Sunday 31st January 2010 - Lambourn Sports (A)

On a cold January afternoon, our magnificent 7 arrived at Lambourn determined to put the disaster of Ramsbury behind them but, yet again, a twist of fate (in this case a twist of Scott's ankle) was to give them a potentially difficult match. He was forced into goal as he could barely walk and, although Isaac was happy to take a rare chance on the pitch, Scott's inexperience between the sticks was yet another blow for our lads.

They started splendidly, nevertheless, and an early attack involving Isaac, George and Coxy nearly ended in a goal from the off. Lambourn were soon thrown onto the back foot and Bassett started to really show their stuff. Despite a shot off his post early on, Scott was protected from danger by some fantastic defending by Harry, James and Matt.

It wasn't long before Bassett opened their account with a lovely through ball from Coxy to George which he slotted home with great assurance: 1 – 0

This seemed to rattle our hosts, and our lads found a lot of space all over the pitch. Isaac, up front for a change, was close with a shot over the bar and Matt was having another great game, putting in tackle after tackle as Lambourn tried to get something back. Scott was beginning to look a bit more confident between the posts and he managed a couple of important saves as well.

Half time: 1 – 0

The half-time oranges seemed to give Bassett still further energy and they went at Lambourn from the off and it wasn't long before they doubled their lead. An inch-perfect pass from Isaac found George in space and he calmly slammed home his second from just inside the area: 2 – 0

Coxy saw a shot bounce off a post and one or two other close shaves before James was to be seen surging through the middle, showing tremendous power . He was typical of the performance today – full of running and not a little skill.

Lambourn crept back into the match, however, from a corner which was scrambled home through a maze of legs: 2 – 1

Moments later, an absolutely superb move involving passes between Harry, Matt, George, Coxy ended with the ball at Isaac's feet and he was unlucky to see his powerful shot balloon over the bar.

More shots from Bassett seemed to hint at further goals but it was Lambourn who scored next when a hopeful shot from way out slipped past Scott: 2 – 2

It wasn't long before Bassett re-established the lead, though, when George took the ball on the edge of the area and placed a beautiful shot past the goalie to notch his first hat-trick of the campaign: 3 – 2

Bassett's dominance continued and it seemed that they would now run away with it and it was no surprise when yet another Isaac pass found Coxy who slammed home our fourth: 4 – 2

This should have been the end of things, but Lambourn were able to steal an unlikely draw in the last few minutes when, firstly a ball was lobbed over to give a one on one with Scott which he had no chance with (4 – 3) – then with some Ferguson minutes ticking by, they were presented with an empty net as Scott took a dangerous foray out of defence: 4 – 4

This was a game that Bassett totally dominated and should have won by a few but, yet again, their lack of numbers told in the end with, on this occasion, an injured defender forced into goal and no subs being available at all. They should all be very proud, though, of a very enjoyable performance which gives a lot of hope for the future.

Man of the match: George Staten. A splendid performance with a hat-trick of lovely goals a suitable reward for his energy and skill throughout the match

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