Les Phillips Cup week lifts Western League clubs from league routine

The week's sharpest result came in the Les Phillips Cup, where Odd Down won 3-2 away at AEK Boco. The visitors go through to the next round. Corey Rawlings and Adam Buckley scored for the Bears, who described it as "not our night" but promised to "regroup and go again". It ended a run of league results that had gone well for both. The Bears had won 2-1 at Warminster Town with ten men, Tom Withers scoring a penalty, while Odd Down had won 2-1 at Cadbury Heath. Kelsey scored after 13 seconds there, and Billy Ransome got the winner five minutes into the second half. Odd Down's goalkeeper Ky Armstrong was man of the match on his first-team debut in that game.

The league programme carried a more sober moment at Welton Rovers, where Almondsbury won 2-0 thanks to a Liam Nicholls brace. Almondsbury wished the Welton forward well as he went to hospital with a head injury. Welton named the player as reserve team captain Aaron Ridewood, wished him a speedy recovery and thanked the Almondsbury physio for their support. Welton then went out of the cup on a wet Tuesday evening, beaten 3-0 by Calne Town. They had also announced two first-team signings, striker Nicholas Taylor from Calne Town and midfielder Harry Williamson from Bitton.

Across the rest of the division, Bristol Telephones won 4-1 at Shirehampton, with Mikey Arch among the scorers, in a game that began with a minute's silence for Alan Bennett, a former committee member and lifelong supporter. Avonmouth beat Keynsham 1-0, Josh Hopkins stepping up from the under-18s to keep a clean sheet. Amesbury Town won 2-1 against Lymington Town through a second-half strike from Ben Ashfield, and Bitton reported a 7-3 win. Mendip Broadwalk drew 2-2 with Calne Town, and Wells City rescued a 1-1 draw through an O'Hare penalty at the death.

In the cup, Wells City were, in their own words, kept on edge for 90 minutes away at Nailsea United. Goals came from Krystian Woods, Alfie Clark, Sydney Camper, Luco Ponsillo and Ibrahima Diallo. Nailsea had drawn 2-2 with Longwell Green Sports after leading 2-0 at half-time, and Longwell Green were defeated by Portishead Town in the same competition.

Off the pitch, Odd Down said they had replaced concrete perimeter walls at the Lew Hill Memorial Ground with metal fencing, funded entirely by the Premier League Stadium Fund, following the FA's revised stadium requirements for 2026/27.