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Terry Times It Perfectly

Rylands Way, 12th August 2008

Shaun Terry showed how valuable he will be this season, as his brace – including the 90th minute winner – enabled Wootton Bassett Town to avoid embarrassment on the opening day of the year as they edged out Headington Amateurs by the odd goal in three.

Whilst his opener demonstrated his class and coolness under pressure, his second – a tap in after a Ryan Banks effort had been parried – was the more significant.

If he hadn't have found himself in the right place at the right time, then the season would not have got itself off to the start expected after a successful preseason. Suffice to say, Bassett were not at their best.

Although the conditions made things difficult, there were missed opportunities – such as that which fell to Scott Ward eleven minutes in when he fluffed his lines, hitting straight at Steve Skyrme when one-on-one, poor passing and some poor decision making.

The latter two combined to allow Headington to equalise less than a minute after Terry had put Bassett ahead. Firstly, Tom Ritchie tried forcing a long pass from inside his own half, which was gobbled up, eventually allowing Adam Simmonds to play a dangerous lofted pass.

Shaun Carter had the chance to head clear, but failed to meet the ball at the top of his jump and Benji Cuff took full advantage, dinking the ball over a stranded Stewart Thompson from just inside the box.

Just moments earlier Bassett had shown what they were capable of with an impressive, quick fire goal. Scott Ward helped on a perfectly placed Luke Sharps ball – a pass that had been played from near enough the left corner flag – and Terry burst onto the loose ball, shrugged off his man and after bearing down on goal, placed the ball into the top left corner. All of which was made to look easy.

But the Jekyll and Hyde nature, which has plagued Bassett over the past few seasons reared its head again.

Minutes before Terry put Bassett ahead, Stewart Thompson was forced into a fine save to divert a curling effort from Cuff to safety.

And following the equaliser, the visitors looked the likeliest to grab the next goal, making for some nail biting moments for new boss Dave Turner.

With ten minutes to go, the ball was squared inside from the right wing to substitute Matthew Phillips, who turned his marker on the edge of the six yard box but could only find the side netting. Prior to that a number of last ditch, saving tackles had been required to prevent Headington from taking the lead.

Bassett had threatened in this period, however a Steve Yeardley headed from a Ritchie set piece was straight at Skyrme and Terry blasted across the face of goal and wide after cutting in from the right.

The ex-Hungerford forward's frustration was also beginning to show as he found himself in the book and then expressed his grievances with an opponent after being brought down by a mistimed challenge.

To his credit he was able to keep his cool and two minutes after curling a low free kick inches wide, he completed his brace.

Banks latched onto a through ball at midfield and surged down field before striking low from an angle. The ball skidded along the wet surface, meaning Skyrme could do little more than parry it away. Unfortunately for him he could only direct into the path of Terry, who completed the simplest of finishes.

In injury time he almost completed a hat trick but was denied by Skyrme after great work by Craig Shand.

Scoop's Man of the Match: Shaun Terry – without him the game would not have been won. Despite being frustrated by a lack of first half opportunities, he ensured his presence was felt in the final 45 minutes.

Scoop Rating: 5/10 – The match was won, however it was a performance that needs to be quickly forgotten. Bassett didn't use the conditions to their advantage and were made to pay as they conceded possession quite readily. A better showing will be needed if Flackwell Heath are to be seen off in the FA Cup.

Last modified on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 23:38