Shaftesbury extended their impressive winning streak to five consecutive league victories with a hard-fought 1–0 triumph over Westbury United at Cockrams on Saturday.
The only goal of the afternoon came in the 35th minute, courtesy of Leighton Thomas, who marked his return to action in perfect fashion. The hosts had been knocking on the door moments earlier, striking the crossbar twice in quick succession—first through Jack Hoey’s powerful effort, and then again when Thomas pounced on the rebound but was denied by the woodwork. His persistence paid off shortly afterwards as he finally broke the deadlock.
Westbury United grew into the game after the break, enjoying their best spell of pressure in the second half. Their standout chance fell to substitute Sam Francis, whose sharp effort looked destined for the bottom corner until Shaftesbury goalkeeper Ben Taylor produced a superb save to preserve his clean sheet.
Despite Westbury’s late push, Shaftesbury showed strong defensive resolve to see out the match and secure all three points in what proved to be an extremely tight and competitive encounter.
The win lifts Shaftesbury to 33 points, keeping them in fourth place, just four points behind league leaders Winchester City as the promotion race begins to tighten.
Next up for Jim Milligan’s side is a challenging away trip to Mousehole AFC on Saturday, November 22.