Rylands Way, 16th November 2002

Bassett and Pewsey fought out a close and tense local derby this afternoon, with honours ending even after an entertaining ninety minutes (or was it just 89) in front of a large crowd at Rylands Way.

In the first five minutes it looked like Bassett were still in the changing rooms as Pewsey created two early chances. Firstly, Ross Anderson set up Barry Flippance but Pewsey's deadly striker fired wide. An error in the Bassett defence then allowed Anderson to get behind the defence and cross but fortunately for Bassett no one was able to connect.

Bassett's first chance came on 9 minutes when the ball fell to Mark Simpkins on the edge of the box but his shot sailed way over the bar. A minute later Allan Pluckrose found his way into the referee's book for saying something that was not to the liking of referee Humphrey.

The referee and his notebook were in action again five minutes later when Bassett's Paul Garbutt and Pewsey's Darren Tapper were both booked following a fight between the two. To be honest both were lucky to stay on the pitch, a lot of referee's would have given an early bath to both players.

This incident sparked the game into life as in their very next attack Bassett took the lead and what a good goal it was. Danny Clayton broke down the right and put over a tantalising cross that Gary Ashford got on the end of to fire Bassett ahead.

Pewsey worked hard to get back into the game and in the 22nd minute were given a chance when Allan Pluckrose was harshly adjudged to have fouled five yards outside the box. Luckily for Bassett Craig Wall fired the free kick over the Bassett bar.

Five minutes later Bassett went close to extending their lead when a cross field ball from Gary Ashford found Paul Garbutt in the Pewsey box, he neatly set-up Dave Jones but Jones hit his shot wide. The shot was recovered by Rob Day before the ball went out for a goal kick but in the end the attack came to nothing.

Pewsey nearly equalised when a corner was allowed to go right over the Bassett defence, falling to Ross Anderson who should have done better, firing past the post when it looked easier to score. A let off for Bassett this time from a far post corner but would the lesson be learned?

In the 33rd minute the ever-dangerous Barry Flippance turned and hit a great shot that was well saved at full stretch by Steve Hale in the Bassett goal.

Pewsey, continuing to look dangerous from set pieces, nearly scored from the resulting corner when Rob Hopkins headed off the line.

Pewsey were certainly starting to get on top and looked particularly dangerous from set plays. A corner in the 36th minute was well dealt with by Steve Hale but at the expense of another corner. Once again the corner was fired to the far post and this time Bassett were made to pay for some slack marking as any one of three Pewsey players could have connected with the ball and scored. The player to do so was Martyn Churchward who put Pewsey back on level terms with his third goal of the season.

Within a minute Pewsey nearly extended their lead when a powerful shot from Darren Tapper was well held by Steve Hale at the second attempt.

The last chance of the half fell to Bassett when Allan Pluckrose headed a free kick from October's Player of the Month, Paul Patel, wide. One all at the break following an entertaining half.

Bassett came out for the second half fired up by Mick and Pete's half time talk and were almost back in front within 50 seconds of the restart, when a Rob Day lay back to Dave Jones saw Jones hit a powerful shot from 25 yards which was pushed round the post by Jackson in the Pewsey goal for a corner.

The resulting corner was cleared by the Pewsey defence but fell to Danny Clayton on the edge of the box but his shot was hit well over the bar.

Bassett continued to press forward and just moments later Rob Day was put through by Dave Jones only to be denied a goal scoring chance by a last gasp sliding tackle.

A couple of minutes later, Pewsey were forced to make a substitution when Andy Owen came on for the injured Barry Flippance.

Bassett continued to create the better openings and in the 53rd minute Paul Garbutt put over a tantalising cross but there were no Bassett players hitting the box with any conviction and the chance went begging.

Pewsey then went close at the other end, the dangerous and speedy Craig Wall firing in a shot that was well saved by Steve Hale in the Bassett goal.

In what was becoming an end-to-end game, the influential Danny Clayton had a good shot palmed away by Jackson in the Pewsey goal.

Back to the other end two minutes later, this time Dave Jones heading off the line to deny Pewsey the lead.

In the 67th minute the referee added Pewsey's Warwick Burnett to the ever growing list of names in his book, whilst Bassett took the opportunity to introduce the pace of Neil Bridges, on to replace Danny Clayton, to try an unlock the Pewsey defence.

The game started to become bogged down in midfield with fewer and fewer chances being created.

In the 70th minute a header from a Pewsey free kick was plucked out of the air by Hale in the Bassett goal. This was to be the last real chance of the match, as the last 15 minutes saw no real chances created.

Bassett introduced Ben Gascoigne for Paul Garbutt 9 minutes from time but he was not to see much of the ball as both sides seemed to settle for the point.

The referee blew the final whistle with just 89 minutes on the stopwatch (which had not been stopped at all during the match). Bizarrely no injury time was played, despite a couple of incidents and substitutions by both sides, which came as something of a surprise to the large crowd. Hopefully the referee has a new watch on his Christmas present list!

Managers Man of the Match: Allan Pluckrose (for his organisation of the defence)

Scoop's Man of the Match: Dave Jones

Scoop Rating: 7/10 – A decent performance in difficult conditions.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 at 09:10