25 Sep 2011 - Malmesbury Youth (H)

After the inspirational memorial matches of Friday evening, it was back to League business today with Bassett keen to put the disappointment of last week's result behind them, although with Edward's late withdrawal due to illness it was not going to be easy. A reshuffle of the pack meant some lads playing in slightly unfamiliar positions and the new-look defence realised they would have to dig deep without Ed's calming presence.

The early exchanges were fairly even, although the threat from Malmesbury was clear early on when a beautiful cross was lofted across the Bassett box just begging to be poked home. James, Charlie and Matt were brought early into the action with James, in particular, catching the eye as he used possession well by launching the ball dangerously forward. Some neat early interplay between Olly, Callum and James boded well down the left and George also combined with Zach on the right but it was the opposition who always looked the more likely to opening the scoring. And score they did after some hesitancy in the Bassett defence allowed a powerful shot to loop into the goal beyond Connor's desperate reach.

There was then a scrappy period of ‘head tennis' with neither side truly getting control of the ball but it ended with a superb Connor save from a strong opposition shot. Lewis was working very hard in the centre of defence, breaking up the play as best he could but another ball was looped towards our goal and Malmesbury's lead was doubled. By half time, our lads hadn't truly shown what they are capable of with Zach and Dec limited to half chances at best and our defence grateful for a chance to re-group.

Half-Time : 0 -2

After the break, Bassett emerged with greater energy but were largely on the back foot again with Olly making a telling clearance, Zach battling down the wing. Dec finally found some space to run at the opposition but the final balls never quite dropped for us. Passes were sometimes over-hit and ‘one-twos' never quite came off. However, following another splendid save from Connor, a Bassett attack led to a Callum corner which sent the Malmesbury defence into disarray and Ollie was able to poke home from close range. This inspired the beginnings of a fight back but Malmesbury always looked dangerous and a breakout from their defence led to a third goal which gave Connor no chance.

End to end football ensued with Callum sending a free kick just over the bar and, in reply, Malmesbury hitting the post to show their continued threat. Our defenders still fought a desperate battle at times to keep the score to just three and Connor pulled off save after save but was finally breached a fourth time when a powerful shot crept in despite his best efforts at the near post.

Final score: 1 - 4 Team: Connor Chivers, Charlie Poynter, Matt Nicholls, James Evans, George Staten, Callum Bridges, Zach Bunce, Lewis Ward (capt.) Dec Cox, Ollie Cameron, Laughlan Beggs, Jordan Langford.

Coach's verdict: Our opposition showed more desire today with only about 5 of our team truly throwing themselves into the match with any real conviction. That said, Charlie had his best game for us today and Olly, Lewis, James and Connor deserve credit for their determined attitude throughout.

Man of the match: Lewis Ward – he fought powerfully throughout today and, when moved into the middle, began to make things happen in midfield despite the match moving steadily in the opposition's favour

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