Sunday 8th March 2009 - Wickham Wanderers (H)

The "A" Team welcomed Wickham to Rylands Way for the much awaited semi-final of the NWDCup. The match was also going to be remembered as it was scheduled to be Ryosuke's last game for Bassett before his return to Japan.

Bassett started the brighter of the two teams and were ahead after just two minutes when Jordan made an excellent tackle in defence, moved the ball to Euan, who passed wide to Ryosuke. Ryosuke's early cross found Tyler unmarked in the box to make it 1-0.

Wickham were a strong team, difficult to breakdown and quick on the counter attack. The next chance fell to Bassett on 6 minutes when Euan's pass found Ryosuke in space on the right and the Wickham keeper was required to make a good save from the resulting shot.

On 9 minutes Bassett conceded a free kick halfway inside their own half. The ball was sent towards the Bassett goal and a glancing header from close range by the Wickham forward gave Conor no chance, 1-1.

On 15 minutes Bassett thought they had regained the lead. A cross from the left got through to the feet of Harrison. At the same time that Harrison shot the Wickham keeper dived on the ball. The goal did not stand as Harrison was judged to kick the ball out of the keeper's hands. From the resulting free kick, Wickham quickly moved the ball through midfield and made an opening in the Bassett box. As the Wickham forward looked to shoot, Conor dived at his feet to make a brave save.

A minute later Conor was called into action again as the ball was not fully cleared and the resulting shot required pushing over the bar.

Half Time: 1-1

The second half started at a lively pace with Wickham winning a corner which eluded everyone at the near post and Conor quickly dived upon the lose ball as it bobbled around the Bassett goal line. This was quickly followed by a Bassett chance which saw Euan pass to Ryosuke, who passed back to Euan and his low shot was well saved by the Wickham keeper.

On 5 minutes, the ball was passed forward to Lewis. First touch control and a short pass gave Euan the opportunity to run on the angle into the Wickham box. Two touches and a low shot put Bassett 2-1 up as the ball eluded the grasp of the Wickham keeper.

Wickham came straight back at Bassett and a smart move down the left saw the ball pulled back across the area. A Wickham midfielder met the ball on the run and his shot went just wide of the Bassett left hand post.

A minute later Bassett won a free kick in the Wickham half, the long range effort by Jordan went just over the Wickham bar. Another free kick two minutes later was taken by Euan. This time, it took a fine diving save from the Wickham keeper to push the goal bound shot over.

As Wickham pushed forward to find the equaliser, Bassett scored the classic counter attack goal on 14 minutes. Alanah broke up a Wickham attack with a strong tackle. Jordan picked up the loose ball and looked up, seeing Tyler all alone in the Wickham box, he struck a 20 yard pass straight to the feet of Tyler, his first time shot found the back of the Wickham goal. 3-1 Bassett!

Over the next 5 minutes both teams battled hard, with Wickham pushing for a goal and Bassett defending stoutly.

As full time approached, we almost got the climax to the game that every Bassett player, coach and fan wanted. A quick break by Callum found Tyler, his shot was well saved by the Wickham keeper. The ball bounced out of the area where it was met by Ryosuke. His first time shot looked goal bound all the way but unfortunately drifted narrowly wide of the right hand post.

Full-time: 3-1

Match Analysis: A superb performance that summed up the team perfectly - skill in abundance, hard work in abundance and team spirit in abundance! Getting to the cup final is no more than this team, players and coaches, deserve.

Player(s) of the Match: Alanah, Callum, Conor, Euan, Harrison, Jordan, Lewis, Ryosuke and Tyler – enough said!

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