Maintaining Altitude - Round 4 Of 60s Wilts League
 |
| Paul W, Phil C, Charlie N, Perry K. Graham N, Andy G, Mark K. |
It’s the 4th round of Wilts League and the task was to maintain our position at the top and try to put a bit more distance between us and the teams below.
We did both. Two wins and a draw gave us an excellent points haul of seven and consolidated our position with two rounds of matches left in the season.
With Swindon B withdrawing from the league (their results for the season will be rendered null and void) and Highworth and Salisbury unable to field teams on the day, meant it was less physically demanding than usual.
In addition the games themselves were brought forward by three hours to enable time for players, officials and supporters alike to get home to watch the England last sixteen clash against Slovakia. Although that particular contest ended in a positive fashion, it could be argued that there was more organisation and skill demonstrated by the Calne players earlier in the day!
This began with a game against Devizes, who started the day in 2nd place and arrived looking resplendent in a smart new kit and somewhat resembling the Argentina national team. Indeed they mirrored the South Americans in their early play and took a 1-0 lead before we showed great resilience in coming back to win 2 v 1 with well taken goals from Perry and Paul.
What followed was an exciting 1 v 1 draw with Swindon A who themselves finished the day in 2nd place, overtaking Devizes. We took the lead from a neat finish from Mark who was delighted to score past his brother John - a rare event in itself!
Unfortunately we couldn’t hold on to the lead with Swindon scoring a late equaliser from a shot which hit the post and cannoned in to Charlie’s back before crossing the line. We can consider ourselves somewhat unfortunate not to get our first win of the season against Swindon.
Our final game was a 2 v 1 win against Melksham. We dominated play, creating a lot of chances and scoring two early goals, again courtesy of the dynamic duo of Perry and Paul, but gave ourselves a nervy last few minutes by conceding following some slack marking.
Overall, a real collective team performance with Charlie pulling off some top drawer saves, Andy, Phil and Graham resolute and excellent in sharing defensive responsibilities, Mark and Paul creative in midfield and chipping in with goals and Perry back to his best after injury.
Roll on July’s fixtures.
All results and league position will be added here as soon as possible.