Rylands Way, 24th January 2009
Wootton Bassett Town raced into a 3-0 lead inside 25 minutes thanks to a virtuoso performance from Scott Ward and locals in the stands were predicting double figures. The fact that the score line after those first 25 minutes remained that at 90 was down to two factors, firstly a heavy pitch that got worse as the game progressed and secondly the dogged fighting spirit of the visitors who never gave up despite playing chase the ball for much of the game.
The first chance of the match was on 5 minutes when Shaun Carter's glancing header from brother Richie's free kick went just wide of the post. Pewsey's first chance game moments later when Chris Oram made an untypical miss pass and striker Justin Lisle found himself clear but his shot went wide. Bassett nearly took the lead a minute later when new signing Paul Fisher fed Scott Ward but Ward was harshly adjudged to be offside. A Ryan Banks run down the right ended with a hard low cross which found Ward but his shot was blocked on the line. However, Ward was not to be denied and he broke the deadlock on 15 minutes when he connected with a Tom Richie corner to head into the top corner of the net. Moments later Bassett thought they had the second when Banks again broke down the right and got behind the full back and crossed for Tom Richie who fired in only to see the goal disallowed as the linesman adjudged the ball to have gone out before Banks crossed. Bassett continued to press forward and Chris Oram fired over on 19 minutes after Tom Richie's shot had been saved on the line. Number two was only a matter of time and when keeper Richard Payne spilled Scott Ward's shot, Paul Hunt followed up to fire in to make it 2-0. Two minutes later Ward ran round a couple of defenders to then set up Steve Yeardley with an exquisite pass and Yeardley made no mistake, 3-0 Bassett. At the other end Pewsey were having their own chances and the best fell to Ricky Franklin on 35 minutes when he found himself clean through one on one but Stuart Thompson made an excellent save. Thompson was again called into action on the stroke of half time when a free kick on the edge of the box for a foul by Shaun Carter, who was also booked for excessive arguing of the decision, was well saved by Thompson diving to his left.
Just after the restart Thompson was again called into action when he made another excellent save to keep Pewsey out. Bassett's first chance of the half came on 51 minutes when a screamer from Richie Carter from 20 yards was well saved by Richard Payne. The game then went stale as the two teams became bogged down in midfield as the pitch deteriorated. Paul Fisher had an effort just turned over by Payne on 57 minutes and on 65 minutes Ward found himself through one on one but his effort was easily saved by Payne. Bassett felt they had extended their lead on 70 minutes when a series of shots and goal line clearances resulted in claims by Bassett that the ball had crossed the line but the linesman thought otherwise. Substitute Phil Tearle went close on 80 minutes when set up by Ryan Banks but Payne pulled off a good save to deny the youngster. It was not all Bassett though, Justin Lisle went close with an effort following some neat set up play. A minute from time man of the match Ward again had a shot well saved by keeper Payne after being set up by Shaun Carter. The final score, 3-0 to Bassett but despite their lowly position Pewsey had given Bassett a very tough game and if they keep playing like that will surely pull away from the bottom of the table.
Man of the Match: Scott Ward – excellent first half gets him the nod over hard working Richie Carter.
Scoop Rating: 6/10 – not the best of the season but did enough to kill the game off in those first 25 minutes and pitch was not conducive to good football.
Last modified on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 23:38
