CORSHAM bounced back from their Boxing Day derby defeat to Calne with a solid victory in an all-Wiltshire clash at Shrewton.

Although Dave Kilmurray's opener was cancelled out just before half-time, Corsham had the better of the second half and took the points courtesy of goals from Alan Griffin and Dan Beck.

Assistant manager John Woods said the result was the perfect start to 2004 for the club.

"It was good to bounce back from the Calne defeat and was exactly the response we had called for the players to make. It went very well because Shrewton is not an easy place to go. Everyone talks about their front two but their midfield like to join in as well.

"We had to be on our guard but we got three good goals away from home and thoroughly deserved the win."

Corsham took the lead midway through the first half after building up the pressure on their hosts.

Kilmurray capitalised on some poor defending from Shrewton and scored a poachers goal from near the penalty spot.

Griffin had hit the post just before the opening goal and then had another effort cleared off the line soon after.

But despite Corsham's good work they went into the break tied at 1-1 after Shrewton levelled in the 40th minute from a corner.

After the restart the home team pushed on but Corsham did their best to stand firm under intense pressure and managed to hang on in the game at 1-1.

Their resilience paid dividends as they weathered the storm and then took the lead themselves in the 75th minute.

John Woods won the ball in midfield and fed Griffin who shook off a couple of challenges and put his side back in front. The result was then wrapped up when Dan Beck headed home from a Jamie Harrison delivery five minutes from time.

This Saturday Corsham make the short trip to Westbury United for another league derby clash.

Woods added: "Hopefully there will be a large crowd and it will be a good derby match at Westbury.

"We had a good 1-1 draw with them at our place and hopefully we can go one better this time.

"We should have Nigel Curtis back from a hamstring injury which would be a massive boost as everyone knows he is a key player for us."

Meanwhile, Saturday's fixture has been chosen to help raise money the Charlotte's Chance of Life Fund.

Charlotte Wakeham died aged eight from a brain tumour last September.

Her grandmother Wendy Bryant, who lives in Devizes, set up the fund to raise money for research into the cancer and Charlotte's family have continued to support their local team.

The players and officials of both teams, along with the match officials, will be wearing pink armbands in memory of Charlotte and a collection will be taken during the afternoon.