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Category: Weekly Update

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  • Weekly Update – 20/02/26

    Weekly Update – 20/02/26

    From what looked like being a complete washout last weekend, things actually turned out far better than expected. If we end up with a hosepipe ban this summer, perhaps it’s time for the Hellenic Lawyers to take on the water companies! Cheltenham today has delivered what feels like four seasons in one day, so let’s hope for a return to some settled, dry weather.

    In the Isuzu FA Vase 5th Round last Saturday, Hallen produced an outstanding performance, beating Gornal Athletic 3–0. Harrison Fairman grabbed two of the goals in a superb display that sees Hallen progress to the quarter-finals. They have another home tie on 28th February, which I’ll highlight again in the coming weeks — a great occasion for the club.

    In the UHL Premier Division, with several sides involved in cup action, we had three league fixtures last weekend. Corsham Town travelled to in-form Cinderford Town and were beaten 3–1. Tuffley Rovers made the trip to Pershore Town and came away with an impressive 3–0 win, with the ever-reliable Karnell Chambers once again finding the net. Royal Wootton Bassett Town hosted Westfields and continued their steady climb up the table with a convincing 3–0 victory. Longlevens v Cribbs fell victim to Friday’s downpours despite Longlevens’ best efforts to get the game on.

    On Tuesday evening, Lydney Town hosted Hereford Pegasus, with Pegasus running out 2–1 winners. Fairford Town travelled to Westfields and continued their own climb up the table with a 2–0 victory. Reports suggest both pitches were in excellent condition despite recent flooding, so huge credit must go to the grounds staff at Lydney and Westfields for their hard work.

    In the UHL Challenge Cup, Hereford Pegasus edged past Highworth Town 1–0. Slimbridge made the short trip to Stonehouse Town for a Gloucestershire derby and secured a 3–1 win. Worcester Raiders faced a long journey to Mangotsfield United, with the match finishing 2–2 in normal time before Raiders prevailed 5–3 on penalties.

    In the Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup on Tuesday, Highworth Town made the long midweek journey to Alcester Town and returned with an emphatic 5–0 win, including a hat-trick from Bonsa Teshome. Cribbs hosted Longlevens but were beaten 3–1.

    In UHL Division One, five league matches were played on Saturday. FC Stratford maintained top spot with a 2–0 away win at Ludlow Town. Wantage Town kept up the pressure with a 2–1 home victory over Brimscombe & Thrupp. Malmesbury Victoria were narrowly beaten 3–2 by Clanfield 85 in a five-goal thriller. Cheltenham Saracens drew 2–2 with Thame United Reserves, with Thame equalising in the 88th minute. Wellington enjoyed a welcome 4–1 win over Chipping Sodbury Town. Redditch Borough v Bewdley Town was postponed.

    In the UHL Supplementary Challenge Cup, Shortwood and Hungerford Town Reserves drew 1–1 before Shortwood triumphed 4–2 on penalties. In midweek, Marlow Reserves beat Thame United Reserves 3–1.

    Finally, in the Batemans Sports Alliance Challenge Cup, Evesham United Reserves hosted Banbury United Development but were beaten 7–1.

    Let’s hope for a full programme and plenty of football to enjoy this weekend.

  • Weekly Update 13/02/26

    Weekly Update 13/02/26

    The rain took a massive toll on fixtures last weekend with only 3 surviving. One of these was the grass pitch at Pershore Town, a massive thanks to the grounds-staff at Pershore which must have been a huge effort. With more rain this week, we have already lost some games that were due to be played tomorrow. 

