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Wootton Bassett Town visited old acquaintances Slimbridge in the first round of the Floodlit Cup and two goals, both coming from quick counter attacks by Slimbridge, were enough to send Bassett out.
Slimbridge hit the ground running and their flowing passing quickly opened up holes in the Bassett backline. John Peacock and Craig Cole both missed decent opportunities before a double chance for Will Morford was squandered after Tom Messenger cleared off the line and John Haines made a good save from the follow up.
Haines was kept busy and on 15 minutes he did well to save Morford's header after a Tom Cole cross.
Bassett managed to find an opening at the other end but a Ben Gascoyne shot from the far post was well saved by Ryan Chandler diving to his right.
Another chance for Peacock was saved on 33 minutes before Slimbridge took the lead a minute later. Slimbridge broke after a failed Bassett attack and the ball was played into an unmarked Morford who made no mistake, coolly slotting the ball past Haines.
On 37 minutes a free kick from Stu Hemsley was met with a Matty Bennett header but Chandler easily saved. Slimbridge broke again with a quick throw out from Chandler opening up a gaping hole in the Bassett midfield. Eventually the ball fell to Peacock but his shot from ten yards was parried wide.
Jonathan Davis was booked for a stupid foul four minutes before the break, leading to his substitution at half time for Jack Dodd.
The hosts had one more chance before half time but Morford failed to convert a through ball from Craig Cole as Haines once again parried wide.
Four minutes after the restart a foul 25-yards out put Stu Hemsley in a good position to fire in an equaliser. However, Hemsley's free kick missed the far top corner by inches. Nine minutes later Hemsley was booked for tripping.
With just over an hour gone, Richard Gee gave the ball away just inside his own half and the ball was played into the left corner to Peacock who cut inside and squared to Meadows on the edge of the area. Meadows blasted the ball towards goal with a first time shot, leaving Haines with no chance and Bassett with an uphill struggle to get back into the game.
Peacock was booked midway through the half for throwing the ball away before Bassett made a double change bringing Moses Greene and Mark King on for Ben Gascoyne – who had picked up an injury – and Stu Hemsley, the change giving Bassett more options in the final third.
However, Slimbridge's defence didn't look like being breached and they held resolute, condemning Bassett to a seventh straight defeat; and also a second straight loss in the first round of the Floodlit Cup to their opponents on the night.
Scoop's Man of the Match: Richard Gee – defended well, sticking with his man and tackling well whilst winning the majority of balls in the air.
Scoop Rating: 7/10 – A good performance against a superior side, however needed more endeavour when pushing forward but defended well. The match served as good practice for the FA Vase match against Christchurch – a team the same level as Slimbridge – and it also showed Bassett the level of play required needed at the next level.
Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 17th September 2020 at 09:59