Rylands Way, 24th March 2007

Despite taking the lead thanks to Jeremy Newton's first goal since returning to Rylands Way, Wootton Bassett Town failed to cause an upset in the Supplementary Cup as Carterton came back firing in the second half and walked away with a 3-1 victory.

Bassett limited their Hellenic Premier opponents to a pair of chances in the opening 45 minutes; however with their second they grabbed a goal on the stroke of half time that swung the balance of the game.

For most of the first half Bassett dominated. On eight minutes Andy White could have given them the lead when his powerful header was parried away by Steve Lazyrus after a perfect cross from Mark King. The ball wasn't cleared though and eventually fell to Nathan Hall whose 12-yard effort was tipped away.

Newton and Hall combined for a neat one-two down the left wing on the quarter hour mark which set Newton free. His effort from an angle went just over though.

In the 25th minute, Rich Gee allowed Adrian Holder to slip by him with ease before the Carterton midfielder cut the ball back to Danny Dixon on the edge of the area. Dixon went for accuracy over power with his first time effort but struck just wide of the left post.

A minute later Bassett took the lead after Hall shrugged off the attentions of Paul Douglas before advancing down the right and crossing in. The ball fell to Newton at the far post and he made no mistake, blasting home from 10 yards.

Two minutes before half time Holder was booked for a hack on Dwayne Quinn giving Bassett a free kick just inside the Carterton half. From the set piece, Carterton were able to clear immediately and Nick Brough raced onto the ball which had cleared the Bassett defence. Brough coolly lobbed the onrushing Mills from 25 yards to level the match up.

Two minutes after the restart Newton and Hall again combined down the left with Newton chipping through to put the forward through on goal. Hall drilled a shot from 20 yards but it was straight at Lazyrus who made a comfortable diving stop.

From then on out it was all Carterton. Brough squandered two free headers from close range as he directed them wide after crosses from Douglas and Dixon.

The Oxfordshire side finally took the lead with a stunning strike from Dixon bang on the hour mark. Bassett failed to clear a Carterton attack properly and the ball set perfectly for the midfielder who unleashed a ferocious 30 yard half volley that sailed into the roof of the net.

Danny Heath replaced Scott Large straight after before Sam Lawro was brought on for King with 25 minutes left.

Midway through the second period, Brough squared to Gary Cornwall on the edge of the box but his low effort sailed just wide.

Four minutes later Mills was forced into making an acrobatic save to deny Douglas whose cross from near enough the halfway line was redirected by the wind and took an awkward bounce, making Mills have to tip it over.

After Andy Hallett replaced Greenway, Holder rounded off the scoring with 13 minutes left. Mills was indecisive about whether to come for a ball over the top and Holder capitalised, racing onto the loose ball before delicately placing the ball past the stranded step in 'keeper.

Danny Heath had a chance to reduce the deficit with ten minutes to go after he short first time from 20 yards. Defender John Carey's deflection slowed the pace of the ball though and the pressure was comfortably dealt with.

Two minutes later Mills tipped a Douglas free kick around the post to ensure the score remained respectable, although a fourth would certainly have flattered the visitors who were not overly impressive.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Nathan Hall – linked up well with Jeremy Newton down the left and it was his hard work and determination that created the goal.

Scoop Rating: 6/10 – Another average display but matched up to Carterton, who didn't look like a Hellenic Premier side in terms of quality, relatively well. Bassett were on top in the first half but the goal on the stroke of half time really swung the balance of the game.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Monday 21st September 2020 at 09:39