Rylands Way, Tuesday September 9 2003

Lee Kilfoyle ended Bassett's hopes of going far in the Floodlit Cup as his 44th minute header sealed a 1-0 victory for local rivals Fairford Town – this was also the fourth game on the trot Bassett had lost.

Ben Gascoyne nearly got Bassett off to a terrific start in the second minute of play when he hit wide from a Geoff Swatton ball.

Neither side managed to create chances for a while as the game developed into an even contest before in the twenty fifth minute Chris Knowles hit the side netting from the edge of the area after a ball over the top which the Bassett defence failed to deal with.

Ex-Bassett favourite Lee Stoddart hit wide for the visitors on the half hour mark when he capitalised on some poor Bassett defending but failed to finish. Two minutes later Fairford were on the attack again only for Matt Bennett to break the play up with a great tackle stopping Courtney Chessell from having a clear cut chance on goal.

Stoddart came close again, this time in the 34th minute when he hit just over the crossbar as Rich Stevens stared on from a free kick from twenty yards out.

Fairford continued to dominate before the break and got the only goal of the game in the 44th minute when Lee Kilfoyle headed in a simple opportunity from ten yards out after Bassett 'keeper Rich Stevens was flattened by his defence after he came to collect a Ryan Lovegrove corner from the left. Another sloppy goal conceded by Bassett which, in the end, cost them the game.

The start of the second half was much like the end of the first with Fairford the dominant side. Lee Clark came close first in the 51st minute when he hit wide from the edge of the box. Stoddart did the same a minute later when his shot sailed wide.

Courtney Chessell put Chris Knowles through after 55 minutes but Knowles' header was saved by Stevens before Andy Hallett made another piece of fine defending to block a Stoddart shot immediately after.

On the hour mark Stoddart again was causing problems when Paul Davis slid in to edge the Fairford goal machine's shot over for a corner.

Bassett continued to play Fairford's game and could not find anyway of getting a goal – or even a shot on target. More problems came for Bassett in the 63rd minute when a deep Bassett free kick was connected with by Ben Gascoyne who played Geoff Swatton through but the referee Adrian Matthews pulled play back after an incident involving himself and Paul Davis resulting in a booking for Davis for dissent.

Bassett made a double change a minute later Ben Gascoyne and Tony Macek were taken off and were replaced by Sam Reason and John Magani.

Magani came close for Bassett in the 71st minute when he hit Captain Mark Simpkins' free kick wide.

Bassett continued to push forward but couldn't create any decent chances. A Mark Vaughan shot was the closest they could come in the final few minutes but he shot well wide from the edge of the area.

Bassett had no shots on target all game although Gascoyne and Geoff Swatton were linking up well and when Gascoyne came off Magani was linking up well with Swatton. Bassett have scored only three goals in their last five – all against Didcot – and conceded seven which shows both the forwards and defence need to get their act together if Bassett are to win in a tough game on Saturday at Southall.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Andy Hallett – made two great tackles to deny Fairford chances and showed poise at the back.

Scoop Rating: 6/10 – Another poor attacking game with no shots on goal and a poor piece of defending led to the only goal of the game.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 3rd September 2020 at 09:02