Sunday 30th November 2008 - Eilte Soccer Coaching (H)

This was our first game of the season against Elite Soccer who had beaten the WBTFC "B" Team by just the odd goal in the NWDFL Cup earlier in the season.

The opening minutes were very tense with the visitors getting most of the ball. However, the first real chance fell to Bassett when a Jordan tackle broke up an Elite attack, the ball was passed through midfield to Euan who unleashed a "shoot at first sight" shot which was inches wide of the Elite goal.

The long clearance that followed bounced awkwardly for the Bassett defence and the Elite forward went through to shoot but Conor made an excellent save to push the shot out for a corner. The resulting corner was not cleared by the Bassett team and some neat interchanges of passing saw Elite take the lead with a smart shot from Euan Hutcheson at the far post.

There were few clear chances over the next 5 minutes and the only threat on the Elite goal came from a Euan free kick which was blocked by the brave Elite wall. On 12 minutes another clearance down the middle saw the Elite forward clear on goal but luckily for Bassett the shot went wide of Conor and of the right hand post. This effort saw a spell of Elite pressure, two corners were headed clear by Jordan and then Lewis, and then a third almost ended in a goal but the ball bobbled wide having come off an Elite forward.

The second Elite goal came on 16 minutes. Whereas the first goal followed some lovely passing, the second followed an almighty scramble in the Bassett box. Conor produced 3 fine saves, the ball was cleared off the line and it hit the post before Euan Hutcheson finally got space to shoot and score his, and Elites, second goal.

Bassett were not playing as a team and needed some team spirit and something special. This came from Euan who drove forward on the very next attack to score with an excellent long shot which bounced in front of the Elite goal keeper and skidded on into the goal.

Elite went straight back down to the other end from the kick off and would have got their third if it wasn't for Conor who made a fine save to push the shot out for another Elite corner. The last action of the half saw Tyler through on goal but the Elite keeper made an excellent block just on the edge of his area.

Half-time: 1-2

The second half saw Elite on the attack from the off and another fine save by Conor after only 2 minutes kept his team in the match. The early pressure of the second half was continual on the Bassett defence and goal as Conor made two or three excellent saves to keep out the Elite attack.

Bassett slowly clawed their way back into the game as some big tackles from Alanah, Jordan and Lewis showed the team that they needed to dig deep. On 10 minutes, Callum got free and ran down the wing. An excellent tackle gave Bassett a corner, which was drifted into the box and met by the head of Ryosuke. The ball went towards the back post and bounced agonisingly wide as Tyler strained to get a final touch.

Although Bassett were now finally starting to play some football, Elite were still dangerous and on 14 minutes a quick Elite break was again foiled by Conor who made a good save. Elite came close on 18 and 19 minutes when smart passing moves saw shots go just wide of the Bassett right and then left hand posts.

On 20 minutes an Elite break was broken up by a well timed Jordan tackle, he stayed on his feet to pass to Euan, who played a ball to Harrison and then to Tyler. Euan continued running and received the ball back and his shot produced a good save from the Elite keeper.

The game was end to end as Elite tried to finish it off and Bassett pushed for the equaliser. On 25 minutes Euan made a great tackle in midfield and then headed towards goal, his shot was half blocked and the ball rolled towards the Elite keeper. Lewis didn't give up and chased the ball down. Out pacing the Elite defender, his lunge and outstretched toe made contact with the ball just before the keeper could get down to collect it. The ball rolled past the keeper and into the net off the right hand post.

The two minutes of added time were extremely tense with a chance at the Bassett end which was just scrambled wide. Eventually the final whistle was blown with not one finger nail left on the sideline!

Match Analysis: A tough challenge for Bassett who were under pressure for most of the game. The defence of Alanah, Jordan and Lewis were immense and ably assisted by Ryosuke in some well timed last minute tackles and excellent headed clearances. Bassett chances were few and far between even though the midfield and attack worked hard all game.

Player of the Match: As the song goes. Bassett's Number 1, Bassett's Bassett's Number 1!!!! Today's Player of the Match has to go to Conor Chivers who kept the team in the game with a string of fine save after fine save.

Last modified on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 23:39