    Hallen’.’ 5th round of the Isuzu FA Vase hosting Gornal Athletic who sit 2nd in Division One of the Midland Football League will be attempted at Hallen again on Saturday. Fingers crossed the game goes ahead and all the best to Hallen. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, where we had 2 games surviving the weather, two of the current top 3 played. 2nd placed Roman Glass St. George hosted Fairford Town, who last time out won 7-3 away at Slimbridge. Fairford ripped the form book up again and won 4-0 to dent Roman Glass St George’s eye on top spot in the division. A real 5-goal thriller took place on the grass at Pershore Town where they hosted 3rd placed Slimbridge. Pershore had beaten promotion chasing Cirencester Town the week before. The game was poised at 1-1 going in at the interval. Pershore then went 2-1 up and almost added a 3rd that was well saved by the Slimbridge goalkeeper. Into the last ten minutes and Slimbridge leveled with regular marksman Jack W Smithfinding the net with a header. Deep into stoppage time Slimbridge completed the victory with Smith again on the mark to seal the win. Slimbridge are still 3rd but hot on the heels of the top two with games in hand. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, we only had 1 game played. Malmesbury Victoria borrowed Cirencester Towns’ 3G pitch and hosted fellow 3G pitch owners Wantage Town. The game finished 2-2 with Wantage firmly in 3rd place and Malmesbury just one place outside of the play-off places. On Tuesday, Brimscombe & Thrupp v Carterton was the only survivor of the night and it was well worth it for Brimscombe & Thrupp who won convincingly 6-1. Again, a great effort by the grounds team at the club. 

    We had 3 Vets games to survive the weather on Wednesday. In Division One there were wins for Woodley United Vets at home v Watlington Town Old Boys Vets and Gording United vets at home v Marcham Vets. In theVets League Cup, Thame United Vets beat Bicester Town Vets. 

    Team of the month for January:

    Premier Division – Worcester Raiders

    Division One – Bewdley Town

    Lookout for the trophy presentation in due course and congratulations.  

    This Sunday, myself, Bill B and Brian K are heading to St. Georges Park for a Steps 5 and 6 Leagues Meeting which brings together all Step 5 and 6 Leagues from across the country. Main topics are: FA Referees Update, Club Licensing and a Step 6 Review. I will look to provide some snippets over the coming weeks for you.

    Hoping for a good proportion of games tomorrow!!!  🤞🤞

  • Weekly update – 6/02/26

    Weekly update – 6/02/26

    The rain is starting to get a tad boring now! We have already lost games this upcoming weekend!

    Weather dependent, there is a massive game in the 5thround of the Isuzu FA Vase seeing our remaining survivors in the competition, Hallen, hosting Gornal Athletic who sit 2nd in Division One of the Midland Football League. All the very best to Hallen to keep the UHL flag flying into the next round. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, previous leaders Roman Glass St George had no game, so 2ndplaced Droitwich Spa took full advantage in their home 4-0-win v Cribbs and duly moved into top spot. 3rd Placed Slimbridge travelled to bottom club at the time Hallen and were soundly beaten 4-0 with Harrison Fairman scoring a hat trick. Hallen moved off the bottom as a result and Slimbridge dropped to 4th place as Worcester Raidershosted Westfields and two 2nd half goals saw them leapfrog Slimbridge into 3rd.  Corsham Town travelled to Tuffley Rovers and suffered a 3-2 defeat, Cirencester Town hosted Pershore Town and two 2nd half goals saw Pershore Town travel home with 3 points in the bag.  Mangotsfield United hosted a resurgent Cinderford Townand lost 3-2, Fairford Town v Hereford Pegasus was postponed due to a heavy downpour just before kick-off resulting in the pitch becoming un-playable. Highworth Town hosted Thornbury Town and with the game poised at 1-1, Thornbury popped up with an 87th minute winner to take the 3 points. Lydney Town travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett Town and travelled home on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat. A few twists and turns this week and no doubt many more to come over the next few weeks. 

    On Tuesday evening we had Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup action which saw Malmesbury Victoria travel toWantage Town and win 5-3 and Worcester Raiders v Hereford Pegasus end 1-1 in normal time with Worcester Raiders winning 5-3 on penalties. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, Leaders FC Stratfordhosted Chipping Sodbury Town and kept top spot with a 3-1 win. Bewdley Town travelled to Shortwood United and won 2-1, Wantage Town were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Ludlow Town, Stonehouse Town v Cheltenham Saracens was also a draw, but this one finished 1-1. Alcester Town v Wellington ended in a 2-0 home win. Woodford United v Carterton ended 2-2. Redditch Borough v Malmesbury Victoria and Clanfield 85 v Brimscombe & Thrupp were both postponed.

    One game in Alliance East saw Headington Amateurs v Banbury United Dev end 2-1. 

