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Midweek Action: Willand Rovers took huge strides in the Premier Division title race on

Wednesday evening, leaving it late before beating Bridgwater Town 1-0 at Silver Street.

With pressure rising on the Devon side, Rovers moved into top spot thanks to Adam Hill's

header ten minutes from time, putting themselves in the driving seat ahead of the final set

of fixtures. Fourth-placed Bridgwater had been close to taking the lead on a couple

occasions in the first half, but the Rovers backline managed to keep them at bay, securing

their 15th clean sheet of the league season. It was also a big night in the First Division,

where Chippenham Park moved out of the relegation zone thanks to a 2-0 win at home to

Calne Town. Having salvaged a draw against Oldland at the weekend, Park registered a huge

three points thanks to goals either side of the break from Rhys Talmash.

On Thursday, Cribbs' capped a fine season with some much-deserved silverware (below),

prevailing 8-7 on penalties to defeat Bishops Cleeve in the final of the Gloucestershire FA

Challenge Trophy. Having taken a 17th minute lead thanks to a brilliant free kick from

George Kellow, Cribbs were trailing at the break following goals at the back-end of the first

half from Adam Mace and Michael Ford. With less than 20 minutes remaining, Cribbs

managed to level things up with Sol Wanjau-Smith lashing the ball into the bottom corner

which sent the game to spot kicks. A marathon shootout then took place, with the tie

eventually decided on the 20th penalty when Harrison Iddles of Cleeve saw his effort saved

by Archie Watts in the Cribbs goal. Watts was very much the hero for the Western League

side, saving a potential match-winner when the score read 6-6, while also scoring a penalty

of his own on a memorable night for the club.

#40 Season 2018/19

Willand Rovers celebrate winning the Premier Division following

their 1-1 draw with Bitton. Image courtesy of Ken Clarke.

Premier Division: After a thrilling three-way battle, Willand Rovers have gained promotion

after finishing the season as Western League champions. Their tally of 95 points proved to

be enough, with Plymouth Parkway and Bitton falling just short despite each passing the

90-point barrier. The midweek victory proved vital for Willand who ended their season with

a 1-1 draw away at Bitton. A defeat could have cost them the title, and that was under

threat for much of

Saturday afternoon once

they had fallen behind

inside 30 seconds to Ben

Bament’s opener. Willand

battled back though, and

despite losing Rob Norrish

to a red card, they claimed

the crucial point thanks to

a lobbed finish from Luke

Alden during the second

half. Plymouth Parkway

had to settle for second

spot, ending their season

with a 3-3 draw away

at Chipping Sodbury Town. Having fallen behind to Joe White’s second minute opener,

Parkway stormed back to lead 3-1 at the break thanks to goals from Rob Farkins, Ryan Lane

and Shane Krac. Sodbury enjoyed the better of the second half, and managed to secure a

top-half finish, with goals from Dan Dempsey and George Box drawing them level at the

Ridings. Bridgwater Town finished the season on a high, registering a 4-2 win away

at Cadbury Heath. Two first half strikes from Mark Armstrong saw Town claim a goal lead at

the break, sandwiching an effort from Heath’s top scorer Matt Huxley. The home side drew

level in the early stages of the second half through Ben Allen, with Sam Towler restoring

Bridgwater’s lead on the hour mark when he volleyed home Jack Taylor’s cross. The visitors

wrapped up all three points in injury time, when Jake Llewellyn fired home from the spot to

take his penalty record for the season to a perfect 13 from 13. Cribbs’ terrific end to the

season saw them follow up Thursday night’s cup success with a 5-0 victory at home

to Shortwood. Jason Vincent’s standout campaign was capped with an early double, before

goals from Jack McKenna, Jacob Hodgson and Sol Wanjau-Smith completed the one-sided

victory. Another side to complete their season with a dominant home victory

were Clevedon Town, who scored three times in the final 20 minutes to

defeat Wellington 4-0. Having led for the majority of the match thanks to Sam Bell, Town all

but confirmed the three points in the 70th minute when Ryan Jones doubled the advantage.

Jones was then replaced by Lucas Vowles, who scored with his first touch, before Bell

completed the scoring 11 minutes from time.

An early goal from James Cox was not enough for Bridport, who went down to a 2-1 defeat

at home to Hallen. Kyle Thomas struck an equaliser ten minutes before the interval to

cancel out Cox’s opener, before Ed Bamfo reacted quickest to a rebound midway through

the second half to fire Hallen to victory. At Homers Heath, Jordan Ewing and Richard Groves

each struck braces in Buckland’s 5-1 victory at home to Shepton Mallet, while goals from

Jack Smyth, James Peart and Neikell Plummer led Brislington to a 3-2 win away at Odd

Down. In an entertaining end of season affair, Roman Glass St George and Bradford

Town shared six goals at Oaklands Park. Roman Glass were looking to end the season with

back-to-back wins, and they looked likely to do so after Nathan Legge’s brace helped give

them a 3-1 lead midway through the second half. Will Hailston then took over the game,

pulling a goal back for the visitors, before scoring his second late in the game to rescue a

point for the Wiltshire side. The fixture between Hengrove and Westbury was abandoned

just after half-time due to a bad clash of heads, with the away side leading 1-0 following a

penalty from Joe Stradling.

