Whilst Kintbury Rangers are looking odds on to lift the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League Premier Division title this season, at the other end of the table things are getting very interesting in the battle to avoid the drop, with three of the seventeen teams set to be relegated at the end of the season. This scenario arose after Blunsdon withdrew from the league hence reducing the teams to be relegated from four to three. There was a vital game in midweek at Malmesbury where Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development made the short journey along the B4042 to take on Malmesbury Vics Development. When the sides had met back in October a late Flynn Walters goal had given Royal Wootton Bassett Town the three points and they were looking to complete a league double to ease their relegation fears. The game started on what was already a heavy Malmesbury pitch at the Flying Monk, with the pitch having staged a first team game the previous night, and heavy rain in the second half on Wednesday made the difficult conditions even worse for both sides. It was the visitors Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development who created the early chances, Dale Richards forcing a save from the Malmesbury keeper Rhys Simpkins as early as the second minute. Richards should have put the visitors 1-0 up ten minutes in when presented with a golden chance from just six yards out but somehow, he managed to fire over the bar when it looked easier to score, and it remained 0-0. Three minutes later Richards set up Flynn Walters for another good chance but the visitors leading scorer saw his shot deflected for a corner. It was not all one-way traffic though and at the other end a long throw into the box from Ciaran Lyon caused all kinds of problems in the visitors defence but it was eventually cleared in what was Malmesbury’s best chance of the half. Eight minutes before the break Walters once again went close for Royal Wootton Bassett Town Dev but his shot from distance went just wide of the post and the teams turned round at the break at 0-0 and all to play for.

Ten minutes into the second half Malmesbury were nearly gifted an opener by the Royal Wootton Bassett Town keeper Dan West, his miskick going straight to Sam Parker but Parker’s shot towards an empty net went just the wrong side of the post. Malmesbury went close again a minute later, Rob Collier getting clean through on goal, but his powerfully hit shot went over the bar. At the other end Walters went close to breaking the deadlock on 64 minutes when a ball over the top saw him through in on goal, but Simpkins saved with his feet to prevent the home side from going behind. A goal was coming though and five minutes later the deadlock was broken, and it was to be the home side who got themselves in front. A free kick from Collier was lofted into the box and Parker rose above the visitor’s defence to head into the far top corner of the net past West. A minute later things went from bad to worse for the visitors when substitute Charlie Hancock fired in a second for Malmesbury. To their credit the visitors kept trying to play their football but on such a heavy pitch a more direct approach may have been more appropriate. They had a golden chance to get a foothold back in the game 13 minutes from time when Walters was put through on goal, but he dragged his shot wide of the far post. Five minutes from time they had another great chance when Toby Parker was put clean through in on goal, but he also fired wide of the post. In the final minute Walters again found himself clean through on goal but hit his shot over the bar. Just as it looked as though they would draw a blank on the night, despite having created numerous chances, they did finally find the back of the net deep into injury time, Walters with the goal when again he was put in on goal and this time made no mistake but it was all too little too late. Malmesbury saw out the closing seconds to secure their first three points of the season having been deducted points for failing to fulfil fixtures earlier in the season. For the visitors a disappointing result that could prove costly come the end of the season. 

Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development  had the chance to bounce back from that midweek defeat at Malmesbury when they entertained an in-form Kingsdown side on the 3G at the Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on Saturday. Kingsdown came into the game on the back of two consecutive victories and were unbeaten in the league in 2025. The home side created the better chances in the opening half but a combination of some wayward finishing and some excellent saves from the Kingsdown keeper Lewis Simmonds saw them fail to find the back of the net. The visitors Josh Atwell showed them how to do it though when he put the visitors in front, getting on the end of a cross from the right to volley home to give his side a 1-0 lead. After the break Kingsdown upped their game and went further in front  when Atwell, chasing a lost cause, beat his defender to the ball and squared to Antonio Gerrish who fired into the far corner of the net for 2-0. The win for Kingsdown saw them climb up to fifth place in the table. For the home side that is now three defeats in a row and results elsewhere saw them slip a place in the table and they are now just above the relegation zone and in serious danger of the drop with the sides below them in the table all having games in hand.  Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights of the game by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

The side moving above Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the table and moving out of the relegation zone were Larkhall Athletic Development who have found their form just at the right time. They were home to Calne Town Reserves, who could yet find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle. It started well for Calne, Darcy Garner firing them in front, but Larkhall came back strongly to score four times to run out 4-1 winners and make it four straight wins in all competitions, which would have been five but for Blunsdon’s withdrawal. Two goals for Angus Williamson plus one apiece for Andreas Smolka and Eddy Pope did the damage for Larkhall who climbed two places in the table as a result of their win with Salisbury Development, who were without a game, slipping into the relegation zone.

