After being out of sorts in August, Royal Wootton Bassett Town seem to finally be hitting their stride in September. And Jonny Aitkenhead's side finished the month with another positive result as they drew 2-2 away at Tuffley Rovers.

Making it ten points from their last available 15, captain Alfie Presley played a key role for Bassett as he notched another brace to follow that which he scored in Saturday's home triumph against Corsham Town.

And while Bassett will have been slightly frustrated to have conceded a late equaliser, the manner in which Tuffley pulled level - courtesy of a stunning strike - won't leave the visitors too disappointed with the final score.

The first half was played at a frenetic pace in which no player had much time on the ball. As a result the game was a rather scrappy midfield battle early on.

Tuffley did manage to draw a couple of relatively routine saves out of Bassett 'keeper Josh Sawyer with Antonio Pirelli and Corey Warrington stinging his palms.

Then late in the half Harrison Edwards forced a fine parry from Tuffley shotstopper Tom Kaye after the Bassett man found himself with space on the right.

Nevertheless the teams appeared destined to head into the interval with the score still deadlocked.

That was until Tuffley recycled a corner after Bassett failed to clear and Harley Mustoe, beating the offside trap to latch onto a deft header in behind, slotted past Sawyer with a well taken first time finish.

But Bassett's response was immediate as the Tuffley defence erred, allowing Presley to capitalise and he produced a cool finish beyond Kaye.

Those goals set the tone for a lively start to the second half which saw Mustoe steer just over from a Connor Walters knock down and Presley force a low save from Kaye.

The game's third goal soon arrived - and it came from the penalty spot after Callum McGuirk handled when trying to atone for an error, with the Tuffley man fortunate to see yellow rather than red for his transgression. Presley took the honours for Bassett as he got the better of Kaye from twelve yards.

Tuffley almost grabbed an immediate equaliser as Sawyer was forced to acrobatically palm a long range free kick over the bar. But the hosts largely struggled to break Bassett down as the second half wore on.

Then came an eventful final ten minutes.

Theo Browne arrowed an effort narrowly wide for Tuffley to begin before Presley almost grabbed his hat trick, firing just over from distance after good link up play with Ed Taylor.

Both would have been fine goals had they gone in.

But the goal which Tuffley substitute Jacob Eakers produced to pull the hosts level was something spectacular. Allowed space to stride forward after receiving a square ball from Leighton Blacker, Eakers thrashed an unstoppable effort into the top right corner from 25 yards out, with his shot leaving Sawyer grasping at thin air.

Both sides then pushed for a winner and there was more late drama at both ends - including a pair of goalline clearances from the hosts as a Bassett corner caused all sorts of problems.

In the end, a draw was arguably a fair result - and an outcome that, given the course of their season so far, Bassett can be satisfied with.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Tuesday 29th September 2026 at 22:14