Premier Division

Despite the bad weather last weekend and in the early part of last week, six games went ahead on Saturday in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. 

It was another emotional day at Shrewton where Shrewton United again took the opportunity to pay their respects to their chairman Stuart Withers, who sadly passed away last week following an accident. Shrewton had designated the match against Melksham Town Reserves as a “game for Stu”, with many former players, committee members, friends and family in attendance.  An excellent matchday programme had been produced which contained tributes and memories from ex-players, family and friends, which also included photos of Stuart throughout his footballing career.  The occasion drew the largest crowd for many a year for a game at this level in the county, with the reported crowd in excess of 500. As with all the games in the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League this weekend, there was a minute’s silence before the game. Stuart’s daughter and granddaughters came out with the players as they entered the pitch and placed a wreath in Shrewton’s colours on the penalty spot in front of them during the minute’s silence. After the minute’s silence and the applause given to the family as they left the field of play, captain Jack Vallis took the wreath and placed it between the two dugouts.

The game itself started well for Shrewton with the home side putting the visitors under pressure in the early exchanges. On 13 minutes they got their just reward for that early pressure as they edged themselves in front. A free kick from the right-hand side was lofted into the box and met by the head of captain Jack Vallis who, despite being surrounded by Melksham defenders, got enough on his downward header to beat Melksham keeper Harry Pickering and see the ball nestle in the far side of the net. Two minutes later it got even better for the home side with the award of a penalty kick. The captain Vallis took responsibility for the spot kick and fired in powerfully into the centre of the goal to make it 2-0 to the home side. Shrewton continued to have the better of things and went close on a couple of occasions but that was to be the end of the scoring in the first half. Melksham were not having the rub of the green in terms of key decisions in the game and things looked bleak for them two minutes before the break when captain Nick Chandler was sent to the sin bin for disputing one of those decisions, meaning Melksham would start the second half one man light for the first eight minutes of the half. 

Despite the numerical disadvantage at the start of the half, Melksham Town upped their game after the break and survived those eight minutes without conceding again. They then started to get on top and dominate possession but without really creating any clear-cut chances. The closest they came to scoring was from a couple of half chances.  The first was when the ball fell to Liam Brooks on the edge of the Shrewton box, but he shot tamely into the hands of Shrewton keeper Sam Gates. Not long after, following a Melksham corner, the ball fell to Nick Taylor on the edge of the box, but their recent signing from Trowbridge Town saw his effort sail high and over the bar. For much of the second half Melksham continued to dominate proceedings but with Shrewton always looking dangerous on the break. Indeed, they almost caught Melksham out a couple of times when clearing their lines, but on both occasions the Shrewton forwards went a little too early and were caught offside. Shrewton were then almost gifted a third when Melksham keeper Pickering miskicked a clearance straight to Jordan Cross, but the Shrewton player shot wide of the near post. The game was to be finally put beyond Melksham when Shrewton grabbed a third, with a fine individual goal against the run of play. Melksham were the architects of their own downfall though conceding possession in their own half cheaply. The ball was picked up by Alfie Pawlak-Walsh who went on a mazy run beating a couple of Melksham defenders to put himself in clear on goal and he finished in style to make sure of the three points for the home side.  The closing stages of the game saw Shrewton manager George Plank make a cameo appearance in the game, coming off the bench but then substituting himself after about ten minutes.

The only blemish on the afternoon’s proceedings for Plank’s side was having captain Vallis sent off two minutes from the end of the game. Seeing the chance of a hat-trick goal flash before his eyes he lunged for a ball that in reality was always going to be claimed first by Melksham keeper Pickering and he connected with the keeper in what looked a dangerous challenge. To his credit his first reaction was to apologise to the Melksham keeper knowing he had made a mistake. With Pickering having suffered a serious injury last season when playing for Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the Hellenic League which caused a game to be abandoned, thankfully on this occasion he was able to continue, but referee Steve Higgins had little choice but to show Vallis the red card. There was a late chance for a consolation goal for Melksham in the closing stages,  Olly Clarke forcing Shrewton keeper Sam Gates into a fine save to ensure a clean sheet for the home side. On the balance of play of the second half Melksham will feel hard done by the 3-0 score line but credit to them for the part they played in the game and the occasion. The win for Shrewton sees them move up to seventh place in the table just a point behind their beaten opponents and with a game in hand.