    Two games in Alliance West saw Bourton Rovers Dev v UDA Glos Dev finish 3-0 and Evesham United Res v Highworth Town Res finish 2-1. 

    In the Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairmans) Challenge Cup, we had wins for Ardley United Res v Easington Sports Dev and Marlow Res v Hambleden.

    We had 3 Vets games survive the weather on Wednesday in Division One with wins for Goring United Vets away at Bicester Town Vets and Chinnor Vets at home v Marcham Vets.  

    Golden Glove Awards for January saw Harry Pickering of Malmesbury Victoria in Division One and Joe Stocktonof Droitwich Spa in the Premier Division pick up the UHLSPORT Gloves. Congratulations to both goal-keepers.

    Great news received from Highworth Town in regards to the new stadia and 3G pitch. It looks like work will start at the end of March and be ready for pre-season friendlies in time for season 2026-2027 to start. It has been a long wait with some hard work by the Highworth Stalwarts, but hopefully they will get their rewards with the new development. 

    Yours in sport, 

    Ian

  • Weekly Update 30th Jan 26

    Weekly Update 30th Jan 26

    Pleased to report a pretty full fixture list last Saturday. Thoughts go out to Westfields having seen the recent photos of their pitch. They always seem to bounce back quickly which is a testament to all the hard-working folks at the club. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, it was a very interesting day in terms of results. Leaders Roman Glass St George had a relatively short trip across to Mangotsfield United for the Bristol Derby and lost 3-2 with recent signing Lewis Powell scoring a hat trick for Mangotsfield. Droitwich Spa moved into 2nd place after their long journey down to play Corsham Town ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw. Droitwich were 2-0 down at half time and they got their equalizer in the 92nd minute.  The result of the day had to be at Slimbridge; Fairford Town were the visitors and the game produced 10 goals with Fairfordultimately winning 7-3 which included a Harrison Edwardshat trick. Worcester Raiders and Longlevens who were both in good form played out a 4-2 at Worcester with Raiders the victors. It was 3-2 up until the 94th minute when Raiders got their 4th to make the game safe.  Lydney Town hosted free scoring Cirencester Town and battled out for a point in the 1-1 draw.  Hereford Pegasus and Royal Wootton Bassett Town played out a 2-2 draw. There was another goal fest at Highworth where Highworth Townscored a 92nd minute winner in the 3-2 game v Tuffley Rovers. Cinderford Town hosted Pershore Town in a game made possible due to the hard-working grounds team at Cinderford who were rewarded for their efforts with a 3-1 win. There was a Friday night game which resulted in a 1-1 draw between Cribbs and Thornbury Town. Suffice to say it is even closer at the top. With games in hand, it is still all to play for at the bottom as well. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, with Bewdley Towns’game away at Alcester Town being postponed, we had new leaders again, with FC Stratford leap-frogging Bewdley in their away game v Wantage Town with a 2-1 victory. Stonehouse Town hosted Ludlow Town and won 3-2, Newent Town travelled to play Clanfield 85 and duly won 4-0. Redditch Borough travelled to play Chipping Sodbury Town and were soundly beaten 4-0 with George Box scoring all 4 for the hosts. Malmesbury Victoriastayed in the hunt for play-off places with a 2-0 away win at Thame United Reserves. Brimscombe & Thrupp hosted Cheltenham Saracens and won 1-0. Carterton won 2-1 at home v Shortwood United with 2 second half goals. Wellington travelled to Woodford United and won 3-0. The top 3 who have been interchanging over the past few weeks have a bit of a gap and there are still places up for grabs in the play-off places below them. At the bottom with games in hand, there are still movements to be made to the safety zone. 

    Two games in Alliance West saw University of Bristol win 3-0 v Wantage Town U23 and Clanfield (85) Res travel to Bourton Rovers and win 1-0. 

    In the Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairmans) Challenge Cup, we had wins for Headington Amateurs andHighworth Town Res. 

    We had 3 Vets games survive the weather on Wednesday with a win for Thame United Vets in the Premier and wins for Bicester Town Vets and Goring United Vets in the Vets League Cup. 

    Fingers crossed for all of our scheduled games to be played tomorrow!