First Division: Champions Keynsham finished the season just as they had begun with a

clean sheet and a home win. Following 38 games, the K’s proved themselves to be the best

team in the First Division, winning 30 of their fixtures, while combining the double of scoring

the most goals and also conceding the fewest. Their final victory of the season came

against Sherborne Town, with goals either side of the interval from Mitchell Purnell and

Craig Wilson giving them a 2-0 triumph to cap a fine season.

First Division champions Keynsham celebrate with the trophy following

Easter Monday’s victory over Ashton & Backwell United.

Be sure to check out the latest episode of Western League Podcast which recaps all the major

talking points from the weekends matches, and looks ahead to the upcoming fixtures with

exclusive interviews from around the leagues.

Latest broadcast available at the following link:

http://www.toolstationleague.com/podcasts.php

Action from the 1-1 draw between Ashton & Backwell

United and Corsham Town, courtesy of John Cuthbertson.

There was plenty of final day drama at the opposite end of the table, where Oldland

Abbotonians survived relegation thanks to 1-0 win away at Calne Town. Coinciding

with Chippenham Park’s defeat at Warminster, Oldland’s close victory was enough to save

them, with Jack Cox scoring the crucial goal 20 minutes from time. Chippenham Park’s 3-1

defeat at Weymouth Street saw them slip into the relegation zone, with a first half strike

from Jack Miluk putting Warminster ahead at the break, before Eben Mortimer-Taylor

scored twice in the second half to condemn the Wiltshire side to final day heartbreak. It was

an immensely tough afternoon for the other relegated side, Bristol Telephones, who

suffered a 10-0 defeat at the hands of Wincanton. Brett Cotterill claimed a hat-trick for the

Somerset side who ended their campaign on a tear-up, claiming six goals in the final 20

minutes at the Sports Ground. Goals from Matt Russell and Tom Slater led Devizes to a 2-1

win at home to Chard Town, for whom Jacob Manley reduced the arrears just before the

hour mark. Corsham and Ashton & Backwell United completed their successful season with

a 1-1 draw at the Lancer

Scott Stadium. After Paul

Uppington had put the

home side ahead in the

25th minute, Corsham

claimed a share of the spoils

when Jon Bazley turned in

Josh Bright’s cutback 15

minutes into the second

half. The final game of the

season at the Athletic

Ground ended in a goalless

draw, with neither Wells

City or Bishops Lydeard able

to break the deadlock in the Mendip’s. To maintain the unpredictable nature of the First

Division, five members of the bottom seven claimed wins on the final day, with three of

these sides prevailing away from home against sides in the top half. Radstock Town ended

the season on a real high, with their 3-1 victory away at Longwell Green Sports making it

five wins out of six to bring the curtain down on their campaign. The Miners handed their

hosts a pretty heavy defeat thanks to goals from James Rustell, Finn Haines and George

Bendle. At West Clewes, a pair of wind-assisted goals from Bishop Sutton skipper Liam

Evans helped them beat Welton 2-0, while Portishead claimed an impressive 2-1 win away

at runners-up Cheddar.

Western League Statistical Update

PREMIER DIVISION LEADING GOAL SCORERS (League only):

Jack Taylor, Bridgwater Town – 28

Ben Bament, Bitton – 28

Luke Mortimore, Willand Rovers – 26

Callum Demkiv, Westbury United – 23

Tyson Pollard, Shepton Mallet – 22

Matt Huxley, Cadbury Heath – 22

PREMIER DIVISION TOP ATTENDANCES:

Plymouth Parkway 2 Willand Rovers 0, Saturday 16th February 2019 - 459

Westbury United 0 Bradford Town 1, Wednesday 26th December 2018 – 445

Plymouth Parkway 5 Buckland Athletic 1, Friday 19th April 2019 – 421

FIRST DIVISION LEADING GOAL SCORERS (League only):

Adam Wright, Cheddar – 30

Adam Jones, Cheddar – 29

Toby Cole, Wincanton Town – 22

Callum Townsend, Ashton & Backwell United – 21

Sam Gregory, Radstock Town – 20

FIRST DIVISION TOP ATTENDANCES:

