Rylands Way, 29th April 2006

Wootton Bassett Town missed promotion back to the Hellenic Premier Division by a point despite putting six past Easington Sports – a side Bassett drew with earlier in the year – on the final day of the season.

Matty Bennett's brace ensured he finished top goalscorer for the second year running, piping Stu Hemsley to the post by a single goal.

The early proceedings were similar to the second half at Trowbridge the previous Tuesday as Bassett failed to find the back of the net despite dominating play and creating numerous openings.

It took until the 39th minute for Nathan Hall to put his side ahead, slotting home from 10 yards after Rich Gee had flicked on a Ben Gascoyne throw.

A minute into the second half Chris Mills flicked a throw on into the path of Bennett who had a 6-yard shot tipped wide by Simon Killen.

A minute later Killen parried another Bennett shot after a Jon Davis through ball had set him free.

Two goals in three minutes from Gascoyne settled any Bassett nerves. Firstly on 52 minutes Gascoyne drilled a John Magani pass into the bottom corner before tapping in after a Bennett effort struck the bar.

With the game over Bennett and Hemsley duked it out to see who would end up top of the goals scored sheet come season end.

Bennett spurned a number of chances that either Killen saved or the lively winger squandered when in good position. However with ten minutes left he finally did add Bassett's fourth, cutting in from the byline and finding the bottom corner from 15-yards.

With three minutes to go he added his second of the day, latching onto a Steve Yeardley ball into the corner and lobbing the oncoming Killen.

Fittingly, Bennett would be the provider for Bassett's sixth which went to Hemsley. Gee played a ball into the corner before Bennett squared to an unmarked Hemsley who tapped home from six yards.

The score could have been double figures, Bassett were that dominant but inept finishing ensured the score didn't get too out of hand.

However, it was a fitting finish, albeit slightly anti-climatic after the disappointment experienced at Trowbridge which ended the dream of promotion. A slow start and some poor results – especially against local rivals – were what let Burke's team down but the never-give-up attitude shown down the back stretch really showed the character of the side.

A number of teams would have put the white flag up when faced with Bassett's situation on the 21st January after a defeat at home to struggling Cricklade. But not Bassett.

The end of season run in showed why Bassett have what it takes to be a Premier Division side next year, but the run came a game too late. One point was all that was missing.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Ben Gascoyne – two well taken goals and gave the Easington defence headaches all day.

Scoop Rating: 8/10 – The score could have been double figures but Bassett dominated from the off, playing with fluency but lacking that vital killer instinct in front of goal early on. A fitting finish to the season.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Friday 18th September 2020 at 11:18