    Best wishes, 

    Ian

  • Weekly Update 15/01/26

    Weekly Update 15/01/26

    All, 

    Some important dates for your diaries at the bottom of this week’s news. 

    The weather relented somewhat last weekend and despite some postponements, we actually got a good selection of games in.  

    We only had 1 postponement in the Premier Division and 3 in Division 1. Thanks to all of you clubs for your efforts to get the games on. 

    I have to start this week with tomorrow’s Izusu FA Vase 4thround games with Slimbridge travelling down to Wessex Premier Division Downton near Salisbury in Wiltshireand Hallen hosting Hythe & Dibden, also from the Wessex Premier Division; they are travelling up from the Southampton area. Downton are currently 20th in the table and Hythe & Dibden are 18th. The very best of luck to Slimbridge and Hallen – keep the UHL flag flying. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, leaders Roman Glass St George hosted Westfields and won 3-0,Droitwich Spa made a 150-mile round trip to Mangotsfield United and came away with a close 1-0 victory in front of a watching 355 spectators. Slimbridge travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett Town and won 3-0 with two 2nd half goals, Corsham Town hosted Lydney Town and won 3-0, Cirencester Town travelled to play Longlevens and scored a 9th minute goal to win 1-0, Worcester Raiders hostedHereford Pegasus and won 2-1, Tuffley Rovers and Cinderford Town drew 2-2 with Tuffley’s equalizer scored in the 89th minute, Thornbury Town and Pershore Townshared the spoils with the game finishing 0-0. In the Friday night game, the very local Derby between Cribbs and Hallen ended 1-1. 

    In the Wiseman Lighting Floodlit Cup on Tuesday, Hallenhosted Corsham Town and won 1-0, Carterton hosted Malmesbury Victoria and lost 0-4 with Malmesbury’sLewis James Bexon-Shaw scoring a hat trick, Wantage Town hosted Pershore Town and won 2-0 with goals in the 88 and 92nd minutes, Worcester Raiders hosted near neighbours Droitwich Spa in front of 212 spectators and won 3-1. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, we had new leaders in Wantage Town who won 7-1 v Newent Town and Bewdley Town having no game. 3rd v 4th played at Stonehouse Town and it was visitors, 3rd placed FC Stratford who won the game 2-1. With the rest of the chasing packs’ games’ being postponed there are still places up for grabs in the play-off places. Chipping Sodbury Town travelled to Clanfield 85 and despite being 3-1 down at half time, they scored twice in the 2nd half to draw the game 3-3. Wellington hosted Brimscombe & Thrupp and won the game 3-2 to keep their survival hopes alive.   

    One game in Alliance East between Hambleden v Easington Sports Development finished 3-7. 

    One game in Alliance West on Friday evening saw Carterton v Highworth Town Res finish 1-1 and Saturday’s game finishing UDA Glos Dev v Wantage Town U23 2-1. 

    Following the totaling up of the scores on the doors,December Team of the Month awards go to:

    Longlevens – Premier Division

    Wantage Town – Division One

    Congratulations to both Teams – awards will be presented in due course.

    At the Hellenic League Management Committee Meetinglast night, we decided upon the method that we will be finishing the season and it is a change to previous seasons:

    The Floodlit Cup Final will be on Tuesday 17th March 2026.

    The Challenge / Supplementary Cup Finals will be onSaturday 28th March 2026.

    The Final League Games of the season for Premier / Division 1 will be Saturday 18/4/2026.

    The Play-Off Semi-Finals for Premier / Division 1 will be played W/C 20/4/2026. (Tuesday/Wednesday)

    The Chairman’s / President Cup Finals will be onSaturday 25/4/2026.

    The Veterans Cup Final will be on Wednesday 29/4/2026.

    Division 1 Play-Off Final will be on Friday 1/5/2026.

    Premier Division Play-Off Final will be on Monday 4/5/2026.

    All the best for a dry weekend with all of our scheduled games being played!!