The other side in relegation trouble who were in action on Saturday were Faringdon Town  who were home to Melksham Town Reserves at Tucker Park. It is at Tucker Park that Faringdon have accumulated all but three of their points this season and with a run of four home games were looking to accumulate as many points as possible to lift them out of the bottom four ahead of some tricky looking away fixtures to end the season. It started well for the home side as a goal from Daniel Loyden fired them ahead on 19 minutes, Jamie Tuck and Matthew Pill combining to set up Loyden for the goal. Faringdon went close to extending their lead on 25 minutes, Liam Hares being denied by a great save from Melksham keeper Harry Pickering. It remained 1-0 at the break. Melksham went close to getting themselves back on level terms just before the hour mark but were denied by a goal line clearance from Hares. At the other end George James had a good chance to double Faringdon’s lead but fired over from ten yards. As the game entered its final minute it looked as though Faringdon would be claiming three vital points but there was to be heartbreak right at the death for the home side. A cross into the box in the final minute of the game eluded Faringdon keeper Jack Gibson and went in off Melksham striker Nick Taylor for an equaliser to give Melksham a share of the points. The point for Faringdon sees them remain six points from safety with seven games to go but with three of those games being against fellow relegation strugglers they will be hoping to still bridge the gap come the end of the season but those two extra points would have been most welcome given their current position, but it was not to be.

At the top of the table Kintbury Rangers had a tricky looking away fixture on the 3G at Stanley Park against Park United who are having a very good first season at the higher level. With last season’s leading scorer George Armstrong back in the fold Kintbury went into the game still unbeaten in the league after 22 games and 20 points clear at the top of the table. It was to prove to be Armstrong’s afternoon as his clinical finishing in front of goal proved to be the difference between the two sides, Armstrong helping himself to a hat-trick in a 3-0 win. That is now 12 goals in 12 games for Armstrong since his return and with just nine games to go now Kintbury could well go through the whole league season unbeaten and achieve promotion to Step 6 in style.

Letcombe, who started the day in second place, also had a tricky looking away fixture with their first ever game against Shrewton United. On their day Shrewton are capable of beating most teams and Saturday was one of those days as they inflicted Letcombe’ biggest defeat of the season. Shrewton went in front on 15 minutes a ball over the top found Morgan Aldridge who lobbed Letcombe keeper Harry Whitefield from 18 yards. Shrewton extended their lead 26 minutes in, with an individual goal from Tom Plank. Plank beating two defenders before firing home to give Shrewton a 2-0 lead. Two minutes later Plank was at it again, Aldridge forcing Letcombe keeper Whitehead into an error which Plank took full advantage off to make it 3-0 to Shrewton with just 28 minutes on the clock. Visitors Letcombe got themselves a foothold back in the game on 36 minutes, Owen Shaw with a stunning strike from outside the box to give his side hope of getting back into the game going into the break. Unfortunately, those hopes were extinguished by the home side just after the hour mark, Aidan Compton winning the ball in midfield and driving at the Letcombe defence before striking a shot past Whitehead for 4-1. Twenty minutes from time Shrewton found themselves down to ten men following a sending off but the ten men safely saw out those closing minutes to inflict a fifth defeat of the season on Letcombe who slipped to third place in the table as a result of the defeat. Shrewton are now just one place and two points behind them in the table but have played five more games than Letcombe but are well positioned to secure a top five position come the end of the season.

