Westbury United enjoyed a fruitful first season in the Toolstation Premier Division, managing to perform beyond initial expectations, and achieving a best ever 5th place finish.
The White Horse Men also found themselves in fine form in the cup this year, making it to the semi-final of the Wiltshire Senior Cup, only to be knocked out by formidable opponents in Swindon Supermarine.
Reflecting on the tests that this season posed the side, co-manager Neil Kirkpatrick said, “Following on from our championship winning season was always going to be a tall order. Now we are at the end of that season I think that everyone at the club can be proud of what was achieved.”
After last season’s triumph, the managerial team of Neil and his son, Joe, stated that the main aim would be to keep the squad together and hope to achieve a respectable mid-table finish. However, after exceeding this target, the question on many supporters’ lips is whether next season they will be pushing for a second title in three years.
Neil said, “We ended up in fifth place with a best ever points total at this level and to finish that high is a remarkable achievement when you consider some of the long-established clubs we are up against and some of the crazy budgets other clubs have. Our targets for next season will be to kick on from where we finished this year, but it won’t be easy.”
A cup run and top five finish is sure to provide many memorable moments, and the managers were keen to share a couple of personal highlights from the last nine months. “We managed to recruit well, with some really good additions to the squad and hit the ground running once the season started,” said Neil. “We came through a couple of rounds in the FA Cup and the FA Vase. We would have loved a longer run in the Vase, but it wasn’t to be. We continued our good start in the league and incredibly went unbeaten until after Christmas.
“We enjoyed a cracking run in The Wiltshire Senior Cup, only losing to southern league Premier Swindon Supermarine in extra time in the semi-final. The second half of the season was a bit disjointed as we suffered from injuries, suspensions and player availability, but we’ve learnt valuable lessons which we will take into next season.”
Whether they do end up as title-chasers next season is to be seen, but there have certainly been an overwhelming amount of positives to take from the 2018-19 season for Westbury United, which they will look to take forward and hopefully improve upon for the next list of fixtures. Neil wished to send this message out to everyone who has played a part in this season. “Finally a big thank you from the management team to Greg and all the committee, to all the volunteers at the club, to our supporters who have been brilliant this season and lastly to every player who has pulled the green shirt on this season and given their all.”
