of Pidgeon who saw his shot just go the wrong side of the post. Wroughton finally made sure of the points 15 minutes from time, substitute Francesco Michienzi heading in from a Ryan Major corner for 3-1. Ten minutes from time Peachey-Score had a golden opportunity to bag a fourth when put clean through but keeper Davies did enough to put Wroughton’s leading marksmen off and his shot sailed high and wide as it ended 3-1 to Wroughton who moved to within three points of leaders Kintbury Rangers having played one game more. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights of the match and interviews with the respective management teams by clicking on the link below or using the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League Website which also has links to other games covered by Your Sport Swindon. More photos from the game will be available on the League Facebook Group Page in due course.  

Blunsdon pictured before their game with Wroughton on Saturday

It also started well for Pewsey Vale in their game against Park United at the Recreation Ground as goals from Brandon Vincent and Kieran Stephens saw them lead 2-0 at half time. However, Park responded well after the break with Adam Mitchell scoring twice for Park to ensure a share of the points. Whilst Pewsey closed the gap to Kintbury they would obviously view this as two points dropped in the title race.

Melksham Town Reserves moved up to fourth place in the table following a come from behind victory over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. Trailing 2-1 to goals for Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development from George Lance, with a penalty, and Flynn Walters, an impressive second half performance saw Melksham turn things around to run out 3-2 winners. There were two goals for Kegan Smart who took his total for the season so far to 12, Jamie Ellis with the other Melksham goal.

Malmesbury Vics Development finally have their first win of the season following a 4-0 away win over Calne Town Reserves, who saw their seven-game unbeaten run brought to an end by what was a strengthened Malmesbury side with Ben Patey scoring a hat-trick in his first game of the season for the Development side, Charlie Evatt with the other Malmesbury goal.

There was a win at the bottom end of the table also for Salisbury Development who returned with all three points following a 2-1 away win at Larkhall Athletic Development in an entertaining encounter between two young sides. Naman Gurung gave the visitors an early lead before Jack Stacey doubled Salisbury’s advantage. Angus Williamson pulled one back for Larkhall but despite creating several chances Larkhall were unable to find that elusive second and slipped to another defeat that sees them remain in the bottom four. However, the win for Salisbury saw them climb out of the bottom four and are now unbeaten in their last two league games.

The final game of the weekend in the Premier Division was a local derby as Shrewton United made the short journey into the city to take on Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves. It started well for Shrewton who took the lead with just five minutes on the clock, Lewis Cross converting after good work by Charlie Jackson. That remained the only goal of a scrappy first half. Bemerton upped their game after the break and got themselves back on level terms 20 minutes from time and then scored a winner two minutes from time to snatch all three points. On target for Bemerton were Liam Greenough and substitute James Finn. The win for Bemerton saw them complete a league double over Shrewton and move above their beaten opponents in the table.

More of Tony Smith's pictures from this game can be found at www.efc.smugmug.com

Wiltshire Senior Cup

It was scheduled to have been a busy week of games for Premier Division sides in the prestigious Wiltshire Senior Cup, the oldest of the Wiltshire County FA’s County Cup competitions, with Swindon Town amongst the previous winners of the cup. In the end, due to the heavy rain at the start of the week, just four of the scheduled seven games involving sides from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League went ahead, three in midweek and one on Saturday.  The game between Wroughton and Amesbury Town will now take place at the Weir Field, Wroughton this coming Saturday under the Wiltshire FA’s new “auto reversal” rule. The game between Melksham Town Reserves and Pewsey Vale will now take place at Melksham this coming Tuesday, whilst it is uncertain when the Malmesbury Vics Dev v Park United game will take place given the issues with the pitch at Malmesbury.

The three games played on Tuesday night saw just one side from the league make it through to the last eight, that team being Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development who won the all-Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League contest with a convincing 4-0 win over Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves, avenging the recent the 1-0 defeat in the league. As with the league game, the match was switched to the 3G at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground.   Flynn Walters got the hosts Royal Wootton Bassett off to a fast start with an early goal before a Manuel Mesas’ brace provided a dominant 3-0 half-time lead. The home side took the pedal off the gas a little in the second half, but Bemerton struggled to create much by way of chances and Chris Head ensured progress through to the last eight with a fourth goal for the home side late on. Your Sport Swindon were again at thos game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights of the match by clicking on the link below or using the link on the Your Sport Swindon page of the League Website which also has links to other games covered by Your Sport Swindon.

