No cup upsets as Malmesbury hold on (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

No cup upsets as Malmesbury hold on

Cricklade's Ben Carter, right, leaves an AFC Trowbridge opponent on his backside during the Wilts Senior Cup showdown Ref: 99714-108Wiltshire League sides failed to cause any upsets in the first round of the Wilts Senior Cup with most ties going to form, writes Ray Burroughs.

Westside almost managed to take Hellenic side Mamesbury Vics into extra time, the home outfit scoring the only goal of the game with 10 minutes to go, through Andy Mitchell's header.

Westside boss Joe O'Rourke said he was disappointed his side failed to hang on but added: "It was very pleasing the way the lads battled. We got ourselves more organised following last week's mauling by Aldbourne.

"It was a much better performance and I thought we deserved to take them to extra time."

New College also acquitted themselves well against Biddestone, eventually going down 3-1 following two late goals from the home side.

A first-half penalty from Luke Gullick was all that separated the teams at the break and soon after the restart the Swindon side were on level terms courtesy of a strike from Bradley Gill.

With the tie into the last quarter of an hour Biddestone proved a shade too strong and further goals from Paul Poiner and another from Gullick ensured a place in the second round.

AFC Trowbridge made Cricklade Town pull out all the stops with the Hellenic side eventually running out winners 2-1.

Cricklade started well and were soon two goals to the good, however the visitors kept at it and pulled a goal back through Matt Minus before the break.

In an all-Wiltshire League tie, Warminster Town gained a 2-0 success over depleted Aldbourne who fought gamely and held the home side for the first 45 minutes.

After the break Mathew Guy put Warminster ahead with Mathew Burton making sure of victory.

Marlborough were hammered 12-1 by Melksham Town in a tie they will need to put behind them.

There were just three games played in the Wilts Premier Down Ampney going to the top of the section following their 4-1 win over Devizes Reserves.

Ampney found themselves a goal down early in the game but rallied to go in level at the break following a strike from Mark Arther.

Midway through the second half they added a second with a good header from Neil Quinn and made sure of victory in the last five minutes with goals from Terry Moore and Dave Levitt.

Bromham and Westbury shared the points in a 1-1 draw, the visitors having the better of the first half and going in at the break a goal up through Jamie Bradley.

It was Bromham's turn to dominate after the interval and they scored a deserved equaliser from Matt Taylor following a good cross from Craig Manley.

Bottom club Purton fought well against visitors Melksham Reserves but were beaten 3-1.

In the top-of-the-table clash in Junior One, Barron Heating beat second-placed Stratton Rovers 3-2.

The visitors were 3-0 down at one stage but fought back with goals from Ashley Channing and Scott Ward.

Arron Wilson, Danny Scotford and Jamie Williams netted for the victors.

Wroughton moved into second place beating Abbey Rodbourne 3-0 with two goals from Barry Dickens and one from Michael Wilson and AFC Stratton proved too strong for Marlborough Town Reserves, beating the visitors 4-1. Wayne Petrie and Scott Rouse scoring a brace each.

Two goals from James Pope enabled Castle Combe to beat Minety 2-1, Westlecott beat Lower Stratton 3-2 with goals from Steve Shaw, Tom Griffin and James Lovell and Pinehurst OB and Swindon Asians shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, Alan Welland on target for the home side.

Junior Division Two leaders Stratton Rover Reserves chalked up another three points, beating Bromham 3-2 thanks to a winning strike from Brad Clarke Alex Whitehall and Mark Brimson scoring the other two.

Nick Griffiths (2), John Le Strange and Graham Read were on target for Blunsdon Reserves in their 4-0 away win over Westlecot Reserves and CHQ were victors over Westside Reserves by the same score. Alan Stratford, Fabian Daniels, Luke Urzell and an own goal doing the damage.

In a cracking game at Wroughton, AFC Rodbourne came out best in an eight-goal thriller, 5-3. Nolan Paul bagged a hat-trick on his 21st birthday and Steve Winchcombe added two more as the visitors led 5-1 at the interval.

Wroughton pulled back a couple of goals to make it 5-3 with 10 minutes to go. Wroughton's Gareth Adams then saw his penalty well saved by keeper Paul Padginton to end the home side's rally. Ian Lennard, Nick Salter and Dave Guthrie were the Wroughton scorers.