Cup joy for Warminster's walking wounded

12:00pm Wednesday 15th October 2008

Purton 2, Warminster Town 3

WARMINSTER Town's walking wounded edged out Purton 3-2 in a thrilling Wiltshire Senior Cup first round clash at The Red House.

Player-boss Jason Guy had only 12 squad members at his disposal on Saturday due to unavailability and injuries and was forced to play a number of players out of position.

Tom Baxter suffered damage to his achilles tendon after 10 minutes following a nasty challenge but played on until the hour mark. Ashley Wain, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, came on for the final quarter of an hour.

Hellenic League Division One side Purton took the lead after 20 minutes but Warminster netted twice in the lead-up to half-time. First Tom Welch drove a pull-back from the by-line past the helpless goalkeeper into the bottom corner. Welch then turned provider as he slid through the defence for Sean Snook, who flicked over the Purton stopper.

The home side levelled midway through the second half but Welch got his second and Warminster’s winner 10 minutes from the end.

Player-boss Guy played Welch in and he slotted the ball under the goalkeeper and into the net.

Guy said: “It was a battle but everyone dug in and ran their hearts out and you can’t ask any more than that.

“We didn’t play attractive football but we battled and got in their faces.

“Some of them were in different positions and they just got on with the job.”

Warminster have been rewarded for their efforts with a home tie against Devizes Town in the next round.

The match will be played on Saturday November 15.

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