MARLBOROUGH Town manager Tom Thatcher was chuffed to see his side roar back to life by putting Corsham Town Reserves to the sword last weekend.

On January 21, Marlborough capitulated in the Senior Knockout Cup as they were beaten 6-2 at Cricklade Town but on Saturday, the Elcot Lane outfit took out their frustrations on Corsham, who they thumped 7-1.

Marlborough did fall behind early on but responded by storming to a comfortable victory, Oliver Sly notching four goals, Ryan Banks getting in on the act and Valentin Rascanescu coming off the bench to bag a brace.

“We were awful against Cricklade. It was 2-2 in about the 65th minute but we scored an own goal and then our heads just dropped,” said Thatcher.

“We wanted to put it right but we conceded really early on Saturday. We had three at the back and they had three up top but we soon altered that.

“From then on, it was a really good performance from us and it was nice to see us get a win again.”

Marlborough remain three points behind leaders Wroughton, although the villagers have three matches in hand.

Thatcher is happy to see his team continue to hold up their part of the bargain and hopes that they will be primed to take advantage if Wroughton don’t keep their eye on the ball.

The Marlborough manager added: “Wroughton have done really well this season – they’ve only lost once and only drawn once.

“They’ve got those games in hand but they’ve still got to win it. You think that maybe they’ve got to slip-up at some point.”

Wroughton maintained their grasp on top spot with a 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Pewsey Vale Development, who had claimed their first win of the season in their last outing.

Meanwhile, third-placed Melksham Town Reserves claimed their first victory at new ground Oakfields by beating Royal Wootton Bassett Town Reserves 5-2.

Malmesbury Victoria Development got back to winning ways by beating Trowbridge Town 2-1 at the Flying Monk Ground but there was no joy for Devizes Town Reserves, who lost 3-0 at home to Ludgershall Sports.

Their near neighbours Bromham had an even more miserable afternoon as they were thrashed 7-1 by Shrewton United in the first round of the Knockout Cup.