With Letcombe losing, Shrivenham took full advantage to move up into second place in the table with a hard-fought win against Wroughton in the battle of the hoops at the Ian Richardson Football Ground. Shrivenham went in front in fortuitous circumstances, a cross from the right saw Max Scholefield’s attempted headed clearance rebound off his own player into the path of James Hirst who made no mistake to slot home past Luke Kuczynski. They doubled their lead with Wroughton once again instrumental in their own downfall, an attempted clearance from Kuczynski going straight to Jacob Newdick on the left-hand side of the box. The Shrivenham leading scorer still had a lot to do taking on most of the Wroughton defence as he moved the ball across to the other side of the area before firing a powerful shot from the edge of the box into the far corner of the net for an excellent individual goal for 2-0. It remained that way at the break. Newdick went close to extending the Shrivenham lead in the second half, hitting the post with a shot. Wroughton got themselves in the game midway through the half and once again it was Kassa Anderson, who has been in fine form in front of goal in recent weeks, who got the goal. A defence splitting pass from Shane Hibbert put him in the clear and he made no mistake to make it 2-1. There were further chances at both ends but there was to be no further scoring as Shrivenham secured three points that sent them up into that second place. Your Sport Swindon were at the game with their cameras and subscribers can view highlights by clicking on the Your Sport Swindon logo below.

Fountain Trophies Senior Cup

The final Second Round tie in the Fountain Trophies Cup was finally played at the third attempt. After two postponements at Trowbridge, under the cup rules the game was now a home fixture for Pewsey Vale. The last time Trowbridge Town  visited Pewsey was for their league fixture back in the first week of August when they had suffered a very heavy defeat, losing 7-0 to a rampant Pewsey side. Since then, a change of manager and an influx of new players, including several promising youngsters, means Trowbridge are a different proposition these days and they traveled to Pewsey for this cup fixture just one point and one place below their opponents in the league table. Pewsey attacked the visitors from the off and had a couple of early chances, the first seeing a shot clip the top of the crossbar and them then being denied by a double save from Trowbridge’s young keeper Jack Amor. Eleven minutes in the home side were given a golden opportunity to take the lead with the award of a penalty. Leading scorer Josh Fowler, who had scored twice in the league encounter between the sides, took responsibility for the spot kick but his shot to keeper Amor’s left saw the youngster dive full length to deny the Pewsey striker with an excellent save and it remained 0-0. The visitors started to grow into the game, and it would be they who made the breakthrough just before the half hour mark. A cross into the box from George Bendle found James Vincent, who controlled the ball with his first touch before firing into the bottom corner for 1-0. Trowbridge went close to extending their lead just before the break, but it remained just the one goal in it as the teams turned around at half time. The start of the second half saw both sides create decent chances, but it would remain just the one goal in it until just after the hour mark. With Pewsey temporarily down to ten men with a player in the sin bin, they managed to get themselves back in the game, Alex Golder scoring his third goal of the season to level matters up at 1-1. Both sides then went in search of a winner, Trowbridge going close from a Jamie Lyons corner that was nearly headed into his own net by a Pewsey defender and then right at the death Pewsey went close with a header from Andy Rossiter that went just past the post deep into injury time. With the scores level at the end of 90 minutes penalties were needed to decide matters. Both teams scored their first penalties, but Amor saved his second penalty of the afternoon to deny Pewsey with their second spot kick to give Trowbridge the advantage. That did not last long though as the Pewsey keeper Louie La Touche then saved George Bendle’s penalty to make it one miss apiece. The next run of penalties were all scored to see Trowbridge lead 6-5 but Pewsey were to miss their seventh spot kick meaning it would be Trowbridge who progress to the quarter final where they will be home to Division One side Lambourn Sports.

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

The full details of the Fountain Trophies Cup to the quarter final stage are shown below:.

Division One

All six scheduled games in Division One of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League went ahead this weekend, and it was a good afternoon for all of the top four sides. The big game of the day was at Down Ampney where league leaders Cricklade Town were the visitors. Whilst Down Ampney started the day down in fifth spot, due to their long run in their County Cup, they had games in hand over all the sides above them in the table and after Cricklade had dropped the least number of points this season ahead of this weekend’s games. It started well for the home side as they went 2-0 up early on in the game. They scored the opener on 21 minutes through Sam Dibble and then doubled their lead two minutes later, George Bailey with his tenth goal of the season. Cricklade responded well to falling behind though and pulled one back within a minute through Harry Ayres and then levelled matters up three minutes later with a second from Alex Hammond. Hammond then put Cricklade ahead for the first time in the game with a stunning strike for his second of the game to put Cricklade 3-2 up. It got even better for the visitors three minutes from the break, Callum Parsons winning a penalty which was duly despatched by Scott Chilcott to give Cricklade a 4-2 half time lead. Like in the first half Down Ampney had a good start to the second half pulling one back within six minutes of the restart to make it 4-3, Connor Hibbs with goal number 14 of the season. However, there was to be no comeback. Twenty minutes from time Harry Ayres bagged his second of the game scoring direct from a corner with Chris Jackson making sure the ball had gone in, but it was adjudged to have already crossed the line and was credited to Ayres. Ayres then completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time to make sure of the points and then added a seventh for Cricklade with his fourth of the game to round off a good afternoon for the league leaders against a side who at the start of the day had probably been their biggest threat for the title.  

