In very difficult conditions of a wet and muddy pitch and a strong wind blowing from one end of the pitch to the other, it was the home side who made good use of the wind behind their backs to race into a 4-0 half time lead. The player who did the damage for Wroughton was right winger Joe Shaw, who time and time again got behind the Bassett defence and put over dangerous crosses. It was from one such cross that Wroughton's new signing, Kalid Naseen close to six-foot in height, headed powerfully past Craig Munday in the Bassett goal. Andy Sofoniou extended the lead when he hit a powerful shot when the ball fell nicely to him off a Bassett player. The same player scored Wroughton's third when he got on the end of yet another Joe Shaw cross with his head. Wroughton scored their fourth two minutes before half time when Jonny May beat two Bassett defenders to fire home. The closest Basset came to scoring was a Jonny Aitkenhead shot which scraped the crossbar.

With the wind behind them in the second half Bassett pushed forward in an effort to get back into the match but could not get behind the Wroughton defence, marshalled well by Chris Smith. With Bassett pushing forward Wroughton broke for man-of-the-match Joe Shaw to put the game beyond Bassett. Jack Hiscock completed the scoring in the closing stages. By this stage the pitch had deteriorated badly and passing the ball had almost become an impossibility. In the end it was Wroughton's overall physical strength that won the day for the home side and keeps them in touch with the league leaders. The conditions did not suit Bassett's passing game, although Matt Purse and Mike Ford had good games for the visitors.

Players and Managers Man of the Match: Matt Purse

Credit: Mark Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 21st November 2020 at 20:31