Royal Wootton Bassett Town's Over 50 Veterans team were left frustrated in what turned out to be a game of fine margins against Catshill in the semi finals of the Oxfordshire Veterans Memorial Cup.
After battling a closed M5 to get to Bromsgrove for an 8pm Friday night kick iff, Bassett started the much better team and after fifteen minutes Carl Webster broke down the wing and rounded the keeper only to see his effort come off the post by a whisker.
The midfield of Warren, Lynch and Purcell were dominating, and a great passage of play saw Webster put clean through who finished brilliantly with a deft chip over the keeper, only to see a very (very) late flag rule out the goal for a controversial offside.
Defending superbly, Smith, Woody and Stack were limiting Catshill only to half chances.
Ten minutes before the end of the first half a period of sustained pressure by Bassett saw a 20 yard effort by Lynch crash off the cross bar which was scrambled away by the Catshill defence.
The second half started with a high tempo and against the run of play Catshill broke the deadlock, heading in from a corner.
The goal lifted the Catshill tails, who were now purring. But this did not deter Bassett and ten minutes later a superb 25 yard cross-field pass from Webster expertly found the marauding Rob Mitchell, who cooly slotted home at the second bite of the cherry.
One then almost became two as some good play from Bassett forced a corner which dropped nicely for Boyle who saw his effort ricochet off the post.
With four-lives down, Catshill dominated the last twenty minutes, scoring three goals, two from long range efforts, one of which took a wicked deflection, with both creeping into the bottom corner.
All in all, it was a great performance from the Over 50s Veterans, considering it was only their second game against a very established team.
Man of the Match: Carl Webster - troubled the Catshill defence all night long
Pink Pony: Ceri Stephens - for a classic 'Karius' parry but without the concussion...
Credit: Paul Jack
Last modified on Monday 1st April 2019 at 22:21