  • Weekly Update – 9/01/26

    Weekly Update – 9/01/26

    The weather took an almighty toll on us last weekend and continues to be a feature this week. (Fingers firmly crossed for some more football tomorrow)

    We had 5 games played in the Premier Division, 3 in Division 1 (1 on the Friday evening), 1 in the Challenge Cup, 1 in Alliance West and 1 in the Chairmans Challenge cup. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, leaders Roman Glass St George travelled to Worcester Raiders and were involved in a 5-goal thriller. The game finished 3-2 to Worcester Raiders with their winning goal being scored by Adam Taylor in the 88th minute. Droitwich Spa travelled down the M5 to play Hallen and won a hard-fought game 1-0 to leapfrog Slimbridge into 2nd place as Slimbridge were in action in the cup. With Corsham Towns’ game being postponed, Cirencester Town moved closer behind them by winning 3-1 at home v Cribbs. (Harlie Pricescored another hat trick in the game.) Tuffley Roverstravelled down to play Thornbury Town and were involved in a 6-goal score fest. Tuffley were leading 2-1 at half time and then 3-2 up until the 96th minute when Thornbury got their equalizer through Tom Black as the game finished 3-3. Mangotsfield United travelled up to play Pershore Townand travelled home with a 3-0 win. 

    In the UHL Challenge Cup, Slimbridge hosted Westfieldsand progressed to the next round with a 4-0 victory. 

    In UHL Division One on Friday evening, we had an attendance of 265 for the Brimscombe & Thrupp v Stonehouse Town game where a tribute was paid following the tragic fire in Brimscombe over Christmas. It was good to see the Brimscombe Chairman being interviewed by the regional news before the game, giving his thoughts, including the donations from the game going to the go fund me page. On a bitterly cold evening, the game ended 1-1.  On Saturday, we only had 2 games to beat the freeze with Bewdley Town reclaimed top spot with a 4-1 home win v Wellington. 9th placed Ludlow Town travelled to play 6thplaced Newent Town and despite being 1-0 down at the break, they scored two second half goals through Ryan Clarke and won 2-1. (The winning goal coming in the 86thminute)

    One game in Alliance West saw Wantage Town U23 v Clanfield (85) Res finish 8-0. 

    One game in the Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairmans) Challenge Cup saw Evesham United Res v Headington Amateurs finish 1-5. 

    One game was played in the Vets Premier Division which saw Penn & Tyler Green Vets travel to Rotherfield United Vets and win 4-1. 

    One game in the Vets Division One saw Goring United Vets winning 1-0 against Chinnor Vets. 

    Golden Glove Award winners in December go to James Walker of Highworth Town in the Premier Division and Thomas Rees of Wantage Town in Division One. They can both look forward to the uhlsport Goalkeeping gloves. Congratulations James and Thomas. 

    There was some sad news in regards to Penn & Tylers Green reported to the league recently – Secretary and all-round Club Legend Andreas Latta passed away just after Christmas. Condolences to all at the club and of course thoughts go out to the family and friends at this very sad time. 

    Regards, 

    Ian

  • Weekly update 26th Dec 25

    Weekly update 26th Dec 25

    I hope you all enjoyed Christmas Day and are ready for the festive fixture list. 

    In the UHL Premier Division last Saturday, we had a full fixture list. Leaders Roman Glass St George travelled to Highworth Town and suffered a 2-0 defeat. 2nd placed Slimbridge travelled to Cinderford Town and won 4-1. 3rdplaced Droitwich Spa travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett Town and despite going into the break 2-0 up came away with a 2-2 draw. Corsham Town travelled to Westfieldsand won 2-1 and Cirencester Town also travelled to Mangotsfield United and won 3-1 with a hat trick from Harlie Price. Worcester Raiders hosted Hallen and won 3-1, Hereford Pegasus had a convincing 4-0 home win v Cribbs, Longlevens and Pershore Town were stuck at 0-0when a Floodlight failure caused the game to be abandoned, Tuffley Rovers had a 3-0 home win v Lydney Town and Thornbury Town won 2-0 at home to Fairford Town. It was nice to see some healthy crowds in attendance to watch the games and let us hope folks want some fresh air and the 27th December fixtures are well attended. It is still very competitive at the top and bottom of the division. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, leaders Bewdley Towntravelled to Carterton and a 91st minute Carterton goal appeared to have settled the game only for a 95th minute equalizer which saw the game finish 2-2. Wantage Town v Thame United Reserves finished a resounding 7-1 win to Wantage who scored 6 goals in the 2nd half after leading 1-0 at half time. FC Stratford hosted Malmesbury Victoriaand won 2-0. Redditch Borough’s away game v Brimscombe & Thrupp was postponed on Friday due to Seven Trent Water pipes suffering a breach and the far end of the pitch away from the clubhouse was very waterlogged. (Update – it appears that Seven Trent have rectified the situation so hopefully Brimscombe & Thrupps’ next scheduled home games will be ok to be played). Newent Town travelled to Shortwood United and won 4-1 to stay in the final play off place. Stonehouse Town who are in great form hosted Woodford United, won 4-0 and kept close to the play-off pack. Cheltenham Saracens v Clanfield 85 ended 1-1 and Chipping Sodbury Town v Ludlow Town was postponed as Ludlow Town could not raise a full team. 