More pictures from the Shrewton v Melksham Town Reserves game can be found on the League Facebook Page.

The big game at the top end of the table was second placed Letcombe’s trip to the Weir Field to take on Wroughton who started the day in third place in the table for what is believed to be the first ever league meeting between the two sides. With just a couple of exceptions, Letcombe’s games have generally been tight affairs this season with the Oxfordshire based side having a good habit of being on the right side of such tight games and Saturday’s encounter with Wroughton would prove to be another such occasion. Goals from Jordi Davies and Sam Fletcher, the latter scoring on his debut, secured a narrow 2-1 win to move to within five points of league leaders Kintbury Rangers. The Wroughton goal came from the usual source, the Division’s leading scorer Jonathan Peachey-Score netting his 21^st goal of the campaign.

After a great start to the season Pewsey Vale have hit a bad patch in recent weeks, with just one win in their previous seven games in all competitions ahead of their trip into Bath to take on Larkhall Athletic Development on the new 3G at the Plain Ham. However, whilst on a bad run five of those seven games had been against the sides at the top of the table in a tough run of fixtures. Larkhall meanwhile had shown signs of improvement in recent weeks having gone four games unbeaten before last week’s defeat at the hands of Shrivenham. It was to be Pewsey Vale who returned to winning ways on Saturday returning from Bath with all three points following a 4-1 victory. Two more goals for Josh Fowler taking his total for the season onto 21, joining Wroughton’s Peachey-Score at the top of the Premier Division goal scoring charts, with further goals from Brandon Vincent and Alex Golder giving Pewsey the win, Jordan Phillips with the solitary Larkhall goal. The win for Pewsey Vale saw them move above Wroughton into third place in the table.

Shrivenham are one of the form teams in the division, unbeaten in their last six league games, five of which had been won ahead of the visit of Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves. When the two sides had met down in Salisbury back in August Bemerton had won 2-0 but Saturday saw Shrivenham avenge that defeat in style. Two first half goals from James Hirst put them in a commanding position at half time and second half goals from Jacob Newdick, Matty Horsell and Kieron Sutton gave the young Shrivenham side an impressive 5-0 win. The win for Shrivenham saw them climb to tenth place in the table and they are now well clear of the relegation zone. Bemerton on the other hand are in danger of slipping into a relegation battle having now gone four games without a win in the league.

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

Faringdon Town have been on a bad run of late, with five straight defeats in the league and having yet to register a single point on their travels so far this season and had slipped into the relegation zone. Saturday saw them on home turf at Tucker Park looking to bring their poor run of results to an end against a Kingsdown side who have already beaten several of the sides at the top end of the table and on their day are a match for anyone in the division. This was not to be one of their better days though as they fell to a 1-0 defeat, with Faringdon getting the only goal of the game with just three minutes on the clock, George James with the goal. In a tight game Faringdon twice struck the crossbar in the first half but were unable to add to that early goal, whilst Kingsdown put the Faringdon goal under sustained pressure without being able to find the net. Kingsdown were given a golden chance to get back on level terms midway through the second half with the award of a penalty. However, the spot kick was hit wide of the target and that penalty miss would prove costly as Kingsdown failed to find the net in the remaining 20 minutes as Faringdon secured a vital win in their quest to avoid the drop.

There was an important game at the bottom end of the table as Blunsdon entertained Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development, with the two sides separated by one place and one point at the start of the day, with Blunsdon the wrong side of the relegation line. It started well for Blunsdon as Nick Craft put them ahead after good work from Sean Creely, intercepting a pass to feed in Craft for the goal. However, Blunsdon found themselves trailing at the break as a free kick from Dale Richards and a second goal from Max Spackman turned the game around.  Blunsdon went in search of an equaliser after the break and eventually got themselves back on level terms, Craft scoring his second of the game from a Callum Courtney corner. Royal Wootton Bassett Town then had Josh Connolly dismissed for a second yellow card but managed to see out the remaining time without conceding again to leave it honours even and one point apiece. Blunsdon remained in the relegation zone with that one point differential to their opponents with one game in hand. The point for Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development, who are now unbeaten in four games in all competitions, saw them move above Salisbury Development in the table but they have played more games than all their rivals at the bottom end of the table.

