The emphatic 8-1 end score line doesn't tell the whole story of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Over 50s' defeat against Witney Royals.
For most of the first half Bassett went toe to toe with the reigning champions before lapses in concentration and discipline gave the visitors a half-time gap that kept widening as the second half progressed. The end result looks ugly from a Bassett perspective, but a final deficit of perhaps 4-1 may have more fairly reflected the difference in performance level between the sides.
Bassett lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Roger Webb given the unenviable task of playing as the single striker against a Royals team who are clearly head and shoulders above any other side faced this season. The diminutive Webb ran the channels tirelessly as he tried to latch on to through balls from Bryan Watson and Steve Fisher. His efforts were often frustrated by the offside flag though as Witney tried to strangle the life out of Bassett as an attacking threat.
At the other end Witney slipped into their patient passing style with plenty of movement and options for their players in possession. The Bassett back four, well marshalled by Bob Ellis, kept them in check in the opening 15 minutes with a combination of disciplined defending and strong tackling, notably from full back John Stack.
The visiting defence was eventually breached by individual brilliance. A Witney player turned his defender inside out before drawing the 'keeper and clipping the ball calmly past him into the bottom left hand corner to register the opening goal.
Far from being disheartened Bassett continued to frustrate the Royals attacks by trying to play a high line which was not without risk. 'Keeper Stephens changed his mind about coming out to clear one through ball and, as he scurried back towards goal, was pleased to see an effort go off target. He was more decisive minutes later as he came off limits to hack clear another attempted through ball.
Despite these occasional scares Bassett generally kept Witney at bay in the opening stages and made forays into enemy territory with decent long range efforts from Fisher and Lynch just off target. Martyn Purcell also got in on the right to test the Witney custodian but was adjudged offside. An even better free kick attempt from Fisher was held onto at the second time of asking by the home custodian as Bryan Watson followed up in case of any handling mistake.
Bassett 'keeper Stephens had to stretch out a big left hand to turn aside a curling close range shot and keep his side afloat in the contest.
Bassett finally sprang the offside trap on the half hour mark. Bryan Watson played a precise ball through which Roger Webb ran onto before holding off a chasing defender and planting the ball low past the Witney stopper to bring Bassett briefly back on level terms.
Moments later two incidents occurred that arguably shaped the remainder of the game. First, tigerish defender John Stack went down under a challenge on the byline and was unable to continue due to a knee injury. Martyn Purcell moved to full back and Kenny Campbell came on in midfield. Second, within minutes substitute Campbell had played a perfect pass to Steve Lynch charging into the right hand side of the Witney area. He bore down on goal but blazed over from the angle.
At this point I'm going to sound like a broken record as Bassett went from parity at 35 minutes to 3-1 down at the break. Familiar late first half frailties resurfaced again. A Witney forward got clear in the area but saw his firm drive superbly kept out low and at full stretch by Stephens. Unfortunately that save counted for little just a few phases of play later when the visiting 'keeper inexplicably failed to leave his line to easily collect a chipped centre. Instead the ball bounced across the static goalkeeper and into the net for a desperately soft second goal to the hosts.
The visitors them compounded their misery when Martyn Purcell stuck up a hand to deflect a fierce drive over the bar to concede a clear penalty just before the half time whistle. The Witney taker confidently stroked home to open up a comfortable, if rather flattering 3-1 advantage for Witney at the break.
Bassett manager Paul Gardner rightly dwelt on the positives at half time and asked Roger Webb to drop back to right back to allow Kev Currier to come on up top and Martyn Purcell to take a well earned rest on the bench.
Pretty soon after the restart the game was dead as a contest as Witney were awarded a second spot kick. Their flying winger shot past the Bassett defence and it was left to Steve Fisher tracking back from midfield to tackle him inside the area. He and most of the Bassett lads felt he had timed his intervention perfectly but the one who matters, the referee, disagreed. Witney thumped home the penalty to leave Bassett well adrift at 4-1 with 35 minutes plus still left on the clock.
The remainder of the game was a case of "Royal Separation". The Royals of Witney put on the after burners to put the Royals of Bassett to the sword with four further close range goals. The pick of them was number six when a Witney player crashed home an unstoppable volley following a left wing cross into the box.
At the final whistle the Bassett players displayed a mixture of bewilderment and disappointment that they had been rewarded for their considerable efforts with an 8-1 defeat.
I feel loathe to repeat my usual "plenty of positives" usual summary as it appears rather hollow after this game. However, I genuinely believe that against most other opposition we would have at the minimum stayed close in the game.
We next welcome a more modest opponent to our ground, namely Chinnor, and we need to believe we can win that game, and of course make sure we continue to enjoy still competing at our age.
Man of the Match: The award goes this time to Roger Webb a man for all positions! He led the line unselfishly in the first half and got his goal. After the break he switched to right back and tried hard to stem the irreversible tide that washed over Bassett.
Credit: Ceri Stephens
Last modified on Tuesday 11th January 2022 at 08:49
