One of the three Bemerton Heath Harlequins Res goals in their 3-0 win over Royal W. Bassett Town Dev (picture courtesy of Tony Smith).

Premier Division

There were four games played in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League on Bank Holiday Monday. The big match at the top end of the table saw second placed Letcombe  entertain third placed Kingsdown. Both teams have been in great form of late and both came into the game unbeaten in ten league games. In the case of Letcombe nine of those ten games had been won and they were to make that ten wins in eleven games, with a 2-0 victory against the side just below them in the table. A goal in each half rounded off a good weekend for Letcombe having won 6-0 on Saturday, Ben Cleary putting them ahead at the break and Dan Timbrell then making sure of the points in the second half with his fifth goal of the season.

There was a competitive encounter between Trowbridge Town and Shrivenham at the Ian Richardson Football Ground in what was Shrivenham’s final fixture of the season. Shrivenham had inflicted a rare defeat on the champions Kintbury Rangers on Saturday and were looking to end their season on a high against a side who were still aiming to get into the top five but had made their chances so much harder by being unable to raise a side for this fixture earlier in the month and suffering a two-point deduction as a consequence. Shrivenham were able to call on the services of Tyger Hall, who had been the star player of their Under 18 side a few seasons back but has been played for Clanfield in the Hellenic League Division 1 and it was Hall who fired his side ahead in what would prove to be an entertaining first half. George Bendle then restored parity for Trowbridge, scoring in what was his 100^th appearance for the club. Rhys Phillips then added a second for Trowbridge to put them 2-1 up. The goals kept coming and Kai Richardson then brought Shrivenham back level, scoring for the second game running for his side. After an entertaining half it would be Shrivenham who would go into the half time interval with a narrow lead, their third goal coming courtesy of an own goal to give them a slender 3-2 lead at the break. Shrivenham then made sure of three points after the break when Hall scored his second goal of the game to make the final score 4-2 to Shrivenham and end any hopes of a top five finish for Trowbridge Town. Shrivenham currently sit in fifth place after completing their fixtures but are susceptible to being overtaken by Shrewton United and Melksham Town Reserves or Wroughton, although Melksham would need to win by a ten-goal margin against Wroughton in their final fixture for them to go ahead of Shrivenham..

Melksham Town Reserves  had a good Bank Holiday Monday with a 2-1 win away at bottom side Malmesbury Vics Development  seeing them climb up to seventh place in table. On target for Melksham were Nick Taylor and Olly Clarke, Sam Parker with the Malmesbury goal. Malmesbury still have four games to play and are back in action at the Flying Monk on Wednesday night when they entertain Calne Town Reserves.

Bemerton Heath Harlequins  are having a good end to the season which bodes well for their Fountain Trophies Cup Final against Cricklade Town. They made it a six-point return from their two games over the Bank Holiday weekend which saw them score eight goals without conceding, following up Saturday’s 5-0 win over Malmesbury with a 3-0 victory over Royal Wootton Bassett Town Development. Goals from Archie Downes, Archie Ingram and a sixth of the season from Hayden Wells secured the three points for the cup finalists.

Bemerton's Tony Smith was at the game with his camera and more of his excellent pictures can be found on his website at efc.smugmug.com

Division One

Bank Holiday Monday saw two sides who had gone deep into this season’s Wiltshire Junior Cup, Bratton and league leaders Cricklade Town, who won the Junior Cup and are also in the final of the Fountain Trophies Cup, playing catch up with their fixtures as a result of their cup exploits. Bratton made a great start, leading scorer Jack Booth firing them ahead on 27 minutes with his 28^th goal of the season. It got even better for the home side when Jack Hayward doubled their lead six minutes later to go into half time with a 2-0 lead. It remained that way until just after the hour mark when Alfie Presley, who has spent most of the season playing for Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the Hellenic Premier where he was their leading scorer, scored his third Cricklade goal of the season to reduce the deficit. There was to be no comeback though as Bratton held on to inflict only the fourth defeat of the season on Cricklade. Cricklade are still very much in control of their own destiny, needing seven points from their remaining three games against Redhouse, Stratton Juniors and Shrivenham Development to make sure of the title. Title rivals Devizes Town Reserves and Down Ampney also both have to travel to Bratton before the end of the season and as Bratton showed this weekend they are capable of taking points off the leading sides.

Down Ampney are another side who went deep into their County Cup competition and are now having to play catch up with their fixtures and were also involved in Bank Holiday Monday action when they traveled to Pewsey to take on Pewsey Vale Development. It was to be a successful afternoon for the visitors as a hat-trick from Harvey Coster and two from Paddy Cripps secured a 5-1 victory to move to within six points of second placed Devizes Town Reserves with a game in hand. Coster took his tally for the season to 32 with Cripps just three behind on 29 and with leading scorer Charlie McCuish on 36 the prolific Down Ampney strike force are now just three goals short of a century of goals this season.

Kintbury Rangers Development  are another side who went all the way to their final of their County Cup and, like Cricklade, lifted the trophy with victory in the final. They were involved in the third game of Bank Holiday Monday in Division One with an away trip to bottom side Purton who were completing their fixtures for the season. A strong Kintbury side inflicted an 8-1 defeat on the bottom side who end the season without a point but take a lot of plaudits for completing the season in difficult circumstances when others just down the road did not. Harry Way was the star of the win for Kintbury scoring four times, Kye Williams bagged a brace with further goals from George Armstrong and James Mandry.

Next Season

For anyone wishing to join Division One for season 2025/26, the closing date for applications is 30th April. Please note that making an application does not guarantee that you will be accepted into the League, facilities will need to be inspected and the Clubs will decide at the AGM which new clubs are accepted into the League.

Please contact Jim Thorn at jim.thorn@wiltshireseniorleague.co.uk for an Application Form.

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