Thursday 23rd June 2016

The summer edition of the Wiltshire County FA Under 21s Flexi League, featuring a Royal Wootton Bassett Town side, has now finished, with Bassett finishing third.

Held on the 3G pitch at the New Gerard Buxton Sports Ground on weekday evenings, the competition is aimed at offering football to those who cannot commit to weekly sessions and is an alternative to typical Saturday/Sunday football.

Bassett were joined by three other teams in the Flexi League - Bradford Town, Castle Combe and Croft Juniors.

The team stared their campaign against Bradford on 21st June and were defeated 2-1. Although dominating possession in a tight game, Bassett fell behind as Bradford struck on the break. Despite Ross Algar equalising, another conceded on the counter meant the game ended in defeat.

Bassett bounced back strongly in their second game, emphatically defeating Castle Combe 8-2. Jake Matthews led the way with a hat-trick, while Gabriel Diba (2), Ross Algar, Jemil Ates and Alex Dinsmore completed the rout.

In their third match a late Croft equaliser denied Bassett all three points. Croft took the lead early on, but a pair of Dale Richards goals gave Bassett the advantage at the break. However, they were unable to maintain that advantage.

Previously unbeaten Bradford were finally defeated in Bassett's fourth contest. Producing arguably their best performance to date with an understrength side, goals from Jemil Ates and Dale Richards secured a 2-1 victory.

That result left Bassett in pole position for second place. And their hopes of grabbing runners-up spot were helped further when their penultimate game with Castle Combe was awarded in their favour.

That meant a draw with Croft would be enough to guaranteed finishing behind winners Bradford. However a depleted Bassett side succumbed 4-2 to Croft, with Alex Dinsmore's pair being in vain.

Last modified on Wednesday 27th July 2016 at 21:17.