The first round of the North Wilts League Cup saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town Under 13 Yellows travel away to fellow Division Two side, AFC Newbury Boys and Girls Whites.

The game started with both sides' passions not being damped by the rain. It was end to end counter attacking football from both sides as they measured each other up.

The game then swung in the Yellows' favour with a quick brace from captain Jack Andrews, firstly capitalising on a rare mistake by the Newbury defensive line and then a well worked passage play of football from the Yellows, regaining possession almost immediately after the restart, passing the ball out of defence, through the midfield and on to Jack who calmly placed the ball passed the goalkeeper.

The Newbury team's heads did not drop however and they were back in the game soon after, when they capitalised on a rare miscommunication between our defensive line and goalkeeper.

Newbury then got the bit between their teeth and pushed on hard to try and equalise before half time and some important tackles from all three defenders Reuben Marchmant, Toby Tew and Nalani Hunt and a fantastic one handed save from goalkeeper Joshua Moore, made sure that the scoreline stayed 2-1 to the Yellows as the referee blew for half time.

A quick call from manager Anthony Moore via Whatsapp from Canada took place during the break to check in on how the team were playing!

The second half was barely underway when a quick break from Newbury saw them draw level at 2-2.

The midfields then went into battle as both teams started to feel the effect of the rain sodden pitch and both had the thirst for victory.

An absolutely fantastically taken shot from just inside of the box by Ewan Painter saw the Yellows go back into the lead.

This put us back on the front foot and started a ten minute spell of almost total possession from Bassett and saw Patrick Otoo-Mensah score a quick brace. The first came following some great footwork to get himself past the last defender and slot calmly into the corner of the net, before the second came from a pin-point corner from Alana Hunt.

There were also shots from Haydn Philpott and Lewis Taylor that were cleared off the line.

With only two minutes left of the match and the win looking almost certain, the Yellows took their foot off the gas and allowed Newbury to score a consolation goal just before the final whistle.

There were some solid midfield performances from both Sam Watson and Deniz McGeachie, but the game saw right back Reuben Marchment win Supporters' Player of the Match and left back Nalani Hunt claim Player of the Match - congratulations to you both.

A truly well deserved win and a place in the second round of the cup booked for the Yellows!

Credit: Paul Taylor
Last modified on Sunday 23rd September 2018 at 18:01