Rylands Way, 10th December 2002

A Geoff Swatton goal wasn't enough for Bassett Town as their Floodlit Cup run came to an end as they crashed out of the semi finals 5-2 on aggregate, the damage having been done following a poor performance in the first leg.

Bassett's goal for the game was to turn around the four goal deficit from the first leg in Northamptonshire. It was always going to be an uphill task but the first half showed that Bassett were at least capable of winning the game.

As early as the 4th minute Danny Clayton swung over a corner into the wind that was not cleared and Geoff Swatton swooped to slot the loose ball home from the edge of the six-yard area giving Brackley 'keeper Richard Darvill no chance.

Brackley themselves had a decent chance two minutes later when Neil King's shot was comfortably saved by Steve Hale in the Bassett goal. Brackley had two consecutive corners a couple of minutes later, but they were well dealt with by the Bassett defence.

In the 13th minute Brackley wasted another chance as Gordon Bedford shot well over the bar.

It was an even game for the first half hour as both sides cancelled each other out. As the half drew to a close Bassett started to get on top.

In the 33rd minute Geoff Swatton was allowed to travel unchallenged with the ball, but his shot from the edge of the area just went wide of the far post.

Bassett had the initiative for the rest of the half as they continued to push forward in search of more goals.

Bassett went into the break a goal up and certainly looked capable of winning the match even though they needed at least three more goals to make the final of the cup.

The second half began with Bassett again mainly on top but Brackley had the first opportunity of the half when a Nick Neal shot was well dealt with by Steve Hale in the Bassett goal.

Geoff Swatton hit over in the 55th minute for Bassett before Mark Simpkins was booked for Bassett for a nasty challenge ten yards inside Brackley's half.

Bassett kept looking for their second goal of the match and in the 59th minute a Paul Patel free kick was headed just over inside Brackley's area. Defender Rob Hopkins was then brought off, to be replaced by striker Gary Ashford, as Bassett went in search of more goals.

Bassett had a string of chances after that as Nick Tooley had a shot saved in the 62nd minute, Geoff Swatton then hit the post three minutes later after a Tooley shot fell loose. Swatton was booked three minutes later before Bassett made a double substitution bringing Justin Hyde and Neil Bridges on for Rob Day and Dave Jones.

Nick Tooley missed another chance fifteen minutes before time when his shot flew over. Geoff Swatton hit wide moments later. This miss was probably the end of Bassett's chances of going through.

The last action of the match was when Brackley had Ronnie Williams booked.

Bassett's Floodlit Cup run had ended but this performance was full of energy and enthusiasm. It was always going to be a hard task on a bitterly cold night but everyone played well and pride was restored.

Manager's Man of the Match: Paul Patel just winning it over Stu Lamont

Scoop's Man of the Match: Geoff Swatton – a great effort earned him this award; he worked his socks off all night, got a goal and came close on many occasions

Scoop Rating: 7/10 – A good team performance. There was a mountain to climb but Bassett worked hard at trying to climb it and were unlucky in the end not to have got to the final

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 at 09:51