Rylands Way, Saturday 7 February 2004

A Jamie Heapy goal on the stroke of half time gave league leaders Didcot all three points in a game in which Bassett deserved better but were again the victims of some poor officiating; Bassett should have been awarded a penalty but the referee overruled the linesman's decision late on.

Youngster Steve Bizley continued his brilliant form in goal and forty seconds into the game tipped wide a Paul Bedwell shot from a Mike Ford corner.

Paul Powell came close for the visitors on twelve minutes. Bizley again denied Didcot when Andy Marriot's header was tipped over by the 'keeper after a long Andy Wallbridge throw.

Jamie Heapy had a powerful shot from thirty yards brilliantly saved by Bizley on eighteen minutes and also shot over from long range a minute later.

Bassett continued to snuff out Didcot attacks with the relatively inexperienced rearguard containing the Didcot forwards who had leading scorer Ian Concannon on the bench.

Stu Hemsley was booked in the 24th minute for tripping a Didcot forward.

At the other end Bassett were unlucky as good attacks ended without a finish; Didcot's defence was also resolute, keeping out Geoff Swatton and Stewart Bellinger.

Didcot finally broke the deadlock right on 45 minutes when Powell played Heapy through who fired into the roof of the net to send the visitors into the break one up.

Both teams continued to surge forward but without success as both defences held firm.

Powell hit wide a loose ball from the edge of the area in the 58th minute. Three minutes later Nathan Hall replaced the fatigued Dave Jones.

Bizley was called into action again in the 65th minute when he denied Heapy, stretching out to divert his shot wide.

Twenty minutes from time Heapy put a good ball across to Jody McKay who hit just over from eighteen yards.

Ben Gascoyne replaced Geoff Swatton two minutes on to add more power to the Bassett strike force.

Bassett were beginning to gain momentum at this point but still Didcot's defence wouldn't allow the home side a clear cut chance on goal.

Carl Taylor was brought on for Stu Hemsley to add some pace.The turning point of the game came minutes later when Steve Yeardley was tripped in the box and referee Adrian Matthews blew his whistle supposedly for a penalty. His assistant gave a penalty but the Matthews overruled and strangely gave an indirect free kick in the box. Nothing came of it and Bassett suffered another defeat but were unlucky and gave Didcot a shock by stepping up to the challenge.

Concannon was probably rested because manager Peter Foley thought the game would be a walkover but that proved wrong.

Mick's Man of the Match: Richard Gee

Scoop's Man of the Match: Andy Hallett and Steve Bizley – the whole defence had great games but Hallett and Bizley especially rose to the challenge.

Scoop Rating: 8/10 – A fine defensive display but lack of finishing and the non award of a penalty cost Bassett some much needed points.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 5th September 2020 at 12:34