Fountain Trophies Cup

After ten Second Round games had been postponed, some ties having been postponed more than once, it was hoped that all six remaining Second Round ties would be played this week. It started well with both midweek games being played but come Saturday the wet weather at the back end of the week that fell as a result of Storm Eowyn caused the game at Trowbridge to be postponed and then also indirectly led to the game involving Redhouse and Bratton to be postponed, with Redhouse being "bounced" off the 3G at Moredon, despite a confirmed booking, to accommodate FC Abbey Meads. An attempt to switch the tie to Bratton was unsucessful with the Bratton pitch not being playable. This tie will now need to be discussed by the Management Committee. If it is to be restaged, with two postponements already, it will definitely be at Bratton.

The cup action that did get played started on Tuesday night when Calne Town Reserves and Letcombe  were finally able to get their game played at the third attempt. Whilst the game should have been Letcombe’s home tie following the two postponements, it remained at Calne due to the ongoing issues with Letcombe’s pitch. When the two sides had met in the league on the opening day of the season, Letcombe had left with all three points following a 2-0 win. There was to be no league and cup double though as the two sides fought out 3-3 draw meaning penalties would be needed to settle matters. Sean Bailey, Jack Smith and Jake Collis scoring for Calne, Ben Cleary and Dan Timbrell with the Letcombe goals. In the penalty shootout it was the home side who held their nerve, winning the penalty shootout 4-3 to progress to the last eight. The two sides meet again next week in the return league fixture which is having to be played at Milton United due to the ongoing issues with the Letcombe pitch.

The following night at the Plain Ham Ground there was a repeat of last season’s cup final when Larkhall Athletic Development entertained Melksham Town Reserves. In that cup final back in May, Melksham Town Reserves had triumphed 2-0 but Larkhall were to avenge that cup final defeat with a 3-2 win on Wednesday to remain on course for a possible third straight appearance in a league cup final. Despite their lowly position in the league table, Larkhall continue to save their best performances for this cup competition.  Goals from James Okell, Harley Prior and Andreas Smolka secured the win for Larkhall, a 17^th of the season from leading scorer Kegan Smart and one from Jamie Ellis in reply for Melksham.  

The two games on Saturday saw the leading two sides in Division One, Cricklade Town and Down Ampney, both looking to knock out Premier Division opposition and join fellow Division One side Lambourn Sports in the last eight of the competition. With their own pitch not playable due to the rain in the week Cricklade Town switched their game to Park United’s home pitch at Stanley Park to ensure the game went ahead and were rewarded for their efforts by knocking out the Premier Division side. They went ahead when a quick free kick from Callum Parsons found Levi Cox down the left-hand side and his ball into the box was side footed into the net by Chris Jackson for 1-0 to Cricklade. Cricklade went close to extending their lead when another Parsons free kick found the head of Emmanuel Kwarteng-Abrokwa but his header went just over the bar. Cricklade would not be denied for long though, and doubled their lead when Parsons, surrounded by three Park defenders, somehow found room to fire beyond Park keeper Kierran Ramsey for 2-0 to Cricklade. Park then pulled one back from the penalty spot, captain Zac Hillier making no mistake with the spot kick firing low into the bottom corner of the net for 2-1. Cricklade restored their two-goal advantage when neat interplay between player-manager Mani Roper, Cox and Parsons set up Kwarteng-Abrokwa for Cricklade’s third of the game with a quality team goal. Park pushed hard to get back in the game and Ben Selman went close with a chip which shaved the outside of the post. They did pull eventually one back when a ball into the box found the head of Adam Mitchell to set up an interesting finale. Park United pushed hard for an equaliser, with Mitchell being denied by the feet of Cricklade keeper Will Gage. Gage was then called into action again diving to his right to turn away a Ben Pring effort as Park continued to try and get an equaliser. However, there was to be no further goals as Cricklade held out to secure their second victory of the season over leading Premier Division sides, having already knocked out leaders Kintbury Rangers in the last round. Cricklade will have the chance to make it three victories over Premier Division sides having drawn Calne Town Reserves at home in the quarter final. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights by clicking on the link below:

The other Division One side to secure a cup victory over Premier Division opposition were Down Ampney  who defeated Kingsdown, in another game that was attempting to be re-staged for a third time. This time the venue was switched after two postponements at Kingsdown,  with Down Ampney taking full advantage, an injury time goal securing them a 2-1 win over Kingsdown. Paddy Cripps with the first Down Ampney goal and Connor Hibbs with that late winner, Callum Wilkinson with the Kingsdown goal. Down Ampney will now be away to Larkhall Athletic Development in the quarter final. 

With one of the two outstanding Second Round ties being an all Division one affair, the division is guaranteed four representatives in the quarter finals, with Lambourn Sports set to be away to the winner of the Trowbridge Town and Pewsey Vale tie, whilst the other game will see Premier Division Bemerton Heath Harlequins Res at home to either Bratton or Redhouse. Full details of the cup to date is shown below:

Premier Division

With rearranged games in the Fountain Trophies Senior Cup and a couple of postponements due to the wet weather, there were just three games played in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League but both the top two were able to get their games played and both were successful on the road against opponents who had both won by large scores in their last completed games.