Second placed Devizes Town Reserves remain eleven points adrift of Cricklade Town following a comfortable 5-0 “home” win over Bradford Town Reserves. With their own ground still out of action due to a large sink hole, Devizes switched the game to the 3G at Green Lane and were rewarded for their proactivity by maintaining their unbeaten home record and securing their eighth home win in nine games. Star of the show was Jack Baker who helped himself to a hat-trick with further goals from Harvey Swain and Harrison Sartin.

More of David's pictures from this game can be found on the League Facebook Group Page.

Third placed Marlborough Town kept in touch with the top two with a 4-2 away win at Redhouse. Whilst Redhouse had plenty of possession and created plenty of chances the visitors Marlborough were more clinical in front of goal and left with all three points to complete a league double over Redhouse. On target for Marlborough were Connor Chilton, Harry Wolmersley, Dan Burke and Kieran Maidment, Kieran Dunne and Pete Amoni with the Redhouse goals.  

Bishops Cannings, who started the day in fourth place in the table, were playing their final away game of the season when they travelled into Swindon to take on Kingsdown Development.  It was to be a winning end to their away trips this season as they secured a 2-0 victory, both goals from Harry Drewitt and Anthony Freebody coming in the second half after the teams had turned around with the game still without a goal. The win for Bishops Cannings sees them remain two points behind Marlborough Town having played two more games and four points ahead of Down Ampney but Down Ampney have played seven fewer games. Bishops Cannings have just five games to play, all at home, starting with Down Ampney next week.

Another side, like Down Ampney, with plenty of games in hand due to their County Cup run are Bratton who were another side who moved their game to a 3G pitch due to issues at their own ground, Bratton moving their match against Shrivenham Development to Beversbrook in Calne to enable the game to go ahead. Like Devizes they were rewarded for their proactivity with a victory, goals from Brandon Thompson, Lewis Wayman, Adam Kenich and Brandon Wheeler giving them a 4-2 win, Kieran Sutton with both Shrivenham goals.  

There was a big game at the bottom end of the table with Purton looking for their first points of the season when they made the short journey into Swindon to play an out of sorts Stratton Juniors  who went into the game on the back of four straight defeats which had got bigger game by game with the last one being a 19-0 loss at the hands of league leaders Cricklade Town. It was to be a good afternoon for Stratton as they brought that miserable win to an end. Leading 4-0 at the break they looked on track for a comfortable afternoon, but Purton rallied in the second half and won the half 3-2 but the damage had been done in the first half and it was Stratton who claimed the three points. Ryan Wellend led the way for Stratton scoring four times for the home side, Jayden Wilson and Lewis Taylor with the other Stratton goals. For Purton there were two goals for Jacob Ryan and one for Darryl Herring in the 6-3 defeat.

County Cups

Kintbury Rangers Development were looking to make the final of the Berks & Bucks County FA David Grainge Trophy with Harchester Hawks standing in their way. With the pitch at the Recreation Ground still heavy after all the recent rain the game was switched to the 3G at Waingels College, Woodley. An excellent performance from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League side saw them cruise into the final thanks to a 6-1 win over their opponents from Division Three of the Thames Valley Premier League. Leading 3-0 at the break they scored three further goals in the second half to see Kintbury safely through to the final. Harry Murtagh bagged a brace with the other goals coming through Charlie Adams, Charlie Allsop, Alfie David-Ellard and Luke Conner. Kintbury's opponents in the final will be Wraysbury Village from Division Two of the Thames Valley Premier League, a side who currently have a 100% winning record in their league games. They made it through to the final following a penalty shoot out after it had finished 2-2 in their semi final with Allied Community Elite, the other unbeaten side in the same division and league leaders in Division Two of the Thames Valley Premier League.