A ruthless, clinical display of first half finishing from Fairford Town saw Royal Wootton Bassett Town fall to a heavy 4-0 Hellenic League Premier Division derby defeat.

A much anticipated fixture pitting Bassett's past against their future quickly deteriorated into an evening to forget for Jonny Aitkenhead's young side as Fairford struck four times without reply in the opening period.

The visitors took just two minutes to open the scoring when Sol Pryce headed in from a Tommy Ouldridge cross.

Ed Taylor did almost produce an immediate equaliser for the hosts, shooting into the side netting after rounding Fairford 'keeper Connor Johns.

And Bassett enjoyed most of the ball for the remainder of the period.

Yet, three further goals in the final quarter of an hour put Bassett in a deep hole and Fairford in an unassailable position.

Alfie Presley - Bassett's leading scorer in each of the past two seasons - made it 2-0 with a tight angled finish on the half hour mark.

Six minutes later some quality forward play from Tino Shumba opened up room for him to fire past debutant 'keeper Fraser Needham for 3-0.

Then, with one minute to go until the half time whistle, Fairford took advantage of some naive Bassett defending as Presley set the ball to Shumba who scored his second and Fairford's fourth.

While there was to be no further damage done after the restart, Bassett were unable to find any form of consolation as they slipped to a second defeat and third goalless display in four league matches to date.

A tough night for Bassett and one they'll be looking to move on from quickly.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Wednesday 20th August 2025 at 22:32