Sunday 29th May 2022

In a highly competitive North Wilts League Division Two, Royal Wootton Bassett Town Under 15 Blue eventually emerged as 2021-22 champions.

Bassett endured something of a sluggish first half of the season, losing three and drawing one of their opening seven fixtures.

But eight wins from their subsequent nine games proved enough to claim top spot by two points from nearest rivals Marlborough Youth Eagles.

Bassett flew out of the blocks in their opening two games, thrashing Wims 11 Foothills 7-0 and Stratton Youth 6-0.

But after a 2-2 home draw against South Cerney, Bassett fell to consecutive 2-1 defeats against Malmesbury Youth.

A 5-0 triumph against Wims 11 got Bassett back to winning ways. However a week later, the Blues suffered their third loss by the odd goal as Marlborough claimed a 3-2 victory.

That left Bassett lying in fifth, five points adrift of leaders Marlborough having already played a game more.

A run at the title therefore seemed an unlikely prospect. But a tilt at a top two finish was still very much a possibility. And Bassett made sure to boost those hopes, recording impressive wins at home against Kingsdown Lions (6-1) and away at South Cerney (7-0) in their final matches before Christmas to move into third.

The gap to Marlborough was now just two points, though the Eagles still held two games in hand. By the end of January, however, the situation was reversed, with Bassett surging to sit in top spot, ten points clear of the Eagles (albeit having played four games more) and four points in front of Malmesbury.

The new year started with a convincing 9-1 triumph against Croft Junior Blue before Ferndale Rodbourne were beaten 6-2. Bassett then got revenge for their earlier season defeat against Marlborough as the Blues prevailed 2-1. That loss seemed to dent Marlborough's confidence as they lost a week later to South Cerney, while Bassett continued their fine run with a 5-0 triumph away at Kingsdown Lions.

Bassett would be out of action for the next five weeks - during which Marlborough closed the gap to four points. And after Bassett lost 2-0 away at Croft, the Eagles had three games in hand in which they could leapfrog the Blues.

It was therefore imperative that Bassett won their final two games - which they did, triumphing 6-1 away at Stratton Youth before a 4-1 win at Ferndale, who a week earlier had drawn with Marlborough.

There then began an anxious period of waiting for Bassett. Second place had already been secured, but Marlborough could still claim at least a share of top spot, needing six points from their last three matches. They would come up short though, drawing with Wims 11 before a narrow defeat at Malmesbury in their penultimate match settled the destination of the title.

For Bassett, finishing as champions was a fantastic achievement and testament to the team's character given their record after seven games.

However, that itself was perhaps not a fair reflection of Bassett's performances in those games, with all three defeats up to that point having been by a single goal. Meanwhile the team's defensive qualities were shown by the fact they conceded more than two goals just once all season. At the other end, goals came from across the pitch with four players - Beau Hicks, Parker Fisher, Edward Greenouff and Finlay Marshall - all reaching double figures.

Last modified on Sunday 29th May 2022 at 12:41.