Tuffley Rovers 2, Pewsey Vale 0 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Tuffley Rovers 2, Pewsey Vale 0

VALE boss Steve Wootton sent out a warning to his players win five games or face ending their three year spell in the Premier Division.

The message was delivered to his players after a disappointing defeat to Tuffley on Saturday.

He said: "It looks like we are going to go down, which saddens me. Results don't lie and at the moment we deserve to be down there.

"We can make our excuses about suspensions all day but you just have to get on with things."

Wootton added: "As long as it is possible, there is hope. We will not be throwing in the towel just yet.

"It is a big ask but we need 15 points to stay up and hope the other teams don't pick up many.

"We need to carry on going and try to sneak points against teams."

The manager was disappointed with Saturday's result as he feels his side gifted Tuffley the three points.

"They were not that good a side, we just gave it to them. We were simply not at the races."

Pewsey failed to get out of the starting blocks and gifted their hosts a goal after only six minutes.

Defender Kevin Ackrill's poor headed clearance was picked up by home striker Matt Howell and he had plenty of space to shoot past keeper Danny Holcroft.

Arron Parker hit Vale's crossbar moments later when he connected with a long diagonal cross.

Pewsey managed to hold on until half time thanks to some stern defending from Chris Oram and Phil Penning.

Despite efforts to come back into the game, Kacey Johnstone hit the final nail in the coffin when he blasted in from close range in the 75th minute.

Pewsey Vale 1 Highworth Town 2

SURVIVAL hope still runs through the Pewsey camp after they came bitterly close to turning over title chasers Highworth on Bank Holiday Monday.

Vale did not look like a side that was plunged deep into relegation trouble as they came back form a goal down through striker Craig Wall.

And they almost snatched the game against the high flyers when Adam field went through on goal.

But a professional foul in the 80th minute, that saw defender Jon Reeves sent off, halted Field in his tracks and denied Vale a well deserved lead against arguably one of the toughest sides in the Hellenic Premier League.

Heartbreak struck in the 89th minute when Justin Miller struck from close range to send Pewsey to their seventh straight defeat.

Manager Steve Wootton still feels his side need five wins out of the last six matches to survive the dreaded drop.

He said: "We came close to winning the game, they did extremely well and it was probably the best they have played this season."

Pewsey's survival dog fight sees them play hosts to Abington United on Saturday and Wootton believes his team are capable of a result against the sixth place side.

He said: "If we show the level of commitment we did on Monday, then there is no reason we can't win the match."