Ardley United scored twice in the final five minutes to win by the odd goal in three and condemn Royal Wootton Bassett Town to their third straight league loss.

Seemingly on course for victory, having taken the lead early through Steve Yeardley and withstood all Ardley United had been able to throw at them, Royal Wootton Bassett Town proceeded to concede twice in the final five minutes and were thus condemned to a third successive league loss.

It was a pair of Ardley substitutes who inflicted the pain on Bassett, who, after recovering so well from their early season difficulties, have now seen themselves reeled back in towards the lower reaches of the table. It hasn't helped that three points gained against Longlevens have been chalked off as a result of Bassett unintentionally fielding an ineligible player.

And their current eleventh place position in the league is no firm one either, with Rich Hunter's side having played at least two games more than the five teams immediately below them.

Ardley has never been a happy hunting ground for Bassett - last year's visit, which ended in a 7-1 hiding being a notable case in point.

Yet those fortunes seemed on course to change.

In the game's eighteenth minute, Steve Yeardley made a clever run to head in at the far post from a corner.

It was a contest with limited chances throughout, although the visitors did strike the post with six minutes remaining in the opening period.

Ardley were always going to throw caution to the wind after the restart in order to try and get back on level terms. And that they did, upping the pressure as the half wore on. However, Bassett's defence was standing firm, and looked as though it would hold out and preserve a clean sheet.

That was until Jack Ross leveled matters with four minutes to go, steering in from close range after he had initially flicked on a cross into the box.

Then in the final minute, Matt Cruse weaved his way from the right wing through a sea of Bassett shirts before flashing a stunning drive into the top corner.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Sunday 23rd October 2016 at 20:08