Rylands Way, 22nd October 2005

Penalties were needed for Wootton Bassett Town to see off Cirencester United in the Preliminary Round of the Hellenic League Challenge Cup as Bassett won 5-4 after the game finished 2-2 after extra time.

The game was a sloppy affair with three red cards produced – two for the visitors inside the first twenty minutes. Richard Hadgkiss was first to go on seven minutes for allegedly headbutting Stu Hemsley before Steve Yeardley was cautioned two minutes later.

A glancing header from Matty Bennett was tipped wide on eleven minutes before Cirencester had another man dismissed.

On 19 minutes, Bennett had an open goal to shoot into but was dragged to the floor by 'keeper Matt Keslake - who was last man, leaving referee Peter Cox no option but to send Keslake off for an early bath.

Bassett failed to take control even with their 2 man advantage and were nearly given a shock on the half hour mark when John Austin shot just over from a Ian McSherry corner.

Craig MacLaren was taken off at half time and replaced by Steve Howse.

Bassett continued to press but failed to produce any good chances as their opponents continually held 7 men back.

Stu Hemsley had a 25-yard effort easily held by replacement 'keeper Dominic Dunton before a foul on Mark King produced a yellow card for Dave Reeves.

Tom Messenger and James Townsend both had chances with headers, neither managing to put the ball away though.

Mark Edmonds was replaced with Chris Hawkins with twenty minutes to go to add some more pace and trickery to the side.

Hemsley hit wide from15-yards on 81 minutes before a Steve Howse header gave Bassett the lead with four minutes to go. A Stu Hemsley free kick was tipped and Chris Hawkins intercepted before the ball went out of play and crossed in for Howse to head home.

A minute later a rash challenge earned Yeardley a second yellow, reducing Bassett to ten men. Cirencester immediately capitalized and Reeves took on two before slotting past Paul Hawkins to send the game into extra time.

Six minutes into the first period, Tom Messenger dragged down Ben Potter in the box after the ball had eluded Messenger, Dunton came up out of his goal and just beat Hawkins with the spot kick. Messenger was replaced by Matty Phillips a minute later.

James Townsend equalised four minutes into the second period, heading in from the edge of the area after Dunton had come off his line and flapped at the cross from the right.

The goal sent the game into penalties and with the scores at 1-1, Reeves struck the post with his penalty to give Bassett the advantage. After staking out to a 3-2 lead, Hawkins saved from John Austin but the penalty was forced to be taken again after the Bassett 'keeper had moved off his line and Austin scored at the second attempt.

Bassett weren't rattled though and successful conversions from Mark King and Bennett sent Bassett into a first round tie with Division One West highfliers Winterbourne United.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Dwayne Quinn – a flawless performance from the hard working and hard tackling centre midfielder - won the majority of balls in the air and in the tackle and spread the ball around nicely.

Scoop Rating: 5/10 – A poor performance as Bassett failed to create much in front of goal even with two extra men. The team did their best to lose the tie but eventually produced the goods when the game went to penalties.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Thursday 17th September 2020 at 18:52