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Tearle Wonder Goal and Thompson Wonder Save Give Bassett Historical Win

Rylands Way, 4th October 2008

An exquisite chip from Phil Tearle to beat the Kidlington keeper in the second period of extra-time followed by a Stewart Thompson penalty save saw Wootton Bassett Town through to the Second Round Proper of the F.A. Vase for the first time in the Club's history.

It was fitting that, in the week that the move to the new ground came closer to reality, it was a product of the Club's expanding Youth Section who scored the winning goal in this important money spinning match. Tearle has played for the Club since he was an Under 10 and is seen by the many youngsters who currently play for the Club's youth set-up as an inspirational figure who has shown that if you are good enough the door to the First Team is open to you.

In front of a healthy Rylands Way crowd Bassett started the game well and went in front courtesy of a well taken goal from another youngster, Lee Moulton, on 19 minutes. Following a flowing passing move the ball came to Moulton on the left of the box, he cut inside and put the ball into the far corner of the net giving the Kidlington keeper no chance. A cool finish for a youngster who continues to impress down the left hand side of Bassett's midfield.

Bassett extended the lead a minute later when a penalty was awarded for a foul on Ryan Banks. With regular penalty taker Steve Yeardley away running the Great North Run, it fell to top scorer Shaun Terry to take the kick. Memories of the missed penalty in the earlier round at Buckingham came flooding back but this time Terry made no mistake and fired the kick into the net.

Missing match reporter Scoop was duly sent a text advising of the second goal and it took two more such texts to convince him; yes Shaun had scored a penalty!

Two-nil to Bassett at the break and in reality Bassett had dominated play with the back three of Chris Oram, Shaun Carter and Luke Sharps giving the Kidlington strikers little opportunity in front of goal and the midfield, particularly Tom Richie and Richie Carter in the centre, working tirelessly to close down the Kidlington players, including former Wycombe Wanderers and Doncaster Rovers pro Jermaine McSporran.

The second half saw Kidlington come out all guns blazing but despite a lot of possession and neat passing football Bassett held onto the two goal lead. However, a harshly awarded free-kick on the edge of the 18 yard box allowed Morgan Williams to fire a free kick into the back of Stewart Thompson's net to make it 2-1 on 50 minutes.

Chris Oram and Shaun Carter continued to deny the lively Kidlington strikers but Bassett were to suffer a setback on 79 minutes just as they thought they were going to get the win. Bassett were slow to react to a ball down the left which allowed Mark Flanagan to get away and bear down on the Bassett goal and Flanagan fired a powerful low drive past Stewart Thomson to send the game into extra-time.

Just when thoughts were turning to a replay on Tuesday up stepped substitute Tearle and that cheeky wonder goal. A ball over the top saw Tearle race away from the Kidlington defence and as the Kidlington keeper came out he deftly chipped the ball over him and into the empty net, cue celebrations not seen at Rylands Way for many a year.

However, within a minute the euphoria had gone as Shaun Carter handled the ball in the Bassett box and the referee pointed to the spot. Time for the second hero of the day to step forward. Kidlington's striker fired the penalty low to the left of keeper Stewart Thomson, but Thompson had guessed the right way and pulled off a magnificent save.

In the second period of extra time Kidlington pushed forward in search of an equaliser but left themselves vulnerable to the break. One such occasion saw Shaun Terry do the difficult bit of turning his defender on the edge of the box and with the keeper way off his line the opportunity was there to put the result beyond doubt but his curled shot just went the wrong side of the post. Bassett survived a late scare but clung on for the history making win that sends them into the last 128 in this prestigious national competition. The £1,000 prize money will have gone down well in the Committee Room.

Man of the Match: Tom Richie / Richie Carter – tremendous work rate in centre midfield and difficult to pick one out.

Rating (using the famous Scoop scale): 9/10 – a great team effort from start to finish. Bassett dominated first half but in second half it was the visitors led by Jermaine McSporren who put Bassett under pressure in the second half but the work levels never dropped and a deserved win in an excellent game of football.

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