Rylands Way, 7th December 2002

Bassett Town lost the chance to gain three valuable points as a late George Friel goal cancelled out an earlier Rob Day effort to earn Henley Town a point.

For the Wootton Bassett supporters who braved the cold weather the first half lacked excitement as the home side failed to created any clear-cut chances on goal.

Paul Patel had the first decent half chance for Bassett, as early as the fourth minute, but his long range shot was easily saved by Henley 'keeper David Jenkins.

At the other end Richard Witt tested Steve Hale, but again the keeper dealt comfortably with the shot.

Henley's next opportunity came in the sixteenth minute when playmaker Dauda Fofanah shot wide. For Bassett, Danny Clayton had a shot saved two minutes later before Fofanah and Liam Higgins spurned clear-cut opportunities at the other end for the visitors.

The visitors from Henley could and should have been in the lead but a lack of composure in front of goal let them down.

Bassett Player of the Month Dave Jones had a shot saved on the half hour mark; this proved to be the last real chance of an uninteresting first half in the cold as far as the Bassett supporters were concerned.

Bassett started the second half off sharply resulting in a 47th minute Rob Day shot which just went wide of the post.

Bassett continued to push up field as Stu Lamont had a shot deflected wide for a corner a minute later. Unfortunately the resulting corner wasn't met by a Bassett player in the box and was cleared away easily by Henley's defence.

Justin Hyde shot wide from the edge of the area in the 55th as a Danny Clayton corner fell to Hyde from a misjudged clearance.

Bassett had the best chance of the match when, a minute later, Nick Tooley's was put clear and his shot cannoned back off the post, Gary Ashford whacked the rebound over when clean through on goal.

Henley had their first real chance of the second half when Phil Arden hit over. Soon after Arden was taken off, to be replaced by James Hollidge as Henley sought to get that elusive first goal.

In the 72nd minute Henley had Dauda Fofanah booked for a late tackle from behind on Paul Patel, which could easily have been a red.

Gary Ashford had another chance two minutes later when he hit the side netting, before being replaced by Neil Bridges in the 76th minute. Henley made their final change of the match in the 80th minute bringing off the troublesome Dauda Fofanah and brought on ex-Reading player George Friel.

To the delight of the home support Bassett took the lead five minutes from time when Rob Day put away a great Neil Bridges cross.

However, Bassett were stunned only three minutes later when substitute George Friel slotted the ball past Steve Hale amidst a goalmouth melee to deny the home side all three points.

A pleasing sight was the return of Mark Vaughan, back from a lengthy suspension, who was brought on for Rob Day in the final minute.

Managers Man of the Match: Nick Tooley

Scoop's Man of the Match: Paul Patel

Scoop Rating: 7/10 – A good team performance but a defensive error cost Bassett all three points

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 at 09:48