The Bassett side were extremely confident ahead of their impending clash with Stratton this afternoon. They realised that they would concede some goals but they anticipated that they would prevail. Their anticipation of success was raised by their recent team performances where all the best elements of football had been on display.

The match kicked off promptly and the entire first half was dominated by Bassett, the quality team performance meant that the attack left the Stratton team mostly in their own half defending. Bassett kept up a pressurized attack on their opponents goal but just couldn′t find a way to score, despite some spirited attempts by Harry and James T.

The Stratton side attacked towards the Bassett goal, and Tyrone fearing they would break through held one of the opponents back, which resulted in a free kick. Moments later this free kick was converted into a goal, Stratton′s first. This was unfortunate timing at thirty minutes into the game. Tyrone′s father gave spirited support from the sidelines which encouraged the referee to caution him for his vocal involvement in the game. A penalty was given against Bassett, probably for Tom Hammond′s defence against a multitude of players. The shot struck the left hand post and dribbled off towards the outside of the goal. A lucky break for Bassett.

The second half was played uphill and against the sun, the gradient of the pitch certainly didn′t help the Bassett side as their legs were obviously going to tire soon. The Stratton side began the onslaught against Bassett with their second goal after about fifteen minutes. A minute later, another goal against Bassett. Then the atmosphere changed as the Stratton number 14 was taken down by Tyrone, the player decided to exact his revenge by sitting on top of the Bassett player and assaulting him. This caused some friction between parents on the side line and both the referee and linesman who both seemed incapable of recognising the necessity for a red card and also to control their own language.

The game re-commenced, in a subdued fashion, but Bassett attacked again, but unluckily their shot on goal was disallowed. After some scrabbling in the Bassett goal area, Stratton picked up their fourth goal. Bassett fought on, but Stratton′s strength and improving football, allowed them to score a further two goals. The final score being a six – nil defeat of a Bassett team, who had stuck together well, but needed some adjustment up-front to get some goals scored.

Credit: Unknown
Last modified on Saturday 26th December 2020 at 18:13