Basement boys Purton have turned the corner (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Basement boys Purton have turned the corner

4:38pm Thursday 22nd December 2005 in Football

FESTIVE cheer was the order of the day at the Red House following Purton Reserves 4-2 victory at Bromham.

It was the bottom club's second victory of the season and new manager Barry Young said: "We have signed on a couple of new players and are getting a settled side.

"It would be nice to think we have turned the corner and perhaps we can look forward to winning a few more games in the new year and climb off the bottom of the table. It was a great result for the lads."

Craig Manley got Bromham off to a good start with an early strike but the visitors fought back with two goals from Ryan Keetch to lead 2-1 at the break.

Paul Gillett headed a third for Purton soon after the start of the second half and Mark Bennett ran from almost the halfway line to add a fourth.

Manley struck again for the home side in the closing stages but the day belonged to the basement boys who were winning for the second time from 19 starts.

Another delighted manager was Westside's Joe O'Rourke, who saw his side beat second-in-the-table Melksham Town 3-2 in an action-packed game, in which the home side had two players sent off, two penalties awarded and Westside scored inside 20 seconds of the start through Rick Hewittson.

Geoff Swatton continued the good start by adding a second five minutes later for the Swindon team as the home outfit struggled to get back on an even keel.

Tom Robinson reduced the arrears before each side had a player sent off.

Midway though the second half Westside missed a penalty, Swatton's spot-kick was saved by the home keeper, Melksham had another player given his marching orders and Hewittson added a third for the visitors.

The home side's nine men fought bravely and were awarded a penalty in the closing stages, converted by Robinson.

Aldbourne were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at home by Calne Town, prompting assistant boss Ian Restell to say: "I think, together with manager Tony Dyer, we will have to add another couple of players to the squad."

Recent signing from Shrivenham Graham Little netted a 30-yarder on his debut to give Aldbourne a goal lead at the break but an indifferent second-half performance enabled the visitors to score twice through Arron Merryweather and Mark Sharratt.

Down Ampney returned to the top of the table following their 1-0 away win over New College, Arthur Levitt scoring the all important goal soon after the start of the second half.

Marlborough Town dominated their game with visitors AFC Trowbridge Youth but found themselves 2-1 down at the final whistle.

Booker Woodford for the visitors and Wayne Presley for the Town saw the sides locked together until Woodford scored a hotly disputed winner ten minutes from time.

Corsham and Warminster shared the points in a 1-1 draw and Westbury moved up to fourth spot following their 2-0 win over Shrewton.

Junior Division One leaders Wroughton made it 15 wins from 16 games when they defeated bottom-of-the-table Lower Stratton 2-0 with goals from Barry Dickens and Phil Fisher.

Pinehurst OB moved into second spot following their 2-1 win over Barron Heating, Shane Davis netting the winner in the last minute of the game. Earlier Shane Close had equalised after the home side had gone ahead.

Two goals from Michael O'Dee, a Rick Casey penalty and a strike from Jay Dixon enabled AFC Stratton to beat Swindon Asians 4-1, Anton Webb netting for the home side.

Goals from Will Wood and Graham Read gave Minety a 2-0 win over Biddestone and Steve Shaw (2), Tom Reynolds and Byron Sutton were on target for Westlecot in their 4-2 win over Blyskawica, Miec Wojewodka and Tom Kopinski for the home side.

AFC Rodbourne extended their lead at the top of Junior Two with a 5-1 win over Blunsdon Reserves Steve Winchcombe the home side's star man with four goals, Sam Baily netting a fifth and Andy White scoring at the wrong end for the visitors.

Dave Gee got both goals for Chiseldon Castrol, the winner in the last five minutes in their 2-1 win against Stratton Rovers Reserves, with Lou Cunningham netting for the Rovers.

Blueprint and Purton A shared the points in a 1-1 draw. Dave Griffin for the home side and John Horgan for the visitors.

Dave Webb scored twice for Wroughton Reserves in their 2-1 win over QTSwindon and CHQ gained a good 3-0 away win over Westside Reserves.