Bulpit Lane, Tuesday 16 September 2003

Bassett fell to a sixth straight defeat at the hands of Hungerford Town as Steve Hale and co. blasted four goals past Bassett to take all three points in the first encounter between these two sides for a few years. Goals from Lee McMullen, Bobby Tong, Marc Green and Shaun Thorp did the damage for the home side.

Bassett were 1-0 down after only 53 seconds of the game when McMullen scored from a corner unmarked. Hungerford could have been ahead much earlier though as Paul Davis had to clear a Marc Green shot off the line after Rich Stevens failed to collect the ball, Davis knocking it out for a corner.

Hungerford continued this early pressure and on five minutes Stevens again nearly gave away a goal when he spilled a Shaun Thorp volley from the edge of the area but Stevens gathered the ball and was fouled by Darren Howell who received a caution for his actions.

Thorp again came close in the eighteenth minute when he headed a Howell free kick over. Then after twenty eighth minutes Thorp hit a thirty yard effort wide.

Two minutes later a long ball to Thorp laid through Bobby Tong who forced a great save from Stevens. The pacey Thorp then, a minute later, latched onto a half clear corner but whacked over.

On 33 minutes Tong made it 2-0 when he connected with a Marc Green ball and scored on his second shot. Five minutes later and it was 3-0 Hungerford when a long Steve Hale kick was laid across from Darren Howell to Green after a Steve Yeardley error and all Green had to do was tap the ball in.

One minute from half time Bassett earned their first caution when the unusually quiet Geoff Swatton was booked for a heavy challenge.

Thorp and Howell continued to threaten Bassett and three minutes into stoppage time they combined as Howell had his shot well saved. Bassett's first chance came two minutes on when debutant Lee Bowen had a shot inside the area deflected wide. Bassett went into the break three down as Hungerford had outplayed and outpaced them and were just much stronger than their opposition.

Bassett made one change at half time when Paul Patel - with a pin in his shoulder from Wantage away last season - replaced Mark Simpkins. Patel was immediately involved in the action when he delivered a perfect free kick which Geoff Swatton volleyed over. Bassett then brought the injured Richard Gee off – who performed well at the back despite the 3-0 deficit – as Ben Gascoyne replaced him.

Bassett gained their second caution in the 55th minute when Steve Yeardley got a yellow for dissent. Lee Bowen came closest for Bassett in the 59th minute when he hit the upright following an Andy Hallett ball.

Carl Taylor received a booking in the 69th minute when he got Bassett's third caution for a rash challenge. A minute later and it was game over as Shaun Thorp scored direct from the free kick Taylor gave away from twenty yards out.

Bowen beat Steve Hale in the 79th minute only to find his shot rebound off the post after curling a shot in from the edge of the area.

Two minutes Ben Gascoyne came close as he had a shot from ten yards out cleared off the line after a well worked short corner by Bassett.

Eight minutes from time great work by Neil Bridges and Lee Bowen down the left set up Tony Macek but Macek hit wide.

Bassett again lost but had some good chances – two hitting the post – which could have got them back in the game.

Giler's Man of the Match: Steve Yeardley

Scoop's Man of the Match: Paul Davis – him, Yeardley and Neil Bridges put some great effort in. Davis though won everything in the air and made some fine tackles.

Scoop Rating: 6/10 – Another poor loss but Bassett were unlucky not to score.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 3rd September 2020 at 09:06