    One game in Alliance East saw Marlow Res beat Hambleden away and one game in Alliance West sawHighworth Town Res beat Bourton Rovers Dev away.

    In the Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairmans) Challenge Cup, Wantage Town travelled to Kidlington Dev and won 6-1.

    I wanted to use this occasion to thank all of the volunteers out there in your clubs, they are the ones who make all of this possible. I also wanted to thank my fellow UHL Committee members, who like you will be hard at work over the holiday period to ensure the League can continue functioning at this busy footballing time of the year. 

    I will close by wishing you all a Happy New Year and let us hope that 2026 is a great one.

    Best Regards,

    Ian 

  • Weekly Update 12/12/25

    Weekly Update 12/12/25

    The weather had some effect on fixtures last weekend, but credit to all of the clubs and ground staff who did all they possibly could to get games on. I did a video call with Hungerford Town Reserves on Friday afternoon/evening when a late downpour put paid to all their efforts to get their game on v Eversley & California Reserves.! 

    The Isuzu FA Vase Third Round where we had 3 clubs still involved only produced one result which saw Cinderford Town going down 4-0 away to AFC Stoneham. The other two games – Hallen V Hamworthy Recreation and Slimbridge v Amesbury Town go again this Saturday. All the best to Hallen and Slimbridge.  

    In the UHL Premier Division on Saturday, we lost 3 games to the weather. Roman Glass St George took advantage of Slimbridge being involved in the Vase by returning to top spot with a 3-0 win over Cirencester Town. Droitwich Spatravelled to Fairford Town and despite being 1-0 down, then 2-0 down, came back to equalize and then scored a 93rd minute winner to claim all 3 points. Tuffley Roversproduced a stunning display to win 4-0 at home v 5th placed Worcester Raiders, Royal Wootton Bassett Town climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0-win v Pershore Town, Highworth Town and Mangotsfield United shared the spoils with a 0-0 draw. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, we only lost 1 game to the weather. Wantage Town took over top spot with FC Stratford’s game being postponed and did it in style winning 8-1 v Woodford United; there were hattricks for Josh Davis and Luke Whelan. Bewdley Town won 3-0 v Clanfield 85, Redditch Borough travelled to Wellingtonand won 3-2, Newent Town travelled to Brimscombe & Thrupp and lost 2-1, Stonehouse Town continued their march up the table and won 4-1 at home to Thame United Reserves, Shortwood United won 2-1 at home to Cheltenham Saracens in a rain swept game, Malmesbury Victoria and Ludlow Town drew 2-2 and Cartertontravelled to Alcester Town and won 1-0.

    All scheduled games in Alliance East and Alliance Westwere postponed. 

    The scheduled Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairmans) Challenge Cup game was also postponed.

    In the Vets we had 5 League Cup games on Wednesday evening with wins for Watlington Town Wanderers Vets, Didcot Town Old Boys Vets, Goring United Vets and Penn & Tylers Green Vets with a draw between Woodley United Vets and Faringdon Town Vets. 

    The League Exec have been holding some respect meetings with UHL Premier Division and UHL Division One teams who have breached the respect marks during the first half of the season over the past couple of weeks. These all went well and action plans are now in place at the various clubs to address this. Hopefully this will address the matter. 