At the start of the week Trowbridge Town’s pitch was under water following Storm Bert and despite the best efforts of the groundsman all week to pump away the water the pitch failed a pitch inspection on Friday and Trowbridge’s scheduled fixture against Salisbury Development was unfortunately postponed.

Also postponed was the one scheduled game in the Fountain Trophies Cup between Division One leaders Cricklade Town and Park United from the Premier Division, with the Cricklade pitch also not recovering from the effects of last week’s Storm Bert. There will be one more attempt to stage the game at Cricklade and if postponed again the fixture will switch to being Park's home tie under the Fountain Trophies Cup rules.

Division One

With the top two without a league game this weekend, the chasing pack at the top end of the table had the chance to close the gap at the top in the race for that one guaranteed promotion spot. The big game of the day was at Nursteed Road Devizes where third placed Bishops Cannings were Devizes Town Reserves visitors in what was the fourth meeting of the season between the sides, having drawn each other in both cups. All three previous encounters had been decided by single goal margins, with Devizes winning in the league game back in August and in Fountain Trophies Cup at the beginning of October, but Bishops Cannings having won the recent County Cup encounter. Another close encounter was anticipated, and it proved to be just that. Szymon Raczek put the visitors Bishops Cannings ahead with an early goal, Raczek scoring his 21^st goal of the season, with all 21 having come in league games. However, Devizes were back on level terms by the break, Finley Palmer equalising ten minutes before half time before Devizes were then reduced to ten men following a sending off. Despite the numerical disadvantage for the whole of the second half it would be the home side who would get the winner, Palmer getting his second of the game 13 minutes from time to complete a league double for Devizes over their near neighbours. The win for Devizes saw them move up to fourth place and to within three points of their beaten opponents and with four games in hand. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of David's excellent pictures from this game can be viewed on the League Facebook Group page.

Lambourn Sports were another side looking to close the gap at the top of the table when they entertained Stratton Juniors who, despite their lowly position in the table, had picked up in recent weeks under the new management team of Alun Rossiter and Kevin Dunn. When the two sides had met back in August it had been a close game won in the end by Lambourn 2-1 and it was again to prove to be a tight affair with the two sides sharing eight goals and the points in a 4-4 draw. Lambourn, who were never in front in the game, equalising with a late headed goal to deny Stratton the win. On target for Stratton were Shane Hibbert, Daniel Peapell, Ben Wells and Aaron Wellend, the Lambourn Sports goals coming through Lewis Shaw with two, Kias Bonner-Shea and Sam Broadbank. The dropped points for Lambourn saw Devizes Town Reserves moved above them in the table, whilst at the other end of the table Stratton Juniors moved above Redhouse into 12^th spot.

Like Stratton Juniors, Bratton have picked up in recent weeks and went into their trip to Pewsey Vale Development on the back of three straight wins in the league and four in all competitions. In all likelihood would have been five if last week’s Fountain Trophies Cup game with Redhouse had gone the full duration, Bratton having led 5-1 when the game had been abandoned just before half time. That winning run continued on Saturday as they returned from Pewsey with all three points following a 4-2 win. Two goals for Jack Hayward and one apiece for Joseph Whiteman and Lewis Wayman for Bratton, George Allen and an eighth of the season from player-manager Kierron Kiff in reply for Pewsey. The win for Bratton saw them remain in eighth place in the table but move level on points with Marlborough Town with a game in hand.  

Kingsdown Development are another form side in the division, and they followed up last week’s impressive victory over league leaders Cricklade Town with another three points return from their home game against Bradford Town Reserves. In the proverbial game of two halves, Bradford Town Reserves led 1-0 at the break thanks to a Steven Johnson goal, but three unanswered strikes from Kingsdown in the second half saw them claim the three points, Bongumenzi Ceko, Steven Davies and Callum Miller with the Kingsdown goals. The win for Kingsdown saw them move above Bradford Town Reserves in the table.

Whilst they have yet to record their first point of the season there are also signs of improvement at Purton as the defeats are getting less heavy. On Saturday they fell to a 6-0 defeat at the Red House at the hands of Shrivenham Development, Lewis Mokler scoring twice for the visitors with further goals from Will Bazen, Bradley Ellis, and substitutes John Hunnings and Christian Wills.

Redhouse’s game against Marlborough Town was another game to be postponed due to the knock-on effects of last week’s Storm Bert, the Redhouse pitch having not recovered from last week’s abandoned cup game against Bratton.

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30 November 2024