Monday 11th December 2017
Royal Wootton Bassett Town's two remaining sides in the North Wilts League Cup now know who they will square off against in the semi finals of the competition.
The Under 18 Yellows and Under 15 Blues are Bassett's lone representatives in the final four, and will do battle for a place in the final at the County Ground in March.
Under 15 Blues
Reigning cup holders, the Under 15 Blues will face Highworth Town Juniors T, the only team to have defeated them in any competition so far this season.
It will arguably be Bassett's first serious test in the cup, which has seen them fly through the three previous rounds. After defeating Malmesbury Youth Tornadoes 4-0, the Blues recorded thumping wins against Division One rivals FC Calne (7-0) and Castle Combe Colts (8-1).
Highworth, meanwhile, had a battle in their opening round game, which they edged 4-3 against Wanborough Juniors Black, having trailed 3-1 at the break. They then defeated FC Abbey Meads Rangers 16-0 in round two, before seeing off Stratton Youth 3-1 in their quarter final encounter.
The teams' lone league meeting of the campaign so far this season came in a narrow 3-2 triumph for Highworth at the start of October. Despite that, Bassett still sit above Highworth in Division One. After seven games, Bassett have recorded eighteen points, compared to twelve points from five games for third place Highworth.
Their lone loss of the campaign came against Swindon Supermarine R, who will play Division Two Cirencester Town in the other semi final.
Under 18 Yellows
For the Under 18 Yellows to reach the final they will need to pull off an upset against Division One FC Chippenham Youth.
Bassett will relish their underdog status in the semi final, however. The team continue to ride a wave whose origins lie in last season's runners-up finish in Under 16 Division Two. And, after further boosting their squad, they are now performing solidly at Under 18 level, despite a number of their players still technically being under 17s.
Their route to the last four has seen them eliminate fellow Division Two side Avonvale United 2-0 in the opening round, before a convincing 9-2 triumph against Division One AFC Newbury Colts and narrow 2-1 victory against league rivals Tetbury Town.
Their tough run stands in contrast to that of FC Chippenham, who received a bye in the opening round before beating two Division Three sides - Stratton Juniors (5-1) and Liden Community (13-3) - to make it through to the semi-finals.
In league action in the top tier, FC Chippenham have had a tricky start, recording just one win from four league games so far. Among their losses was a 5-3 defeat to Bassett's Blue side.
Bassett's Yellow outfit should therefore be quietly confident of their chances of springing a surprise and making it to the final, where they would face either Fairford and Lechlade or Ashton Keynes.
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Both games will take place at Beversbrook Sports Centre, Calne on Sunday 25th March. And it would be great to see as much support as possible at the games for our teams.
Here's hoping the Under 15 Blues and Under 18 Yellows will make it two representatives for the club in the finals this year - come on Bassett!
Last modified on Monday 11th December 2017 at 13:08.
