Royal Wootton Bassett Town ran Flackwell Heath close before falling to a narrow 1-0 against their Buckinghamshire visitors.

Only once have Royal Wootton Bassett Town defeated Flackwell Heath, so taking anything away from their latest meeting against the Buckinghamshire side was always going to be seen as a bonus.

Yet, after a determined display that saw them have the better of proceedings in the second half, Bassett will be left ruing the fact they failed to claim a share of the spoils.

Instead the Heathens went home with all three points, Joe Blount's 36th minute poacher's finish determining the outcome of the contest in their favour.

Although arriving in untidy fashion – the midfielder stabbed in from close range after his initial header struck the bar - at the time it was certainly a deserved goal as the opening period belonged to the visitors.

However, after coming close to doubling their lead five minutes into the second half, they were forced to play on the back foot for much of the remainder of the afternoon.

Yet Bassett lacked the necessary composure and killer instinct when they entered the final third as that crucial final pass was often missing.

It was something Flackwell possessed. But they found themselves frustrated by an outstanding performance from home 'keeper Curtis Meare.

He found himself called into action in the opening minute as an Adam Morris drive stung his palms.

At the other end, Steve Robertson struck Dan Bailey's cutback just wide with a first time shot from a promising position.

Aside from that eleventh minute chance, Bassett spent a significant portion of the first half fending off forays forward from the dangerous visitors.

Flackwell should have been in front on twenty minutes when they broke down the right, Blount feeding Morris who delivered a low fizzing pass into the box which James Essex sought to steer in from six yards out. However, Meare was somehow able to parry away at point blank range.

On the half hour mark he was alert to awkwardly tip over as a Blount cross from the right wing drifted towards goal.

He then flew low to his left to guide a rasping long range drive from Dan Rapley around the post.

A minute later though he was finally beaten. Andrew Dean's long throw was flicked on by Rapley at the near post and Blount rose to head it towards goal from close range. While that found the bar, Blount was on hand to bundle in the rebound.

Scrappy as it was, they all count, and that sloppily defended throw in ultimately proved costly for Bassett.

It could have been worse too had both Essex and Ben Sturgess have done better early after the restart. The former was again denied by Meare, who saved at the forward's feet, before the latter dragged wide from directly in front of goal.

Bassett took that let off as an opportunity to assert themselves more and more. And the introduction of Lewis Thompson, playing on the wing opposite Henry Spalding gave the Flackwell defence something extra to think about.

On the hour Spadling crossed from deep on the left to Thompson, who had made a bursting run into the box. Running at full tilt, the former Cheltenham Town trainee directed a header towards the top left corner but missed the target by a matter of inches.

Minutes later Spalding came close. Sam Packer found space on the right and his cut back fell to an unmarked Spalding at the left post. From an angle, the midfielder shot low towards goal only to see his powerful effort blocked by sprawling centre half James Tripp.

The greater use of their two wide men continued to serve Bassett well as another fine Spalding delivery picked out Steve Robertson. The forward's first touch took him away from his marker, but the ball squirmed away from him, allowing 'keeper Dan Weait to rush off his line and smother.

A mix up between Weait and right back Liam Tack then allowed Spalding to attempt a lob towards and open goal from the left wing. That it just lacked in accuracy, winding up wide of the right post, summed up the frustrating nature of Bassett's afternoon though.

A point was there to be taken, but narrowly missed out on.

Man of the Match: Curtis Meare – produced a pair of outstanding saves in the first half to stymy Flackwell and keep Bassett in the game.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 17th September 2016 at 21:15