Yet another defeat for Bassett Under 12's in what is becoming something of a nightmare season as far as results are concerned. This time the defeat came in the Second Round of the Swindon & District League Under 12 Cup against a strong Ferndale Rodbourne side. However, once again it was defensive errors by Bassett which allowed the visitors to make it through to the last eight of the league cup. In the opening five minutes an error, on what should have been a simple short goal kick routine, allowed Ferndale to get round the back of Bassett's defence and, despite a good save from Craig Munday, a Ferndale striker was on hand to put rebound in and the visitors were 1-0 in front. Ferndale continued to have the better of the first half and it was no surprise when they went further in front. Another poor defensive clearance by Bassett gave the ball to Ryan Hynes who scored with a spectacular shot from 25 yards over the head of Bassett's keeper Munday. You could see the confidence drain from Bassett and, but for the sterling efforts of David Lazenby and Craig Munday, the visitors could have scored even more goals in the opening period.

The half time introduction of Sean Toomey seemed to give Bassett renewed confidence and they took the game to Ferndale, creating a number of chances, although nothing really troubled Mark Watts in the Ferndale goal until Toomey was put clear of the defence and he scored with a powerful shot to put Bassett back in the game. Bassett went three at the back and continued to press forward for an equaliser but found it difficult to create clear cut chances, mainly due to some excellent defending from the visitors. Phillip Tearle went closest with a shot which went just over. With the match deep into injury time, Ferndale broke and scored a third through Josh Henshall. The game was over but there was still time for a further Ferndale goal, following yet another defensive miskick, which gave a rather harsh 1-4 final result. Based on the second half fight back, a three-goal deficit did not reflect the overall balance of play but when your luck is out, football can be a cruel game.

Players Man of the Match: Craig Munday

Managers Man of the Match: David Lazenby and Craig Munday

Credit: Mark Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 21st November 2020 at 14:35