THE Wiltshire Gazette & Herald rounds up the latest action from the Chippenham & District Sunday League.

Heavyweights set up semi-final showdown

Just over a year ago and before the Coronavirus led to 2019/2020 season being curtailed, FC Devizes United and FC Lacock had set up a much anticipated A M Print & Copy sponsored Knockout Cup, semi-final showdown. That game never happened, however the pair will get to face each other next week as Devizes top Group A and Lacock finished as Group B runners up.

Oscar Webster’s Devizes side defeated Calne United 4-0, thanks to goals from Logan Anning, Declan McStavick and Kian Fulford who netted twice.

Pack Horse 4 Sporting Box 3

In the other Group A, a 4-3 victory for Pack Horse saw them edge out Sporting Box in a 7 goal nail biter. Jay Painter with 2 and Lee Grealish found the net for Box, however it was enough as Jack Williamson, Max Wyatt and a brace for Josh Mardle won it for Pack Horse whose reward it a trip to cup favourites AFC Melksham for their semi-final.

FC Lacock 1 AFC Melksham 1

FC Lacock and AFC Melksham both progress from Group B following their 1-1 draw at Bowerhill. With both teams already guaranteed a semi-final berth ahead of the game, it was just a case of which of the two teams would finish top of the pile, and that honour went to Melksham by virtue of their better goal difference. In what was a thriller, Melksham led 1-0 at the break via a Jordan Kirk goal , but they were indebted to keeper Adam Dhinsa who was in top form as he kept out almost everything Lacock threw at him, being eventually beaten by Kieron Gleed who restored parity to make things interesting. Melksham were happy with the outcome as they had to call on the evergreen Gareth Evans who played 70 minutes upfront before running out of gas.

Bromham FC 6 Semington FC 0

What was a dead rubber between Bromham FC and Semington FC was turned into a Bromham fundraiser as the game raised over £200 for the Derry Hill crash victims memorial garden, based on goals scored and a Bromham clean sheet, so a 6-0 win for Pete Wallis side was the ideal result.

Ryan Collins opened the scoring for Bromham and Luke Child gave them a 2-0 interval lead. After the break the match belonged to Will Baguley who bagged himself a quartet to complete the half dozen. Semington were praised by their opponents as the match was played in a great spirit and for the contribution they made to the fund.

Castle top Group A after Bath Road walkover

Both current RP Clarke Sheds & Fencing sponsored WG Parr Trophy holders, Bath Road and their scheduled opponents The Castle FC have made it through to the semi-finals of this seasons competition, however the decision of Luke Jones, Bath Road side to hand the game to Tom Perkins Devizes based team has raised a few eyebrows as the 3 points gained by the Castle sees them top the group.

The Castle will host Old Road in next week’s semi-final clash, while Bath Road will travel to Lavis FC.

Bremhill View 5 Biddestone FC 2

Bremhill View got the better of their first division rivals Biddestone to register their first success of the competition. A 5-2 success for Arron Gardiner’s side also avoided any issues of what might have been had Biddestone won the tie and had Bath Road not handed The Castle their game.

3-1 up at the break through a Jake Taylor double and Jack Coward effort, any hopes of a second half fightback from the Biddy boys was halted as goals from Luke Minnis and the ever youthful Marcus Lovesey put the tie to bed. Blake Heal and Henry Garraway were on target for the losers.

Fox & Hounds 0 Lavis FC 7

Lavis FC were in seventh heaven following their 7-0 triumph over Fox & Hounds (Warminster) which guaranteed them top spot in Group A of the RP Clarke Sheds & Fencing sponsored WG Parr Trophy quarter-finals.

Lavis led 1-0 at the interval courtesy of a Kierran Plummer goal, after the break the floodgates opened as Aaron Latchem’s side hit 6 more unanswered goals, Mark Maguire may have walked away with the match ball for his hat trick and Jack Booth and Jamie Hancock may have found the net, however for those players lucky enough to be part of the game the match will be remembered for Nick Mead’s sublime 25 yard thunderbolt that nestled into the top corner with the Fox keeper unable to do anything about the goal of the season contender.

Chippenham Icons 0 Old Road 1

Having reached the final of the competition last season before it was null and void, Old Road will believe it is justice that they have arrived at the semi-final stage again this season. A 1-0 victory for them over first division opponents Chippenham Icons has set up a meeting away at second division The Castle next weekend. Shamus Nickless-Mooney was the hero for Will Green’s side as his first half effort was enough to hand them victory.

