Gardner sows the seeds for victory

Bassett were under pressure from the outset with the more senior Bath side showing why they are currently challenging for a promotion spot in East Central 2 division. However the young Bassett side are beginning to settle into their positions and are starting to play as a team, with some impressive displays of passing between the forward line of James Gregory, Craig McLauchlin and Mike Simpson. Pushing forward, Bassett started to build opportunity after opportunity and came close to scoring the first goal in open play when Andrew Cooper's shot went just wide. However this attacking style left their midfield vulnerable and Bath were able to capitalise and opened the scoring with a fine shot which just evaded man-of-the-match keeper Joe Soden's desperate dive.

The second half continued in the same vein, with Bassett youngsters using their speed and energy to penetrate the Bath defence but despite stringing some excellent passes together they were unable to get the ball in the goal. A desperate Bath clearance found young Ben Hares in open space like a startled rabbit at the edge of the D but he was unable to get the shot away cleanly. The frenetic pace continued with both sides attacking hard and Bassett found themselves under siege in their D with a number of last-ditch clearances. Sadly a fine clearance by Dave Gardner off the line was adjudged by the umpire to have hit a foot and the resulting penalty flick was converted to make the final score a less than representative 2-0 to Bath. Gardner commented that “the decision was most unfortunate and he was confident that it would be revoked once the replay had been analysed in detail. It will be only a matter of time before this team achieve their first victory – mark my words”.