League leaders Kintbury Rangers travelled south to take on a Shrewton United side who had won 5-0 away at Pewsey Vale the previous week. It had been a really tight affair when the two sides had met at Kintbury back in August, the game eventually being settled by a solitary George Armstrong goal for Kintbury three minutes from time. In the return game at Shrewton the league leaders Kintbury got off to a great start, leading scorer Kye Williams finding the back of the net early on with his 15^th goal of the season, but it remained just the one goal in it at the break in another close encounter. It stayed that way until just after the hour mark when Armstrong bagged a second goal for the visitors to put them 2-0 ahead. Shrewton sought to get back into the game but were unable to find the back of the net in the closing 25 minutes as Kintbury registered their 15^th clean sheet in all competitions this season in securing their ninth away win of the season in ten games to also maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Kintbury have conceded just nine league goals in 21 games which is an impressive showing at any level of football..

Letcombe kept in touch with the leaders by securing an away win of their own, bouncing back from the midweek Fountain Trophies Cup exit at the hands of Calne Town Reserves. Letcombe were up against near neighbours Shrivenham who were in good form, coming into the game on the back of their impressive 6-2 win away at Park United and a 1-0 lead against Kingsdown before that latter game had been abandoned due to an injury. It was another game where the visitors struck early, leading scorer Ben Cleary getting on the end of a Kieran Kerby cross to head home to give Letcombe an early lead, that is now 18 for the season for Cleary. A goal from Shrivenham’s own leading scorer Jacob Newdick restored parity, taking his total for the campaign to 15. However, Letcombe would be back in front going into the half time break, a ball over the top from Luke Stone finding Owen Shaw who held it up before laying it off to Jordan Davies who fired home to get Letcombe a 2-1 half time lead. Although Shrivenham fought hard to get back on level terms after the break they were unable to find a way through, not helped by having to play the final ten minutes with just ten men.

As well as the two games affecting the top end of the table there was also a big game at the bottom end where two relegation threatened sides in Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves and Faringdon Town were up against each other for what was the third meeting of the season with the two sides having also met in the Fountain Trophies Cup. Both the two previous meetings had been won by Bemerton and with Faringdon yet to win away from home in the league this season it was the home side who started favourites. It started well for Bemerton as they found themselves in front with just three minutes on the clock, Faringdon keeper Jack Gibson coming out to collect the ball but failing to hold on to it allowing Sam Butt to fire into an empty net for 1-0 on his debut for Bemerton.  Four minutes later Bemerton went close to extending lead, but this time Gibson saves the effort from the edge of the box to avert his side falling further behind. Faringdon got themselves back on level terms just before the half hour mark and it was leadings scorer Kyle Bowyer who restored parity with goal number 12 of the season, all 12 goals having come in league fixtures. However, it didn’t stay level for very long as Bemerton went straight down the other end to score a second within 40 seconds of the equaliser, Archie Ingram firing in after the Faringdon defence failed to clear their lines. Faringdon went close to getting an equaliser right on the stroke of half time, Louis Bouwers putting Bowyer through on goal but his flick past the keeper went just the wrong side of the far post as it remained 2-1 at the break. It remained a tight affair in the second half and despite both sides creating chances there was to be no further goals as Bemerton picked up their first win in the league since 19^th October when their opponents had also been Faringdon Town. Three vital points for Bemerton saw them move above near neighbours Salisbury Development and opened up a seven-point gap between them and the team currently occupying the last relegation position. Faringdon remain in the relegation zone, third from bottom in the table, currently seven points adrift of safety and have now played more games than the three teams immediately above them. With a run of home games coming up, where their form this season has been good, they will be looking to quickly erode that gap.

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

Division One

With the top two in Fountain Trophies Cup action, the chasing pack had the chance to erode their lead at the top of the table. Three of the four teams in the positions just below the top two had successful afternoons but for one it was a day to forget. That side was Bishops Cannings who started the day in third spot in the table and were away to Bradford Town Reserves. Based on their respective starts to the season few would have predicted Bradford Town picking up their biggest win of the season, putting seven goals past an out of sorts Bishops Cannings side. Harry Ledbury helped himself to a hat-trick, with further goals for leading scorer Kieran Balchin, Corey Pugh, Wiktor Wnuk and Jakiel Radaslaw.  

Devizes Town Reserves displaced their near neighbours in that third spot with a commanding performance against Stratton Juniors, also scoring seven goals to move level on points with second placed Down Ampney also doing their goal difference a power of good with a 7-1 home success. Theo Corbin with two, Matthew Russell, Liam Moffat, Finley Palmer, Harrison Sartin and substitute Rowan Anning did the damage for Devizes, Ryan Welland with the consolation goal for Stratton Juniors. That is now four straight wins in the league for Devizes who still have home games to come against both the top two and could well yet still mount a title challenge if they can continue their current form. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of David’s excellent pictures can be found on the league Facebook Group page.

Marlborough Town also made it four league wins in a row with a 2-0 home success over Kingsdown Development, ending their visitors own good run which had seen them go six games unbeaten ahead of Saturday’s game. Two second half goals from Harry Gibson and Henry McPherson was the difference between the sides. The win for Marlborough also saw them move above Bishops Cannings to occupy fourth spot in the league table but having played more games than the three teams above them in the table.  

Lambourn Sports kept in touch with the top five sides with a 3-1 home win over Shrivenham Development thanks to goals from Jamie Stones, Dan Reynolds and Aston Garland, Harry Phillips with the Shrivenham reply. Lambourn now sit just a point below Bishops Cannings and three points behind second placed Down Ampney.