In the other games on Tuesday night, both Shrewton United and Blunsdon were defeated by Step 6 opposition from the Western League. Shrewton United fell to a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Warminster Town whilst Blunsdon were beaten 9-1 away at Calne Town. Calne Town will now be Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development’s opponents in the quarter final.

There was another all-Wiltshire Senior League tie on Saturday with Trowbridge Town entertaining Kingsdown. Trowbridge started well and were two goals up in within the first 20 minutes. The first came on 15 minutes, Charlie Maddison getting on the end of a Jamie Lyons cross to put Trowbridge one up. Three minutes later it was 2-0, James Cox curling a shot into the net to extend Trowbridge’s lead. Kingsdown fought to get back into the game and created several chances but were unable to find a way past Rob Brown in the Trowbridge goal. Early in the second half Kingsdown went close to reducing the deficit when they struck the crossbar and were given added hope when the home side saw themselves reduced to ten men, Nathan Phillimore picking up a second yellow card and with most of the second half still to play. However, Kingsdown’s one man advantage would not last long though as with 14 minutes to play Kingsdown were also reduced to ten men for a foul on Liam Watson. It was Trowbridge who looked the more likely to score in the closing stages and they were given a golden opportunity when a foul on Derek Wheeler saw the referee point to the spot. Wheeler himself took responsibility for the penalty but shot high and wide and the game finished with just the two goals as Trowbridge, the last team to win the cup from the Wiltshire Senior League, progressed to the last eight where they will meet the winner of the Wroughton v Amesbury Town tie in the quarter final. The full results to date and the draw for the quarter final is shown below:

Charles Twelftree Trophy

The four Berkshire based clubs were all involved in the Charles Twelftree Trophy, the County Cup for senior sides in Berkshire and it was to be a disappointing afternoon for the Wiltshire Senior League sides as just Shrivenham were able to make progress to the next round. League leaders Kintbury Rangers were up against near neighbours Hungerford Town U23. With many links between the two sides it was no surprise that it turned out to be a tight affair with neither side able to find the net in 90 minutes of football. Penalties were needed to settle matters, and it was Hungerford who held their nerve to win the spot kick shootout 3-0.

Letcombe were home to cup holders Burghfield from the Thames Valley League Premier Division and fell to a 4-2 defeat, Ben Cleary with his eleventh of the season and Jack Daley with the two Letcombe goals.

Faringdon Town meanwhile made the long journey to Wokingham Town Reserves but will be taking no further part in this season’s competition after they fell to a 3-1 defeat against their opponents from Division One of the Thames Valley Premier League. Faringdon have a big night this coming Wednesday when they play their first ever game under their new floodlights when they entertain near neighbours Shrivenham at Tucker Park.

On the subject of Shrivenham, as noted above they were the only winners from the league in the Charles Twelftree Trophy on Saturday, securing a 3-0 victory over Reading City U23 in a sporting contest at the Ian Richardson Football Ground. The damage was all done in the first half. Jacob Newdick opening the scoring before Brad Hirst fired in his fourth goal in this season’s cup competition to double Shrivenham’s lead. A third from James Hirst before the break meant the game was effectively won at half time but whilst Reading City came back strong in the second half, Shrivenham ensured they did not concede to progress to the next round.

Division One

With it being Wiltshire Junior Cup weekend there were just two league games played in Division One this weekend, starting on Friday night under lights at Kintbury Recreation Ground. With Kintbury Rangers first team playing at home in their own County Cup the next day Kintbury were happy to move the scheduled league game for their Development Team against Shrivenham Development to the Friday night. Kintbury were rewarded for their pro-active approach as the Development side picked up their fifth win of the season to climb one place in the table to seventh thanks to two goals from Harry Murtagh in the first seven minutes of the game. Visitors Shrivenham Dev put Kintbury under a lot of pressure as they sought to get back in the game but were unable to find the back of the net as Kintbury claimed the three points.