Keynsham Town 2 Ashton & Backwell United 1, Monday 22nd April 2019 – 338

Welton Rovers 0 Radstock Town 1, Wednesday 26th December 2018 – 323

Radstock Town 1 Welton Rovers 2, Friday 19th April 2019 – 291

LEADING SCORERS IN ALL COMPETITIONS:

Ben Bament, Bitton – 39

Luke Mortimore, Willand Rovers – 37

Jack Taylor, Bridgwater Town – 33

Adam Wright, Cheddar – 32

Callum Demkiv, Westbury United – 31

Adam Jones, Cheddar – 31

Matt Huxley, Cadbury Heath – 30

Latest Results Wednesday 24th April 2019 Premier Division Willand Rovers 1-0 Bridgwater Town 258 First Division Chippenham Park 2-0 Calne Town 57 Thursday 25th April 2019 GFA Challenge Trophy Final Cribbs 2-2 (8-7 pens) Bishops Cleeve Saturday 27th April 2019 Premier Division Bitton 1-1 Willand Rovers 219 Bridport 1-2 Hallen 131 Buckland Athletic 5-1 Shepton Mallet 81 Cadbury Heath 2-4 Bridgwater Town 50 Chipping Sodbury Town 3-3 Plymouth Parkway 140 Clevedon Town 4-0 Wellington 84 Cribbs 5-0 Shortwood United 58 Hengrove Athletic 0-1 Westbury United Odd Down 2-3 Brislington 30 Roman Glass St George 3-3 Bradford Town 102 First Division Ashton & Backwell United 1-1 Corsham Town Calne Town 0-1 Oldland Abbotonians 66 Cheddar 1-2 Portishead Town 89 Devizes Town 2-1 Chard Town 100 Keynsham Town 2-0 Sherborne Town 142 Longwell Green Sports 1-3 Radstock Town 51 Warminster Town 3-1 Chippenham Park 163 Wells City 0-0 Bishops Lydeard Welton Rovers 0-2 Bishop Sutton 65 Wincanton Town 10-0 Bristol Telephones

Final League Tables Premier Division Team P W D L F A GD PTS

C Willand Rovers 38 30 5 3 116 31 85 95 2 Plymouth Parkway 38 30 3 5 110 37 73 93 3 Bitton 38 29 5 4 112 44 68 92 4 Bridgwater Town 38 24 9 5 94 43 51 81 5 Westbury United 38 23 5 10 76 50 26 74 6 Clevedon Town 38 21 1 16 78 62 16 64 7 Bradford Town 38 17 11 10 78 55 23 62 8 Cribbs 38 17 9 12 71 61 10 60 9 Buckland Athletic 38 17 7 14 81 66 15 58

10 Chipping Sodbury Town 38 14 7 17 59 84 -25 49 11 Shepton Mallet 38 15 3 20 74 83 -9 48 12 Hallen 38 14 5 19 55 69 -14 47 13 Bridport 38 13 5 20 64 76 -12 44 14 Cadbury Heath 38 11 9 18 53 88 -35 42 15 Odd Down 38 12 5 21 53 76 -23 41 16 Wellington 38 12 3 23 55 80 -25 39 17 Roman Glass St George 38 8 8 22 55 85 -30 32

18 Brislington 38 9 4 25 55 84 -29 31 R Hengrove Athletic 38 5 6 27 40 102 -62 21 R Shortwood United 38 1 6 31 29 132 -103 9

First Division

Team P W D L F A GD PTS C Keynsham Town 38 30 3 5 94 28 66 93 2 Cheddar 38 26 6 6 92 38 54 84 3 Corsham Town 38 20 10 8 69 43 26 70 4 Ashton & Backwell United 38 20 5 13 62 51 11 65 5 Longwell Green Sports 38 19 7 12 79 67 12 64 6 Warminster Town 38 19 5 14 74 53 21 62 7 Chard Town 38 17 9 12 79 63 16 60 8 Calne Town 38 16 8 14 59 45 14 56 9 Welton Rovers 38 17 5 16 60 57 3 56

10 Wells City 38 16 7 15 68 61 7 55 11 Devizes Town 38 16 5 17 63 68 -5 53 12 Bishops Lydeard 38 14 6 18 73 68 5 48 13 Sherborne Town 38 14 5 19 49 59 -10 47 14 Wincanton Town 38 10 14 14 74 74 0 44 15 Radstock Town 38 12 6 20 61 70 -9 42 16 Portishead Town 38 12 4 22 59 98 -39 40 17 Bishop Sutton 38 10 9 19 42 79 -37 39 18 Oldland Abbotonians 38 9 8 21 50 83 -33 35 R Chippenham Park 38 9 7 22 53 79 -26 34 R Bristol Telephones 38 6 7 25 46 122 -76 24*