Petersfield Park, 25th January 2003

Bassett Town continued their search for silverware in the RPM Records Supplementary Cup by beating Division One West outfit Cheltenham Saracens 1-0 in a scrappy game of football which wasn't helped by the pitch and surrounding area.

I was told that the first half hour was a scrappy, argy-bargy type of match and neither team really had any decent chances.

Bassett had Mark Vaughan booked in the first five minutes and Bassett 'keeper Rich Stevens pulled off a spectacular save as well.

Bassett's only real chance on goal in the first half hour was when Geoff Swatton had a decent shot blocked.

Once Scoop arrived things picked up and Bassett had a good opportunity in the 35th minute Mark Vaughan heading just over after a well worked short throw-in by Gary Ashford and Ben Gascoyne.

Three minutes later a Geoff Swatton through ball was dealt with well by the Cheltenham Saracens defence after a long Rich Stevens goal kick.

It was all Bassett for the rest of the half as Ben Gascoyne hit just over five minutes from the break before Mark Simpkins had a shot blocked from a badly cleared Bassett corner.

The score was tied after a poor first half for both teams.

Bassett started the second half on the back foot as straight after the break a Saracens cross beat Rich Stevens but went over the cross bar.

Bassett started to pick up the pace when Dave Jones volleyed from just outside the box.

Cheltenham came back onto the attack and in the 52nd minute Steve Holend rifled a shot just onto the bar from a short free kick which resulted in a corner. The corner, though, was well dealt with by Rich Stevens.

Both teams were having chances and a minute later Gary Ashford's shot shaded the outside of the far post after a good ball from Geoff Swatton.

There were a lot of fisticuffs being exchanged between both teams at this point of the game and Mark Vaughan was nearly sent off for Bassett for exchanging words with an opposing player.

Both teams were having trouble finding a goal, and the best opportunity fell for Cheltenham Saracens in the 64th minute when Stu Hemsley didn't read a Cheltenham through-ball properly and miss-kicked the ball in the direction of his own net, but the resulting Cheltenham Saracens shot was put over somehow.

Bassett made a tactical change in the 65th minute bringing Nick Tooley on for Mark Vaughan.

Bassett were helped again by the woodwork in the 76th minute Cheltenham again hitting the post from the edge of the area. Bassett brought Paul Patel on for Ben Gascoyne at that point – a defensive change.

Bassett scored what was to be the only goal of the game seven minutes later when Stu Lamont latched onto the loose ball on the edge of the six yard box following a fumbled Mark Simpkins free kick hit the post and fell loose.

Bassett made their final change to defend their lead as Danny Clayton replaced Mark Hammond. Bassett, despite making defensive changes continued to push and Geoff Swatton forced a good save from Ryan Bettridge in the Cheltenham goal.

The final few minutes were tense as Cheltenham pushed for an equaliser; heading just over a minute from time and hitting the Bassett bar in injury time.

Bassett had hung onto their lead and will face Didcot Town in an all Premiership tie in the next round of the RPM Supplementary Cup.

Manager's Man of the Match: Stu Hemsley

Scoop's Man of the Match: Stu Hemsley

Scoop Rating: 6/10 – An average performance to win the game, the pitch didn't help but still Bassett's performance was a bit under par.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 2nd September 2020 at 10:04