Trowbridge Town 2, Bradford Town 0 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Trowbridge Town 2, Bradford Town 0

PLAISTER AUTOS WILTSHIRE LEAGUE: A GAVIN Eyre double eased Trowbridge Town into the Wiltshire Senior Cup semi-final for the second successive year on Saturday.

Bradford went into the tie as the Wiltshire League's top scorers but they could find no way past Trowbridge's solid defence.

After a good start, Bradford struggled to break down their opponents allowing Trowbridge to canter to a comfortable win.

Trowbridge manager Neil Kirkpatrick said: "I am very pleased with the way it went. In the end it was quite comfortable.

"The opening exchanges were like a typical local derby and were probably not the prettiest of spectacles.

"But once we weathered the initial storm we were never really in trouble."

Bradford started brightly and prolific striker Tom Pang went close with a shot that went straight at Trowbridge goalkeeper Adam Sheppard.

The home side then settled and began to mount a few attacks of their own. Dave Mitchell went close on 10 minutes and then Mike Little struck a free-kick at the Bradford wall on 25 minutes.

Trowbridge broke the deadlock on 32 minutes after a good passing move.

Eyre picked the ball up in midfield before beating one player and passing to Dave Percival. The striker's shot was stopped by Bradford keeper Nick Quintin but Eyre was on hand to slot the loose ball home from just inside the penalty area.

Bradford tried to reply but the nearest they came before the break was a free kick that curled past everyone but struck a post.

Trowbridge doubled their lead within a minute of the restart. Waleed Bakali ran down the left wing and fed the ball to Dave Mitchell, who crossed for Eyre to finish from close range.

Eyre almost completed his hat- trick with a blistering 20-yard strike that went just wide.

Bradford then enjoyed a lot of possession without creating any real goal scoring chances.

Bradford manager Mark Hodkinson said: "I am very disappointed. The players let themselves down and they know it. The difference between the two sides was they worked really hard whereas we didn't.

"Going into the match I was quietly confident of getting a result. I looked at their team and thought we would be able to match them in a lot of areas. But it wasn't to be. I think a lot of players were nervy and it showed in their performance."

Bradford have no match tomorrow although Hodkinson is trying to arrange a friendly.

In the Premier Division AFC Stratton went eight points clear at the top as they came from a goal behind to beat Cricklade 2-1.

Aldbourne gained their third win on the trot beating Devizes Town Reserves 4-0.

After a scrappy first half, Tom Hunt opened the scoring five minutes after the break. Dave Levitt added two more before Darren Woodfield completed the scoring with the best goal of the game, climbing above the Devizes defence to head in a cross from Steve Hewitt.

Malmesbury Victoria's mini revival came to an end at Westbury United Reserves, losing 4-0. Paul Beavers (2), Jimmy Bradley and Pete Ayton scored for Westbury.

David Watkins netted twice for Warminster Town in their 2-0 away win over Marlborough Town.

Junior Division One leaders Trowbridge Town Reserves gained a narrow 3-2 win at Sherston Paul Clegg and John Higgs on target for the home side and Matt Minnus (2) and Simon Kitchen for Town.

AFC Stratton Reserves kept their good run going with a 1-0 victory over Biddestone Reserves.