New Road, 12th January 2013

He may be the wrong side of 30, but Shaun Terry refuses to age quietly. While his ingenuity has helped allow strike partner Mark Barnes to race towards the thirty goal mark, Terry has also rekindled his own clinical qualities in front of goal. And it was his hat-trick against Old Woodstock Town which helped allow Wootton Bassett Town to record an emphatic 5-2 victory and importantly gain further ground on the chasing pack.

After an extremely tight first half, which saw two Lewis Coyle strikes - the second being an absolute cracker - cancel out go-ahead Bassett goals from Matt Bown and Terry, the veteran scored to give his team the lead for the third time in the 52nd minute.

And this time Dave Turner's team would not surrender their advantage.

Just four minutes later Richie Saunders crashed home his first since returning to Rylands Way to make the score 4-2. It was at that moment that Old Woodstock heads slipped, allowing their visitors to assert their dominance.

The closing stages saw a number of chances present themselves to Bassett, which were squandered. But Terry showed his teammates how it is done, finishing off another well worked move with quarter of an hour to go to put the result beyond doubt.

The talismanic frontman now has fourteen goals for the season, ten of those coming in Division One West, and he has been one of the instrumental factors in his team's push for promotion. After losing Sam Collier early last season, Bassett had to make do with no real recognised scoring threat, the slack being mainly picked up by midfielder Bown.

How great it therefore is to currently have two strikers with a killer instinct and ability to change a game with one swing of the boot.

A positive result against Old Woodstock, whose defence is one of the Division's meanest, was certainly vital. Though the Oxfordshire team started the afternoon seventh, their four games in hand meant they had the chance to pull within six points of Bassett; a victory would have allowed them to make it even tighter.

Now, however, their task has been made even tougher, while Bassett have moved within sight of topping the half century point mark by the end of January. With Brimscombe and Thrupp being held to a surprise draw by Lambourn Sports, the game to the leaders now also stands at just a single point with Bassett holding a game in hand.

In all it was a fantastic day at the office, the only dampener being Craig Bowden receiving a controversial red card late on for an alleged stamp.

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