15 Jan 2012 - Highworth Town Juniors 'H' (H)

Wootton Bassett U 12's vs. Highworth Town H U 12's This sunny winter's morning saw the lads help to produce a really entertaining match which belied the score line and showed what gritty determination and a calm head can do in the face of strong opposition

Captain James caught the eye early on with a series of good defensive challenges and a long shot which gave the Highworth keeper an early feel of the ball. But it was the visitors that carried much of the early threat, winning a couple of corners and starting to pass and move to good effect. Jordan and Dec showed what they could as well, however, with a bit of neat interplay on the right and George turned his man and sent a pass just too long for Brad to run onto.

At the back, Ed made the first of many crucial tackles, as ever showing calmness under pressure beyond his years, the skilful Highworth attack being made to pick at scraps. At the other end, Bassett then won corners in quick succession but were unable to penetrate the excellent Highworth defence. Ollie then pinged a lovely pass out right and Callum was able to fashion a shot that only narrowly missed. Jordan, now on at the back, fought very hard and was able to turn defence into attack on more than one occasion.

A Highworth free-kick was almost our undoing, though, with the ball skimming across the box just begging for one of the unmarked attackers to slot home. Moments later we did think we had gone behind. A defensive slip let a Highworth forward in and his shot appeared to slide between Connor and the post. A few heart-stopping moments later, the goal (initially given) was cancelled by the ref as it had only hit the side netting. This fact was then publically proven when both Bassett coaches made a Holmes and Watson style examination of the net. There was time before the whistle for action at the other end after Charlie's beautiful through ball couldn't be gathered by a Bassett player to cause any damage. Half-time 0 – 0

There was a delay at the start of the second half as a dog wandered across the pitch looking for a convenient tree, but we were soon underway with Ollie having an early shot at goal and George managing a dangerous dribble down the left. Matt made a nuisance of himself and, along with Harry, helped prevent Highworth put too much together but they still look the more likely to score and they were able to win more corners that our lads defended well – all showing great determination and not a little skill to keep them out, despite some goal-mouth scrambles. Zach made several important tackles and was determined to unlock the defence with a telling ball. Callum was up for the battle and scurried down the left, tackling and dribbling to equal effect. Dec then put through the pass of the day which split the defence and nearly enabled Brad to open our account.

It was now true ‘end-to-end' stuff with Highworth now apparently through on goal – only for Harry to intercept at the crucial moment and send the ball out for another Highworth corner. Ed then had a chance to send in a dangerous ball with a free-kick that unfortunately landed nicely for the diminutive Highworth keeper and yet another Highworth break-out had to ben snuffed out Charlie once again put Dec through on goal. In the next passage of play, there were two Bassett corners and a missed open goal by a tiring Highworth forward to keep the crowd at the edge of their seats. The game could now go either way and it looked like Bassett may sneak it when we saw a lovely run down the left by George end in a cross that slid under the Highworth keeper only to be scrambled away before a Bassett toe could prod home. A really entertaining game then drew to a close with the fairest score line for both teams – an honourable draw. Full-time: 0 – 0

Coach's comments: A massive improvement on last week's game saw a dogged spirited team performance with all 13 players showing once again if you work hard enough then the results will come. Once again we defended well from back to front and created some good chances. A point was earned and well deserved and showed we're more than capable of mixing it with any team if we work hard enough. Well done.

Man of the match: Many candidates today after a massive improvement from last week but the award goes to Ollie Cameron who played really well in various ways, tackling, heading and passing in the middle to great effect throughout the match.

Team: Team: Connor Chivers, Charlie Poynter, Matt Nicholls, James Evans (captain), George Staten, Callum Bridges, Zach Bunce, Dec Cox, Ollie Cameron, Jordan Langford, Brad Sealey , Edward Fish, Harry Woodhouse

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