Comeback specialists do it again

For the second week in a row Royal Wootton Bassett Town Ladies came from behind to record cup victory as they defeated Middlezoy Rovers 3-2 in a Pat Sowden Cup quarter final.

A week after a nine goal thriller saw them earn a place in the Wiltshire County Women's Cup final, Bassett would have been hoping for a less fraught affair in their league cup encounter. But Middlezoy had other ideas.

The visitors shows their intent early, Chloe Snook narrowly missing the target in the tenth minute.

Bassett were relatively slow to get going, although Madeline Elliott had three reasonably good opportunities, two which forced Trinidy Ellis into action, the other being placed over.

It didn't help that they were playing into the wind. And after a spell in which Middlezoy upped the pressure - Snook and Chloe Poole both coming close - they took the lead six minutes before the break as captain Georgia Coles fired home.

Bassett almost equalised four minutes into the second half as a Lisa Coe free kick struck the bar.

But, after surviving a scare when Ellie Orritt mishit a shot, they eventually drew level on the hour as Hannah Gulliver latched onto Lily Withers' through ball and slotted beyond Ellis.

Parity didn't last long though. Alice Farnell did well to divert a Snook shot wide of the post. However from the following corner her defence failed to clear and Coles headed her second.

That forced Bassett into action. And the game eventually swung thanks to a quick fire two goal salvo.

After Coe again found the woodwork, this time after Ellis tipped her long range strike onto the post, Bassett levelled again when Libby Davies got on the end of Hayley Huckin's fantastic cross.

Moments later Coe finally got the better of Ellis, lobbing the Middlezoy 'keeper from 25 yards out.

Having twice seen leads evaporate and then gone beyond, the visitors' heads could have dropped. But to their credit they kept pressing, Coles coming close to a hat trick when her free kick was saved by Farnell.

But it was the hosts who had the better chances to add to their tally, Ellis twice coming to the rescue as she diverted a Coe effort around the post before a fine reflex save kept out a Laura Jefferies free kick.

Bassett now stand 90 minutes away from a possible second cup final. They're going about things the hard way this season, but the positive results keep on coming.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Sunday 2nd February 2020 at 20:33