Rylands Way, 10th December 2011

Once again, Wootton Bassett Town and Carterton produced a grandstand finish. But unlike when the two sides met in the cup earlier this season, the outcome this time - a 2-2 draw - left Dave Turner and his side frustrated at their inability to secure victory.

After a dominant first half which saw the hosts muster just a single goal through Ethan Delaney despite a plethora of chances, the Oxfordshire visitors came back into the game after the restart and were allowed to score two goals in quick succession as time began to wind down. Luckily for Bassett a Matt Bown free kick spared their blushes.

It was Bassett's inability to preserve a one goal lead, which led to them being held to a draw at fellow high-flyers Easington Sports last week. The visit of Carterton, who in spite of their win against Purton last week have struggled so far this season, should really have been a different matter.

Delaney capped a great start by beating his man for pace and rifling home just ten minutes in. Buoyed by this, the Carterton box was placed under siege for the majority of the time remaining in the first half, but nothing was made of this pressure.

The lesson had not been learned from last week: single goal leads leave little margin for error, even with a defence that has been as good as Bassett's so far this season.

After a change in formation midway through the second half, Carterton began asserting themselves more and more. And on 80 minutes, a chipped effort struck the cross bar, and Carterton's Chris Mills beat 'keeper James Domm to the ball and headed home the equaliser. It didn't take long for the visitors to then take the lead as Jamie MacDonagh produced a sublime, expertly weighted lob that Domm could do little about.

Bassett's reply was almost instant as star midfielder Bown powered a free kick straight into the far bottom corner. The celebrations that followed were ones out of a sense of relief rather than joy though.

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