Sunday 31st January 2010 - Hungerford Town 'A' (A)

And finally, the long awaited NWDC game against Hungerford Town was ON!!!!

A place in the quarter finals was at stake for Bassett "A" Team in their defence of the NWDC and the trip to Hungerford proved to be a thriller! The cold morning and sub-zero overnight temperature left a frosty pitch for the match to be played on. Talks of insurance claims were soon forgotten as the bright winter sun slowly thawed the top surface to allow the game to go ahead.

Bassett had the early pressure but a quick counter attack by Hungerford gave an early warning that this was to be no walk over. In the 3rd minute Bassett won a corner but the ball broke to a Hungerford player on the edge of the box. The ball was moved smartly by Hungerford from defence to attack and a well finished move saw Hungerford go 0-1 up.

Following the goal Hungerford commanded the game but Bassett slowly came back and started to play some football. On 9 minutes, Bassett's first chance fell to Euan following a Callum corner. Unfortunately, Euan's shot was well saved by the Hungerford keeper.

A minute later Bassett drew level. Lewis made a strong tackle in defence and then moved the ball down the left to Callum. Callum found Zach who was tackled but the ball fell into the path of Beckham who scored with a first time shot from 7 yards.

Hungerford were straight back at Bassett and following a long shot the ball bounced off the Bassett bar and out for a goal kick. As Half time approached, Hungerford were the stronger team. Firstly a nice move down the left saw the shot hit the Bassett side netting. From the resulting goal kick, the ball was picked up by the Hungerford midfield and a long shot deflected up off the Bassett defence to loop over Conor.

Half Time: 1-2

Hungerford started the second half the brighter and would have increased their lead if it was not for a save by Conor. On 28 minutes Bassett won a corner. Another quick break away by Hungerford saw Conor make a brave save at the feet of the Hungerford forward to keep it 1-2.

On 32 minutes a long Bassett throw found Zach on the edge of the Hungerford box, he slotted the ball through to Euan, who shot from 6 yards to make it 2-2. Game on!!

Bassett almost stole the victory in normal time as the move of the day saw the ball won in defence by Jordan and passed through to Zach. Zach's flick pass found Lewis who cut in and squared to Euan, a Hungerford defender just jumping in to block the goal bound shot.

Full-time: 2-2

The first period of extra time saw Hungerford with most of the ball. Bassett's only chance fell to Euan whose shot went narrowly wide of the left hand post.

Bassett started brightly in the second half of extra time and in the first minute won a corner. An almighty scramble ended with a Euan shot deflecting off a Hungerford defender and just inside the far post. 3-2 Bassett!!

Euan almost put the game beyond Hungerford a minute later when he controlled a goal kick on the chest and unleashed a left foot shot narrowly wide of the left hand post.

The last two minutes were all Hungerford. Firstly a mix-up in the Bassett defence presented a Hungerford striker with a shooting opportunity, which was well saved by Conor. This was shortly followed by another Hungerford chance which glanced off a Bassett head and narrowly wide. Hungerford threw everything forward for the resulting corner, including the keeper. As the ball went across the area, appeals for handball were turned down as the referee blew the final whistle.

Extra Time: 3-2

Match Analysis: A great game of cup football played in a tremendous spirit. Bassett eventually won against a fine Hungerford team. This game could have gone either way but Conor, Jordan T, Alanah, Beckham, Lewis, Callum, Euan, Jordan WT and Zach all pulled through to progress to the quarter finals.

Player of the Match: Not a match for the faint hearted and an extremely accomplished performance sees today's POTM award go to Jordan Taylor.

Team: Conor Chivers, Lewis Ward, Jordan Taylor, Alanah Edwards, Euan Burke (Capt), Callum Bridges, Zach Bunce, Beckham Hulbert, Jordan Wright-Thompson

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