We are delighted to announce that Own Bartley has returned to Warminster Town.
Manager, Rob Nash says, “We have signed Owen to add competition to the squad Owen brings experience at this level and we are pleased to have him back at the club. Thanks to Bradford Town for allowing Owen to join straight away.
In front of a decent crowd of 196 Warminster Town maintained their unbeaten start to the new season but were unable to follow up Saturday’s victory with a second win.
The first half was for the large part uneventful with the two sides cancelling each other out.
The highlight of the half came in stoppage time when a Reece Collyer thirty yard half volley was superbly saved by Ben Britton in the Hengrove goal.
Both sides stepped it up after the break with exciting end to end football. Town’s keeper Callum Hotine was called upon early to make two fine saves. First on 48 minutes he pushed an Oscar Sullivan effort from outside the box wide for a corner and then on 55 minutes he dived bravely to save at Brad Skidmore’s feet after the winger was picked out unmarked on the left of the penalty area.
Then on the hour Town took the lead with a fantastic strike by captain Ryan Benson. Just inside the opposition half the midfielder spotted the Hengrove keeper Britton off his line and launched the ball over the backpedaling stopper into the net. That gave Town the momentum and they went close twice in quick succession. On 62 minutes the ball was laid back to Benson whose first time effort flew just over the bar.
A minute later Jake Wright played a square ball to set up Reece Collyer on the edge of the box but the Hengrove keeper dived to save to his right. Then just as the home side had looked like they would extend their lead the gifted the opposition an equaliser. On 64 minutes a Hengrove long ball fell to Town’s central defender Oscar Williamson but he under hit his back pass to Callum Hotine and Hengrove’s centre forward Jack Jones nipped in to fire past the home keeper.
Both sides pressed for a winner. On 73 minutes an excellent Myles Woodward cross found Nick Taylor unmarked in the six yard box but he headed tamely to the Hengrove keeper. Then on 79 minutes Britton saved Reece Collyer’s well struck free kick from outside the box.
Unlike the previous Saturday there was to be no late heroics and the game finished one all. As Town’s manager, Rob Nash pointed out in his post match interview “On reflection was probably a fair result”.
Report by Geoff Jackson
Friday, July 19th
Warminster welcomed Trowbridge Town to Weymouth Street and the 147 in attendance were in for a treat! (Unless you’re a Trowbridge fan!)
Final score: Warminster Town 10 Trowbridge Town 0
See the the match highlights.
On Friday, July 5th, Warminster Town got their warm-up campaign underway. Welcoming Larkhall Athletic a few familiar faces returned. Former Warminster Town manager, Andy Crabtree assistant manager, and former players. Lewis Graham and Eben Mortimer-Taylor were in the team.
Warminster got off to a bright start for the first twenty minutes and looked likelier to score. However, it was in the 25th minute when The Larks got their first goal and two more followed before the halftime whistle. Two more goals in the second half sealed a 0-5 win for the Southern League side.
Here are the highlights for your enjoyment.
We are pleased to announce 3 preseason home fixtures for the 2024/25 season.
Friday, July 5th. Warminster Town FC v Larkhall Athletic
Saturday, July 13th Warminster Town v Melksham Town Reserves
Friday, July 19th Warminster Town v Trowbridge Town
Another cup match for Warminster Town Reserves was held on Wednesday, April 17th. Melksham Town kindly allowed the use of the Oakfield Stadium for the final of the KO Cup.
It was 1-1 at full time and in extra time, Warminster Town Reserves scored the winning goal. A great match and was watched by an enthusiastic crowd. The match was live-streamed by Grassroots Football Live on YouTube. The full replay is available with this link.
The Boxing Day Derby against Radstock Town would start with Warminster firmly on top; however, it would take till the 43rd minute before the deadlock was broken when Corey Gardner would go on an impressive solo run, finishing with a poke home. 1-0 Warminster. The second half was where the heavens would open; this wouldn’t dampen the occasion as Radstock would spice up the derby by grabbing a quick equaliser after their striker would go one-on-one with Goalkeeper Sam Thomson, slotting home. 1-1.
Warminster would then kick back into top gear, piling on the pressure against the opposition back four, eventually forcing the centre back into putting the ball in his own net. 2-1 Warminster. Three minutes later, Emilio Mudrak would come on for Tyler Gane, quickly followed by James Vincent coming on for danger man Max Wyatt. The final two subs would see Jakob Seviour and Corey Harbour-Burgess make way for Logan Cassidy and Seb Hounsell, respectively. With both sides pushing, it would be Warminster who would get the final goal with Eben Mortimer-Taylor, captain for the day, turning and firing into an open net following a brilliant Warminster move. 3-1!
Overall a very entertaining game which made for a feisty occasion, with Warminster running out with all three points.
Subs:
Match Report: Liam Spurrier
Warminster travelled to Cheddar, looking for their first points of the season. Cheddar has endured a bad start to the season after finishing just outside the playoffs last season. The game ended goalless in what proved to be a frustrating night for Warminster.
