Andy Huggins' second half strike proved decisive as despite a late goal for visitors Chinnor, Royal Wootton Bassett Town Over 50s held on to record a superb victory over their rivals, who nonetheless remain in second place in the Oxfordshire Premier League Division Two table.

The first half was largely a story of controlled possession by Chinnor and dogged resistance from Bassett who often gave possession back to Chinnor with over ambitious attempts to find yellow shirts with long-range passing or over hit through balls.

The visitors missed an early chance to take the lead when one of their players was left unmarked on the six-yard line but could only send his effort over the bar.

Bassett captain and central defender Bryan Watson had to limp off soon after meaning that Steve Lynch had to drop back into defence. His midfield berth was filled by Roger Webb switching from the right flank and Kenny Campbell came on as a substitute to plug the gap left by Webb's position switch.

Bassett refused to buckle under the sustained Chinnor pressure though and even managed two long range efforts of their own from Huggins and a Cooper free kick respectively.

It was all hands to the pump at times in the first half with Steve Lynch winning most things in the air, ably assisted by Partridge and Fisher at the back and the rest of the team who worked incredibly hard to restrict Chinnor to just half chances from which they failed to seriously test Stephens in the Bassett goal.

This never say die attitude eventually bore fruit when a good ball in behind the Chinnor defence from Jason Parr turned the visiting rearguard. Andy Huggins chased aggressively to force the recovering defender to overhit his back pass to his 'keeper, who then miskicked horribly to send the ball into his own net for a freak own goal.

Bassett held their advantage into the break. Manager Eddie Stephenson asked for similar effort but better quality from his side in the second half, and to a man his Bassett lads answered the call.

They passed the ball much better and stood up to some poor tackles and robust verbal exchanges with a frustrated Chinnor side.

On 55 minutes a great through ball from Steve Fisher sent Huggins galloping through on goal and he finished powerfully through the 'keeper's legs to extend the Bassett advantage to 2-0.

Chinnor tried to get back into the game and Stephens made one decent save high to his right to claw away a well struck effort before clinging on to a low free kick which beat the wall.

For their part Bassett could have extended their lead when a flowing move ended with Huggins feeding Cresswell in the box but his low effort was parried and collected by the Chinnor number one.

Chinnor did find a goal with around ten minutes left to play. Bassett were unable to clear the ball out of their area and instead a Chinnor player curled a great high shot which found the net despite Stephens getting his left hand to it.

Chinnor continued to battle for an equaliser while Bassett threatened to add a third on the break.

Huggins had a few more efforts off target and Campbell shot straight at the 'keeper with another good attempt on target.

Bassett managed the game well in truth and brought on Rouse and Keep as fresh legs to see out the game reasonably comfortably until the final whistle, to claim a deserved 2-1 win.

A delighted Bassett manager Stephenson stated after the match: "I Just want to say a massive thankyou to the 14 lads that turned up. I couldn't have asked anymore from you all and you put everything on the line out there and it an actual pleasure to watch."

Man of the Match: Roger Webb - there were numerous players to call out for superb performances, but the award goes to Webb for his tenacity in the middle on the day. He was a proper thorn in any attack Chinnor tried so a massive well done!

PS: Also, a mention in despatches for Andy Huggins who not only scored the winner to return to the top of our scoring charts, but also issued out the "magic" jellybeans beforehand which clearly energised the team!

Credit: Ceri Stephens
Last modified on Monday 3rd April 2023 at 21:25