Heavyweight battle on opening day
Teams from the Gooding Accounts Ltd sponsored-Trowbridge & District Football League make welcome return to action this coming Saturday following their, what seems a shorter than usual summer break as the latest campaign gets underway and the opening day of fixtures has thrown up a number of mouth-watering clashes.
The pick of the bunch in Division One being the game at The Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Fields, Melksham where last season’s Division One winners FC Devizes United play host to last terms Division One runners up Seend United who despite a few months of uncertainty as to if they will actually start the latest campaign, look a good bet to finish top of the pile this season.
Devizes who clinched the title with a final day victory over Park United should give their guests a very good game and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Evan Webster’s side picked up the points on offer.
Another match that catches the eye is the one at the Land Warfare Centre, Warminster where The Lodge entertain local rivals Warminster Town Reserves. It would be fair to say that Warminster underperformed last season, and will be looking to put this right this year.
Under new management and with a crop of new players they will more than fancy their chances of beating their hosts who like Warminster have a number of new players in their line up, but will be missing a few of their regulars for the opening day match up, which may just give the visitors the advantage in what could be a closely fought affair.
Heytesbury & Codford FC have had to go back to the drawing board this season after the sudden departure of manager Tom Willoughby to Warminster Town FC, so a new look a side with Sam Spratt now in charge travel to Bromham.
The previous and only time the sides locked horns last term Heytesbury & Codford romped home 9-2 and even though they may not possess the same line up as last October, the visitors to Bromham should again prove too strong for Chandler Davison’s side who themselves have been busy recruiting new players for the challenge ahead.
Bradford Town Reserves find themselves in the top division by virtue of finishing in third place in Division two last season and Ross Pugh’s side travel to Melksham Town Development looking and hoping to get off to a flyer, against their hosts who have seen Lewis McMullen who has taken over as manager of the Reserve side, replaced by Mike Coll who will be hopeful that his youthful side with a scattering of experienced players can see them to victory.
It would be fair to say that both teams are putting their faith in their youngsters, so although Bradford will start as slight favourites, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the spoils ended up being shared.
Following the withdrawal of Trowbridge Town Reserves, league newcomers Frome Collegians Reserves have to wait until next Saturday before getting their season underway with a trip to Heytesbury & Codford.
Villagers lock horns in opener
After losing Heytesbury & Codford Reserves pre-season, 12 sides will battle it out for top spot in Division Two. One of those sides tipped to do well are Freshford United who finished the last campaign in fifth spot. If the villagers can hit the ground running with a home victory over Bishops Cannings Reserves then they could be in for a good season.
The teams clashed on three occasions last term, with Freshford coming out on top twice and sharing the points in the other encounter. This should be another contest which could go either way but the pundits are going for a Home win which could well seeing them with egg on their faces.
It would be fair to say that neither Hilperton Greyhound or Staverton Rangers had great success last term, so the opening match of the new campaign will be a tester for each team.
Hilperton who welcome Staverton to Whaddon Lane won both meetings of the teams last season and following the arrival of a few wise heads in Carl Davies, Matt Hall and Nick Mead and the departure of a few hot heads, they should be better equipped for their second season on the league.
Staverton will have to be at their very best if they are to get anything from the game as the hosts are tipped to claim a third straight victory over their near neighbours.
Holt FC return to the league after a few years absence, and although many of the players may be new to the local football scene, team manager Nigel Tripp certainly isn’t. In his playing days Tripp played for both Chippenham & Trowbridge Town and was manager with a number of local sides including Calne, Melksham, Bradford, Devizes and Corsham Town along with a spell at Westbury United.
So with his wealth of experience his new look village side will fancy their chances of kicking the season off with a victory at home to Tim Brown’s Trowbridge Town Tigers who themselves are an unknown quality and are built on a mixture of experience and youth, which should make the game an interesting contest and one that could see the points shared.
Semington Magpies are no strangers to the league, however this new look Magpies side has much travelled manager Neil Taylor taking on the reins but his playing staff includes many of the players who were with him at Trowbridge Town Development last season.
First up for the Magpies are Dilton Marsh Wanderers who Trowbridge actually took 4 points from last term, so if those results are anything to go by, then the Magpies will more than fancy their chances of kicking the season off with a victory.
Another team new to the League are South Newton & Barford Hornets, whose opening fixture sees them travel to St Mary’s, Steeple Ashton where they meet The Stiffs who have Scott Ball as head coach.
Rumour has it, the Stiffs have enjoyed a good pre-season, which included victories over Frome Town under 18’s, Staverton Rangers and first division outfit Bromham FC who they beat 6-1 before suffering a 3-2 loss in the reverse meeting.
Not a lot is known about South Newton, but if Stiffs are on their game then the visitors to St Mary’s won’t be looking forward to the journey home.
Following the withdrawal of Heytesbury & Codford Reserves, it left newcomers Calne Eagles FC without a game and with no game next weekend Eagles will fly into action on the 26th August when they host Trowbridge Town Tigers at The Beeches, Shaw. Aces FC don’t start their campaign until September 2nd when they visit Semington Magpies.
Fixtures For Saturday 12th August 2023
Trowbridge League, sponsored by Gooding Accounts Ltd:
Division One, Bromham v Heytesbury & Codford; FC Devizes United v Seend United; Melksham Town Development v Bradford Town Reserves KO 2.00pm; The Lodge FC v Warminster Town Reserves;
Division Two, Freshford United v Bishops Cannings Reserves; Hilperton Greyhound v Staverton Rangers; Holt FC v Trowbridge Town Tigers; Semington Magpies v Dilton Marsh Wanderers; The Stiffs v South Newton & Barford Hornets.
Matches Kick-Off @ 3.00pm unless stated otherwise.