Royal Wootton Bassett Town slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against bottom side Burnham in their penultimate league fixture of the season.

Playing with all the intensity of a side who have nothing but the summer holidays on their mind, it was little surprise that Royal Wootton Bassett Town fell to a pitiful 2-1 defeat against basement dwellers Burnham.

While the defeat may have been by the odd goal, the performance - devoid of sensible football on a dry, bumpy pitch and with far too few players showing any sense of desire or pride – was up there with the most disappointing Bassett have produced throughout a campaign which has seen a frustratingly inconsistent side veer between the very good and very bad.

Once they had fallen 2-0 down after conceding twice in a six minute spell towards the end of the opening period, it was obvious that victory was going to be beyond Rich Hunter's team.

Although Dan Bailey – a rare example of a player who could hold his head high at the end of the game – smashed in a goal shortly after the restart, Bassett lacked the invention to get back on level terms against a Burnham team who have shipped more than 120 goals in a sorry season.

The hosts took the lead after 33 minutes when Gurkan Gormen's corner was headed back across goal and flicked in by Adrian Sears.

Bassett had been lucky not to have been in arrears moments earlier when Nathan Hawkins' heavy first touch was seized upon by Charlie Samuels, but his powerful strike from the edge of the area was deflected wide by the defender.

Burnham then doubled their lead six minutes after going ahead. Diminutive midfielder Jack Denton rose above Steve Pleass to divert a towering cross from deep into the six-yard box and Sears slid in to steer his second past Curtis Meare.

The one quality move Bassett produced all afternoon brought them their goal on 50 minutes. From the right wing, Sam Packer clipped a ball into the feet of Dale Richards on the edge of the area and his clever reverse pass fed Bailey who, at a full sprint, smashed a first-time strike beyond the onrushing Patrick Kinsella and in off the bar.

That was as good as it got though. Against the league's worst defence, top scorer Steve Robertson and playmaker Packer were non-factors, with too many balls being lumped aimlessly forward instead of into their feet.

Other than having to pick the ball out of his own net, Kinsella was therefore otherwise untroubled.

And the closest the game came to another goal was when Sears' glancing header from a Gormen cross was turned around the post by Meare.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Sunday 26th March 2017 at 09:39