    With a better looking forecast for the next few days, fingers crossed we get plenty of football played, 

    All the best, 

    Ian

  • League Update 28/11/25

    League Update 28/11/25

    A good selection of fixtures was played, despite the wetness. Looks like some more rain on the way tomorrow, so let us hope the fixtures do not get affected. 

    In the UHL Premier Division on Saturday, only Slimbridgein the current top 5 won. They beat Hereford Pegasus 3-1 at home, but the result does not tell the story of a very even game with Pegasus finding the woodwork on a number of occasions. Roman Glass St George v Worcester Raidersended 0-0, Droitwich were on the end of a dominant 5-1 defeat away v Cirencester Town with Harlie Price scoring a 2nd half hattrick for the hosts who went in 1-0 down at half time. Corsham Town lost the Wiltshire derby 3-2 away at Highworth Town with the winner from Highworth coming in the 85th minute. Longlevens continued their remarkable current run with an 85th minute winner away at Mangotsfield United. Lydney Town continued their recovery with a 3-1 away win v Hallen, Royal Wootton Bassett Town travelled to Cribbs and won 2-1 with all the goals being scored in the 1st half. Fairford Town v Tuffley Rovers ended 1-1, Thornbury Town v Westfields also ended 1-1 and Pershore Town v Cinderford Town finished 0-0.  The top 3 and the bottom 5 are now all closely bunched together and the League is looking set for a very exciting 2nd half of the season. 

    In midweek in the UHL Premier Division we saw Lydney Town continue there escape from the bottom 3 and win 2-0 at home v 5th placed Corsham Town, leaders Roman Glass St George travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett Town and won 4-2 after being 2-1 down at half time, 2ndplaced Slimbridge popped over to Hereford and won 3-0 v Westfields, Fairford Town also travelled, to Pershore Town and won 1-0, it was late goals at Thornbury Town, who must have thought they won their game v Hallen by scoring in the 87th minute, only for Hallen to equalize in the 92nd minute to share the points. 

    In UHL Division One on Saturday, we lost 2 games to the weather at Alcester Town (v Stonehouse Town) and Thame United Reserves (v Malmesbury Victoria). Leaders Bewdley Town won their away gave v Ludlow Town 3-1, FC Stratford travelled to Wellington and won 4-0, Wantage Town v Cheltenham Saracens played out a thrilling 5-4 after being tied at 2-2 at half time, RedditchBorough travelled to Carterton and showed no mercy hitting 7 goals without reply with James Baldwin scoring 4 of them. Newent Town won 3-1 v Chipping Sodbury Town, Shortwood United travelled to Woodford Unitedand won 1-0 with Ollie Whelan scoring in the 90th minute, Brimscombe & Thrupp v Clanfield 85 finished 2-2. At the top, it is very close with the top 4 and at the bottom, there is a gap to Thame United Reserves, but above them there are 4 teams very close together and like the Premier Division, this is going to be an exciting 2nd half of the season. 

    In midweek we had Wiseman Lighting (UHL) Floodlit Cupaction – with Premier Division Cinderford Town and Division One Alcester Town drawing 2-2 and Alcester Town going on to win on penalties. In the Glos derby, Tuffley Rovers travelled to Shortwood United and won 3-2. 

    In the Alliance East, only one game saw Banbury United Dev winning 3-2 v Easington Sports Dev.

    In the Alliance West, there were two games, withHighworth Town Res v Newent Town Dev ending 6-1 toHighworth and University of Bristol winning 4-1 vCarterton Dev. 

    In the UHL Supplementary Challenge Cup, Marlow Res won 2-1 v Ardley United Res. 

    In the Vets we had 3 games on Wednesday with Goring United Vets v Benson Lions Vets finishing 7-3, Holyport Vets v Henley Town Vets ending 4-2 and Watling Town Old Boys Vets v Bicester Town Vets finishing 3-2. 

    All the best, 

  • Weekly Update 14/11/25

    Weekly Update 14/11/25

    Rain, rain go away!!!!! We either have none or a deluge!!!

