Cinder Lane, 3 February 2023

Royal Wootton Bassett Town returned to winning ways courtesy of an outstanding first half effort from Alfie Presley that ultimately decided a fiery derby encounter away at Fairford Town.

Presley struck just before the 20 minute mark, expertly producing a sublime lob with the outside of his right foot that sailed in over the head of home 'keeper Joe Wright.

In a game - that typical for encounters between the two teams - was rather fractious, Presley's goal counted as the only real piece of quality and justifiably determined the outcome of the match in Bassett's favour.

Both teams went into the Friday night contest with their respective managers wanting a reaction - Sam Collier after Bassett's 3-0 home defeat against Brimscombe and Thrupp and Fairford's Jamie Reid after his side lost 2-0 away at Shrivenham last time out.

And while that led to a game which may not have been overly pleasing on the eye, it produced a passion-filled, tense local derby.

There was plenty of drama too - not least early on when Tom Chamberlain almost opened the scoring for the hosts with a speculative shot from just inside his own half after Matt Crowther mishit a clearance and was caught stranded outside of his box. Fortunately for the Bassett 'keeper, however, the ball bounced onto the crossbar and Crowther was able to safely recover.

An inch lower and that would have counted as a wondergoal.

Presley would have no such misfortune though when it came to producing a super strike of his own.

Minutes earlier the midfield playmaker had headed narrowly over from a Matt Jones corner.

With a much more difficult chance though, he scored what proved to be the only goal of the game. Matt Bennett flicked on a long clearance forward from Crowther and, in a foot race against Cameron Thomson, Presley got there first. With his first touch, Presley deftly lifted the ball over the defender and then, from the edge of the box, used the outside of his right boot to tease a perfectly weighted lobbed volley over Wright and into the right hand corner of the net.

The set up may have been route one, direct play, but the finish was majestic.

Presley could have soon had a second as he flashed over from an angle following another Jones corner that wasn't dealt with, while for Fairford Jamal Lawrence came close to seizing on a defensive error, firing just wide of the right post on the bounce from the edge of the box after Adam Corcoran was caught out by a bobble.

Later in the half, with the interval approaching, Bassett felt aggrieved not to have won a penalty when Josh Swales sent Bailey Gallagher tumbling in the box. A poor header back then fell straight into the path of Bennett who sought to lift a shot over Wright - forced to race off his line - but the 'keeper was able to foil the veteran forward's attempted lob.

The match was therefore finely poised at the break with Bassett's slender lead meaning everything was still to play for.

Fairford were the brighter of the sides early in the second half, with Harvey Skurek forcing Crowther to tip around the post.

At the other end, neat play between Jones and Presley opened up room on the left edge for the latter to shoot but his low drive was held at the near post by Wright.

The game then descended into something of a stop-start affair with niggly fouls forcing the referee to frequently blow his whistle.

One such trip on Bennett just outside the area presented Bassett with a free kick in a dangerous area and Fairford had 'keeper Wright to thank for keeping them in the game as he batted away Jones' low effort at full stretch.

A great chance then fell to the hosts after another Crowther miskick. Corcoran was able to knock the ball away from Lawrence as he raced towards goal. But Danny Gudger was there to seize on the loose ball, with Crowther redeeming himself by blocking the forward when presented with a one-on-one opportunity.

Haven't survived that let off, Bassett were afforded what should have been a significant advantage late on when Skurek received a second yellow card after a tackle from behind on Presley.

But despite being a man short, Fairford threw everything they had at Bassett in the time that remained.

However, last ditch blocks and a fine Crowther parry denied the home side the equaliser they craved, sealing the points for Bassett and a healthy nine point advantage over their rivals with three games in hand still to play.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 4th February 2023 at 13:44