Royal Wootton Bassett Town advanced to the Emirates FA Cup first qualifying round with an impressive 3-1 victory at home against Amersham Town.

Jonny Aitkenhead's young side are now just a win away from matching the club's record run in the competition - and they more than deserved their preliminary round victory.

As was the case in their pair of extra preliminary round fixtures against Lydney Town, Bassett took the lead early on.

With just seven minutes on the clock, Ben Cleary nipped in between the last man and goalkeeper Matt Messer, drawing a foul in the process. Cleary then dusted himself down and confidently struck the resulting penalty into the bottom right corner, beyond the reach of Messer who guessed correctly.

That goal would be crucial in an otherwise evenly matched first half as Bassett went into the interval in front.

Amersham, powered by the goals of Swindon Town's summer signing Jake Tabor, had reached the third qualifying round last season and were hoping to advance another step towards matching that run.

And they were certainly up for the battle, pulling level early in the second half through Razvan Roman.

But parity did not last long.

Ed Taylor played in a low corner from the right side into the path of Jono Peachey-Score. The striker pulled off a dummy, allowing the ball to run to player of the match Adam Voller on the edge of the box - and he swept a delightful low, whipped finish into the left corner of the net.

The game still hung in the balance - until eleven minutes from time when Marcel Lewis put the game to bed.

Amersham were unable to clear from another corner, allowing Bassett to recycle the ball. Substitute Kassa Anderson gained possession in the right corner. At the byline and under pressure from a defender, Anderson had a lot of work to. But some silky footwork opened up space for him to the pull the ball back to Lewis, who cut inside his man and saw a deflected effort find the net.

That was game, set and match. All eyes now turn to Monday's draw.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 16th August 2025 at 19:45