The one game on Saturday saw Down Ampney move up to second place in the table with a 3-1 home win over Lambourn Sports. Leadings scorer Charlie McCuish added two more to his tally for the season to move onto 16, with Lewis Baston getting the other Down Ampney goal, Jamie Stones with the reply for Lambourn Sports.

Wiltshire Junior Cup

Ten sides from Division One of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League were looking to join Bishops Cannings in the hat for the Third Round although Cricklade Town were to join Bishops Cannings in the draw without kicking a ball as scheduled opponents Nalgo Masters were confirmed as having folded late in the week meaning just nine teams saw action on Saturday. It was a mixed afternoon for our sides, with five teams winning through to the last 32 but four going out of the competition.

Biggest winners of the day were Marlborough Town who defeated Pilot from Division Two of the Trowbridge & District League 4-0. The goals were shared around with Tom Womersley, Simon Neale, Kieran Maidment and Dan Burke all getting on the score sheet.

Bratton also had a comfortable afternoon away at Stroud & District League side Minety, winning 4-1 with Jack Booth the star of the show, helping himself to a hat-trick with Adam Kenich getting the other Bratton goal.

Two goals from Liam Wood were enough to give Pewsey Vale Development a 2-0 away win against Donhead United from Division 6 of the Dorset Senior League.

It was a somewhat closer run thing for both Devizes Town Reserves and Bradford Town Reserves in their respective games. Devizes Town Reserves travelled to the outskirts of Swindon to play Swindon & District League Premier Division side Chiseldon. Goals from Liam Moffat and Oliver Norman gave Devizes a 2-0 lead, whilst Chiseldon pulled one back in the closing stages of the game there was to be no equaliser and Devizes progressed to Round Three.

Bradford Town Reserves entertained another side from the Swindon & District League, Bassett Bulldogs who had a short stint in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League a few seasons back. Bradford Town led 1-0 at half time thanks to a Kieran Balchin goal and doubled their lead with a second for Balchin who moved onto seven for the season. Again, the opponents from the Swindon & District League pulled one back but Bradford Town Reserves ensured they didn’t concede again to become the fifth side on the day to join Bishops Cannings and Cricklade Town in that next round.

Four teams exited the competition at the Second Round stage. Kingsdown Dev were beaten 2-1 away at Trowbridge & District League Division One side Holt, Joseph Cameron with their goal.  Redhouse went down by the same score away at Swindon & District League Premier Division side Old Town Athletic.

Stratton Juniors entertained Avon Valley, who are going well in Division Two of the Trowbridge & District League, and pushed their opponents all the way, eventually losing by the odd goal in five, Levi Dunn and Dan Bond with the Stratton Juniors goals.

Purton also went out of the competition to Trowbridge & District League opponents, Division One side The Stiffs winning their first game of the season, defeating Purton 7-2. The two consolation goals for Purton were scored by Mustafa Cylasbi and Kane Owen.

The Wiltshire FA have already made the draw for the Third Round and it has thrown up an interesting game for Division One leaders Cricklade Town who will be at home to Hellenic League Division Two side Swindon Supermarine Development who, like Cricklade have won all their games so far this season.

Another massive tie sees Bishops Cannings and Devizes Town Reserves drawn against each other in a cup tie for the second time this season, having already played each other in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Devizes won in that league cup game, but Bishops Cannings will be seeking to avenge that defeat when they meet again on November 2^nd in another game that is guaranteed to draw a large crowd.

There are no other all Wiltshire Senior League ties. Bradford Town Reserves reward for defeating Bassett Bulldogs is an away game at Durrington Reserves from Division Five of the Dorset League.

Marlborough Town are also away to opposition from the Dorset League but have a much tougher looking tie as they have been drawn against opponents from the top division of the league in Mere Town who are another side who have won all their games so far this season.

Pewsey Vale Development have a home draw with Coleview from the Premier Division of the Swindon & District League their opponents.

Finally, Bratton find themselves on the road again with an away tie against Warminster Town Reserves from the Trowbridge & District League. The full results to date and the draw for the Third Round is shown below:

For exclusive insight from the team managers of our clubs read Your Sport's Swindon weekly coverage of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. For details of how to subscribe see the advert below.

13 October 2024