Shrewton Utd who secured a 5th place finish with a narrow 4-3 win away at Malmesbury Vics Development

Premier Division

The battle for third place behind champions Kintbury Rangers and Letcombe is set to go to the final Saturday of the season after both Kingsdown and Pewsey Vale picked up victories on the penultimate Saturday of the league season. Kingsdown were home to Park United looking to bounce back from their Bank Holiday Monday defeat at the hands of Letcombe.  The two sides served up plenty of goals as Kingsdown edged a seven-goal game by the odd goal, two goals from Josh Atwell plus further goals from Ben Payne and Jamie Broadbank securing the 4-3 win for Kingsdown, Jamie Norman, Zac Hillier and Ben Pring with the Park United goals.  

Pewsey Vale  meanwhile were home to runners-up Letcombe. When the sides had met at Letcombe back in October Letcombe had edged a close game 3-2 and it was to prove to be another close encounter in the return fixture. Visitors Letcombe went into the half time break with a slender lead after Kieran Kerby scored direct from a corner. However, second half goals from former Letcombe striker Josh Fowler against his former club and one from Andy Rossiter saw Pewsey secure a come from behind win to avenge that defeat earlier in the season.  The wins for both Kingsdown and Pewsey Vale sees Kingsdown remain a point ahead of Pewsey Vale going into the final game of the season which sees the two sides set to meet at Pewsey next Saturday.

Shrewton United were looking to end their season on a winning note away at bottom of the table Malmesbury Vics Development. A win would guarantee a top five finish which would give them an outside chance of promotion should the FA decide to take two promotion candidates from the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League, something they have been reluctant to do in the past but could do if they were short of numbers at Step 6 for next season. It was mission accomplished for George Planks side as they secured a narrow 4-3 win. They fell behind to a Marlon Toop goal with just ten minutes on the clock, but they were behind for just a short time as Jordan Cross fired them level just two minutes after going behind. Shrewton then went in front for the first time in the game after Cross won them a penalty which was duly despatched by Tom Plank for 2-1. The two sides would, however, go into the half time break all square, George Evatt pulling Malmesbury back level with his first goal of the season a minute before the interval. Parity did not last long though as Jordan Cross fired Shrewton back in front with his second of the game four minutes after the restart. Charlie Utterson then extended Shrewton’s lead with his 14^th of the season just before the hour mark. Malmesbury were to pull one back 20 minutes from time but that was to be the end of the afternoon’s scoring as it finished 4-3 to Shrewton United.

Melksham Town Reserves ended their season on a winning note with a narrow 2-1 away win at Wroughton thanks to goals from Nick Taylor and Ollie Farrell, Kassa Anderson with the Wroughton goal. The win for Melksham meant they finished above their beaten opponents in seventh place in the table. For Wroughton that is now three defeats in their last four league games but they will look to end their season on a winning note when they travel to Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves next Saturday.

It was a good final week of the season for Calne Town Reserves. On Wednesday night they travelled to Malmesbury to play Malmesbury Victoria Development and returned home with all three points following a 4-1 win thanks to goals from Ed Oatley, Jake Collis, Owen Jones and an own goal, William Goodey with the reply for Malmesbury. They followed that midweek win with a come from behind win at home to Trowbridge Town on Saturday. Trailing 2-1 at the break to Trowbridge Town goals from Harry Cade and George Bendle, Calne turned things around after the break scoring three unanswered goals to claim all three points. On target for Calne were Jack Smith who bagged a brace, Henry Curtis and a second of the week for Ed Oatley. This latest win for Calne saw them climb up to eleventh spot although Park United would move back above them if they avoided defeat in their final game of the season at Malmesbury Victoria Development on Wednesday. The defeat for Trowbridge sees them sat in ninth place in the table having completed their fixtures but they would slip to tenth spot if Bemerton Heath Harlequins Reserves win their final game of the season against Wroughton.

Division One

The top two in Division One started the day separated by just goal difference and it remained that way after this weekend’s round of matches as both Cricklade Town and Devizes Town Reserves recorded big wins. Cricklade Town were away at Redhouse with the game kicking off later than the rest of the division on the 3G pitch at Moredon. Cricklade got themselves off to a flying start, Alfie Presley putting them ahead with just four minutes on the clock and then scoring three more before half time to put his side 4-0 up at the break. Redhouse pulled one back after the restart, but it was to be only a brief rally as two goals from Callum Parsons put Cricklade Town 6-1 up, that is now 19 for the season for Parsons. Two further goals from Presley in the last ten minutes to complete a double hat-trick for his side rounded off a good afternoon for Mani Roper’s Cricklade side as they improved their goal difference advantage even further courtesy of an 8-1 win. Cricklade Town are back in action on Tuesday night when they make the short journey into Swindon to play Stratton Juniors for what is their penultimate game of the season, completing their season on Saturday at home to Shrivenham Dev.  With their far superior goal difference Cricklade will effectively secure the title with a win over Stratton Juniors on Tuesday but if Devizes also win on Tuesday mathematical certainty would only come on Saturday, but the title would effectively be heading Cricklade’s way if they beat Stratton.

Second placed Devizes Town Reserves were home to Lambourn Sports at Nursteed Road on Saturday in what was their penultimate game of the season. Leading by just the one goal at half time they upped their game second half scoring three more times with just the one in reply for the visitors. There were two goals for Morgan Selemani-Parker and one apiece for James Cox and Jordan Anning, the latter taking his total for the season to 35. With third place Down Ampney dropping points away at Bratton the wins for both Cricklade Town and Devizes Town Reserves confirmed their promotions back to the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League. Devizes finish their season this coming Tuesday with a tricky looking away game at Bratton who on Monday defeated leaders Cricklade Town and then took two points off third placed Down Ampney on Saturday. David Giles was at the game with his camera and more of his pictures from the game can be seen on the League Facebook Group Page.

Those dropped points by Down Ampney came about following a 3-3 draw at Bratton. Leading 3-0 at the break Down Ampney looked to be cruising to the three points, goals from Connor Hibbs, Charlie McCuish and Leon Morrison giving them that half time lead. However, Bratton turned things around after the break. Two goals from Louis Wilkins brought them back into the game and then a 93^rd minute equaliser from a Matthew Mead free kick ensured a share of the points for Bratton. Down Ampney’s cause was not helped by having two players sent off and finishing the game with just nine men. Despite missing out on honours Down Ampney are guaranteed third spot which is likely to also result in promotion if the clubs vote to remain with an 18-team division at the AGM.

A solitary goal from Kye Williams was enough to give Kintbury Rangers Development all three points at home against Bradford Town Reserves.   

The final game of the day involved two Development sides, Shrivenham Dev and Pewsey Vale Dev and the two sides served up an entertaining game with five goals scored, with the home side Shrivenham winning by the odd goal. On target for Shrivenham were Tom Ayres, Kieran Sutton and Taylor Hall, Aiden Pollock and Aaron Presley with the two Pewsey goals.

Next Season

For anyone wishing to join Division One for season 2025/26, a final reminder that 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 but it is looking likely that Division One will be back up to a full complement of 16 teams for next season.

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

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