Semi-Final line up of Subsidiary Cup confirmed

Before the weekend’s round of matches Beeches FC were in pole position to finish top of Group A of the Gooding Account sponsored Subsidiary Cup. This was confirmed without Andy Anderson’s team having to kick a ball as scheduled opponents Calne Athletic were unable to raise a team, therefore handing Beeches a 3-0 victory and 3 points.

Corsham Wildcats FC 8 Forest Community Centre FC 1

A resounding 8-1 triumph for Corsham Wildcats over premier division stablemates Forest Community Centre means that they will finish as Group B winners and their reward will be a semi-final showdown in a fortnight’s time against top flight opponents FC Pilot in a contest that would have made a great final.

Leading 2-0 at the break Wildcats roared into action after the break as they ran riot with 6 further goals, Adam Mitchell top scored with a hat trick. Player manager Darrin Moss scored twice with Lewis McCarron, Callum Pritchard and Aaron Ward-Baptiste also finding the target. Ben Winn replied for Forest Community Centre.

Royal Oak FC 5 Kingfisher FC 3

First division rivals Royal Oak and Kingfisher would have known that their final group game had nothing riding on it so, but with both teams playing for pride they fought out an 8-goal thriller, that saw the Oak men edge 5-3. Josh Duckett, George Thomas, Chris O’Donovan, Danny Williams and Curtis Bailey shared the winners’ goals.

Kingfisher’s goals came from Andy Rose who drew the sides level a 1-1, Josh Mannings added the other 2, his first made things interesting at 3-2, however by the time he netted his second, Royal Oak had bagged their fifth of the morning.

FC Pilot 12 Misfits FC 1

It was never a doubt that top flight outfit FC Pilot would top Group C. After opening the completion with an 8-2 success, which was followed by a 7-3 triumph over local rivals FC Libby last weekend, Graham Griffiths side were as good as in the last four, this was confirmed after they beat Misfits FC 12-1.

Stuart Barber bagged a 4-timer as did Edwin Escott, Luke Turvey, Ian Dowell, Tom Blackman and Griffiths himself with his fourth of the competition completed the dozen. Eddie Smith claimed Misfits consolation.

FC Libby 3 Misfits 3

Misfits may have suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of FC Pilot on Sunday morning, but on Thursday evening they were moments away from picking up all 3 points from their trip to FC Libby who scored a late goal to claim a 3-3 draw and a share of the spoils.

Dan Walker was twice on target for Libby in a first half that saw them fight back from 1-0 and 2-1 down Ben Thomas had twice given Misfits the lead. After the break Kyle Thompson regained the lead for Misfits who held out until the 90th minute when Walker bagged his and Libby’s third of the night to complete the thrilling fightback.

Sutton Benger FC 6 Warminster Athletic 0

Group D of the Gooding Account sponsored Subsidiary Cup finished in a somewhat farcical situation as Max Bray’s Spartak Rudloe side who were unable to raise a side for the competition opener against Warminster Athletic, were unable to get a team together for their midweek clash with the same opponents. With Spartak also handing the points to Sutton Benger ahead of their final group game next Sunday it meant that Benger’s home tie against Warminster Athletic was of little significance as Benger already had enough points on the board to see them finish top of the group, so a resounding 6-0 victory over a spirited Warminster Athletic at The Rec put the icing on the cake.

Benger started brightly and a dangerous through ball from James Weston nearly found Kai Flack in some space but he couldn’t quite stretch far enough to get a shot away. The pressure from the front continued through Flack and Weston and a loose ball was collected by Ethan Jones on the right hand side and his looping shot looked goal bound by James Hernandez made sure by volleying in at the back post for the opening goal.

It was soon 2-0 when Jones tucked away his third goal in two games and Benger were looking very comfortable when Hernandez scored his second and Benger’s third albeit after Kristian Green had superbly blocked his initial effort but the ball landed kindly back at Hernandez’s feet to smash home. Warminster almost found a route back into the game when Craig Askew was caught on the ball and despite Luke Todd being rounded, the goal bound effort was superbly cleared off of the line by Greg Bell to keep the scores at 3-0 at half time.

The second half followed much of the same pattern as the first and the fourth came when Askew found himself in the opposition box and his low cross was bundled into his own net by the unfortunate Grady Dufosee. A free kick from the ageless Jason Cole made it five and the game was capped off with a Dan Smith tap in after some fine work down the right hand side from Ethan Jones and Matt Bartlett.