Rylands Way, 30th August 2005

Just as it looked like Wootton Bassett Town were set to earn a second straight home win, a foul in the box by Craig Maclaren gave Trowbridge Town's Dave Percival a chance to level the scores from the spot and the gangly forward duly obliged, cancelling out an earlier strike by Stu Hemsley – his fourth of the year.

Trowbridge's defence was bridged early and often by Bassett as Ben Gascoyne had the first opportunity on eleven minutes but his shot was blocked by a defender and went out for a corner.

Three minutes later Bassett found the back of the net with a well worked goal. John Davis floated a ball to the far post where Steve Bunting headed the ball down and Hemsley coolly placed the ball into the back of the net with a first time effort.

Gascoyne rolled a shot wide across the face of goal on 23 minutes before a fine save from Adam Sheppard kept out a stunning volley from Gascoyne after Steve Tucker's cross.

Leigh Jones had a chance from the resulting corner but he volleyed over from the edge of the box.

With nine minutes to go before the break, Stu Hemsley broke into the box but was pushed over. What looked like a clear cut penalty was then not given by referee Peter Smith or his assistant as both exchanged long glances at one another.

Waleed Bakali found himself in Smith's book seconds later after a confrontation with Dwayne Quinn.

Three minutes after the restart another fine save from Sheppard this time kept out Tucker, who connected with a Bunting corner. This time it was a great save with the 'keepers feet.

Bunting shot straight at Sheppard in the 51st minute after bringing the ball down brilliantly. Davis was then booked for Bassett after delaying the restart of the game by stepping in the way of a Trowbridge free kick.

Bassett began to look edgy and were pushed back by Trowbridge who were committing men forward and outnumbering the home side.

John Haines parried a tricky shot from Percival wide after he initially looked like crossing and then Haines made a point blank save from a hard hit Luke Smith shot.

Midway through the second period a Trowbridge counter attack caught Bassett out and Maclaren upended the Trowbridge forward in the box – Percival coolly placed the spot kick in the bottom right hand corner. The break came from a Bassett throw with Leigh Jones being caught in possession.

Chris Tricker was booked for a two-footed lunge on Quinn on 70 minutes before Tucker had a golden opportunity to give Bassett the lead again.

A brilliant run down the left from Gascoyne was followed up with a low cross into the area, which was met by Tucker on the edge of the six yard box but his first time effort looped over the crossbar.

Moses Greene replaced a tired Bunting with twelve minutes left before Gascoyne was cautioned for tripping and Rich Gee replaced Maclaren.

On ninety minutes Tucker whipped in a corner from the right and Hemsley powered a header towards goal. Midfielder Chris Mills though was standing in the path of the ball however and luckily for Trowbridge headed off the line.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Ben Gascoyne – out muscled the Trowbridge defence all night and made some impressive runs. Also conjured up some good chances but was unlucky not to put them away.

Scoop Rating: 7/10 – A solid performance, opening up chances and playing some good football. A lapse of concentration ended up being costly for Bassett.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 17th September 2020 at 09:52