The first half was all Warminster. Inside the first 10 minutes, they had several half chances and crosses into the box, which no one could get on the end of. The clear opening came on 10 minutes; a great ball from the left found the head of Logan Cassidy, who beat the keeper but not the defender on the line.
Immediately after that, Cheddar had their own half chance. Sam Thomson comfortably saved a shot from just inside the left-hand side of the box in the Warminster goal. The next half chance fell to stand in Warminster captain James Vincent whose deflected shot was saved.
Warminster were still knocking on the door and were still having many crosses going into the box, but the finishing touch wasn’t there. Ten minutes before halftime, a ball into the cheddar box found both Logan Cassidy and Corey Gardner but were denied by a combination of defender and goalkeeper. 0-0 was the score at halftime.
The second half was more even, with Cheddar having a shot on 52 mins but went narrowly wide of the post. Warminster had another opportunity which went over, and then Cheddar were given an indirect free kick, which was wonderfully blocked on the line and cleared.
For the rest of the game, Warminster had chance after chance but couldn’t force their way through a stubborn Cheddar defence. The final chance of the match, though, fell to the cheesemen, who hit the post with virtually the last kick of the game.
A frustrating night for Warminster, who on another day maybe should have scored 3-4. A positive, though, is a clean sheet, with the defence doing a superb job keeping Cheddar at bay.
Thomson, Humphreys, Dymond-Hall, Chandler, De Silva, Rogers, Mudrak, Mortimer-Taylor*, Cassidy*, Vincent (Captain), Gardner (*substituted)
Subs (used) Seviour, Bartley
Subs (unused) Sinclair, Kovacs
Match Report Written by Liam Spurrier
A Matt Garner strike 25 minutes from time proved to be the difference in front of a good midweek crowd of 153 at Weymouth street
The first half was very scrappy, with very few chances. On 15 minutes, Warminster won a corner which was dealt with by Wincanton, who then broke down the other end. The ball was crossed in from the left but the header was tipped over by Sam Thomson in the Warminster goal. Thomson would be a very busy man for the remainder of the game.
The next half chance was on 38 minutes, a corner came in for Wincanton, and the ball was headed back across into a dangerous area but was cleared. 5 minutes later, a stinging shot was excellently tipped onto the bar by Thomson, this be as to be the last action of the half.
The second half was much more frantic, and it was Warminster who asked the first question, forcing 2 corners in quick succession. The second corner was headed goal bound by Jakob seviour, but was comfortably saved by former Warminster keeper Nathan Ball.
3 minutes later, Wincanton had a shot after a cross wasn’t cleared, but Eben Mortimer-Taylor cleared off the line. For the rest of the game, Wincanton gradually took control, forcing 3 more wonderful saves from Thomson before eventually, the Warminster resistance was broken, Matt Garner firing into the near corner with too much power for the Warminster goalkeeper. This was followed by a little bit of a scuffle afterwards.
Overall it was a vastly improved performance from Warminster, who were missing skipper Ian Jeffery after injuring himself in the game on Saturday. Next up for town is Andover New Street, as FA Cup action returns to Weymouth Street for the first time in 12 years!
1. Sam Thomson
2. Braden Humphries
3. Spencer Dymond-Hall
4. Lewis Graham (C)
5. Jordan De Silva
6. Leigh Rodgers
7. Jack Miluk
8. Eben Mortimer-Taylor
9. Jakob Seviour
10. Dan Kovacs
11. Corey Gardner
Subs
12. Lennon Burden
13.
14. James Vincent
15. Owen Bartley
16.
17. Nick Chandler
18. Logan Cassidy
Warminster welcomed a Melksham team who are coming into this season off the back of their highest ever finish in the Southern League Division One South. Warminster themselves are looking to gain promotion this season following the play off final defeat to Welton Rovers last time out.
In their last pre-season game before the league season starts next week with a trip to new boys Nailsea and Tickenham, Warminster started poorly and this was demonstrated when Sam Hendy put the visitors ahead after 9 minutes, all be it with a potential offside call. After this Melksham never looked back and in the 23rd minute the lead was doubled, a great cross from the Melksham left was headed in by skipper Luke Ballinger. 5 minutes later, Albie Hopkins danced through the Warminster defence only to see his shot which was bound for the bottom corner was brilliantly tipped round the post by Sam Thomson in the Warminster goal. This wasn’t the end of the first half entertainment as with the last kick of the first half, a brilliant cross from Ballinger was met by the unmarked Aaron Parsons who headed in goal number 3. Warminster’s best chance this half was a cross from the right which was deflected just wide!
The second half started much the same, with Thomson making a few good saves before inevitably, Sam Hendy grabbed his second and the visitors’ 4th goal. Barely 60 seconds later it was 5-0, this time it was Jay Malshandkyj. With 10 minutes remaining, the Melksham Keeper went off injured, so who went in goal? Captain and goalscorer Ballinger donned the gloves!
Warminster had a few chances towards the end of the game but ultimately, the two division difference between the sides told! However, there were some positives from the game, with some of our new signings blending in well with the squad
Final Score Warminster 0 Melksham 5 – Attendance 137