    In the Isuzu FA Vase Second Round on Saturday, our 7teams left in the competition went down to 3. Cinderford Town drew 1-1 with Helston Athletic, subsequently winning 5-3 on penalties. Hallen drew 0-0 v Andover New Street away and then went on to win 4-1 on penalties. Slimbridge travelled down to Ivybridge Town and came back with an emphatic 5-0 victory; all 5 goals being scored by different scorers. Corsham Town lost 4-1 away to Bovey Tracey, Roman Glass St George suffered a 1-0home defeat v Hamworthy Recreation, Shortwood Unitedtravelled to Downton and lost 4-1. This was Shortwood United’s first time in the 2nd round for 14 years, so a great achievement. Thornbury Town were away at Hythe & Dibden, took a 2-0 lead in the first half with all looking good, but a 2nd half 3 goal comeback ended their chances to progress. The draw for the Third round has already been made with home games for Slimbridge and Hallen and an away game for Cinderford town, all due to be playedonDecember 6th. I noted there were good crowds at all the games, hopefully the crowds will flock to the next round games as well. 

    In the UHL Premier Division on Saturday, Droitwich Spawon the derby v Pershore Town 4-1 with 276 watching, Worcester Raiders travelled to Hereford Pegasus and won 3-0, Cirencester Town continued their steady progress with a 3-0 home win v Tuffley Rovers, Highworth Towntravelled to Cribbs and won 1-0, Fairford Town who have games in hand won 2-0 at home to Mangotsfield United, Royal Wootton Bassett Town v Longlevens finished 1-1and Lydney Town turned the formbook upside down winning 2-1 at home v Westfields. Lydney Town’s win really did bring them back from being cut adrift at the bottom of the table. On Wednesday evening leaders Roman Glass St George put their Vase exit behind them, winning 4-1 at home v Cinderford Town who finished the game with 9men. 

    In UHL Division One, on Saturday, leaders Bewdley Townwere held to at 1-1 home draw v Stonehouse Town, FC Stratford won 4-0 away v Woodford United, Redditch Borough won 4-1 at home v Thame United Reserves, free scoring Wantage Town won 6-0 at home v Malmesbury Victoria with Josh Davis scoring a hattrick and claiming the Uhlsport match ball. Cheltenham Saracens v Brimscombe & Thrupp finished in a 2-2 draw in the Glos derby, Chipping Sodbury Town won 3-0 at home v Wellington and Clanfield 85 climbed out of the bottom 3with a 2-1 away win v Ludlow Town. In the Wiseman Lighting (UHL) Floodlit Cup on Tuesday, Newent Townwon 3-2 v Bewdley Town.

    In the Alliance East, Hungerford Town Reserves travelled to Penn & Tylers Green United and won 5-0, Headington Amateurs won 3-0 v Easington Sports Dev and there was a 5-goal thriller which saw Banbury United Dev winning 3-2 v Hambleden.  

    Bourton Rovers Dev v Evesham United Reserves finished 1-2 in Alliance West. 

    The disappointing news in the Alliance West saw the withdrawal of Mangotsfield United Dev, with a lack of commitment and buy-in from the players. Their record will be expunged as per the normal protocol. 

    In the Batemans Sports Alliance (Chairman’s) Challenge Cup Hightworth Town Reserves won 3-0 v Clanfield (85) Reserves.  

    The UHL Management Committee had their meeting on Wednesday evening where we talked long into the evening. Lots of topics on the agenda which was 15 items long. One of the big ones was: how do we end the season, in terms of the play-offs as well as the cup finals. More will follow on that. From the meeting was the news that clubs no longer have to upload an image for postponed games as they would have been on a video call with either Brian or myself. The respect table was also discussed and some clubs will be invited in to have a discussion given their points tally for respect not being up to the standards expected. I will also be emailing clubs in the next few weeks for interest to host the cup finals – thanks to those whose interest has already been registered. 

    Finally, onto this weekend, where we are currently being blitzed by Storm Claudia. Brian and myself are expecting a good few calls and we will both be available from 09:30Saturday morning. A reminder, any Premier Division or Division One club must call Brian and any Alliance club must call myself to arrange a Whatsapp Video inspection. Obviously if things are already looking bad, make contact today and the appropriate decision can potentially be made early. 

    Fingers crossed we get a good proportion of our games in as Saturday’s weather looks more encouraging. 

    Stay Dry, 

    Ian