Royal Wootton Bassett Town's derby woes continued as they fell to a 3-1 loss away against Shrivenham.

League meetings between the two teams may only stretch back as recently as 2010. But at least until last season Royal Wootton Bassett Town appeared to hold the whip hand over Shrivenham. That is emphatically the case no more as Bassett suffered a fourth straight defeat against their local rivals, falling to a 3-1 away loss after a second half in which they were clearly second best.

The teams had fought out a goalless first half at Barrington Park. It had been a typical derby contest with plenty of effort on display, but little real quality.

The best the visitors mustered was an opening for Gio Wrona, who saw Curtis Meare block his shot with his feet, while Jack Allan twice spurned chances for the hosts.

Both sides would therefore have fancied their chances coming out of the interval. Come full time, however, there was one clear winner.

Bassett had an opportunity five minutes after the restart when Meare was forced to guide an Aaron Oakley header over the bar.

But Shrivenham upped the pressure after that. Nick Stanley, Steve Robertson and Allan all narrowly missed the target with a trio of chances around the hour mark.

Then, on 68 minutes, Allan was brought down in the box. Stanley produced a weak penalty that Matt Bulman, stepping in for Declan Lehmann between the sticks, comfortably parried. But Robertson, a constant thorn in Bassett's side since his departure, was quickest to respond to the rebound and slid the ball beneath the 'keeper to put his side ahead.

A stunning stop at point blank range from Meare denied Bassett an equaliser soon after.

The home side's lead was then doubled with six minutes remaining. Bassett failed to clear from a corner and amongst a mini scramble in the box Antonio Gerrish was able to poke the ball over the line.

Brad Pagliaroli's long range effort in the final minute of regulation time did offer a small glimmer of hope for Sam Collier's side.

However the forward's first goal since August proved inconsequential as Allan latched onto Zac Skinner's stoppage time through ball before rounding Bulman and adding Shrivenham's third.

After Saturday's promising display in a frustrating defeat against Binfield, this was another case this season of Bassett taking a step backwards.

They'll have the chance to right their current derby woes in the next couple of weeks though, with a pair of fixtures against Fairford Town to come. However, with the Reds flying high in the table, securing some form of local bragging rights this season will be a tough task.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 30th October 2019 at 08:46