Night of fine finishing ends in defeat

Sixways Stadium, 15 March 2023

Royal Wootton Bassett Town's rearranged visit to Worcester Raiders produced four fine goals - including two goal of the season contenders. However, for Bassett the contested ended in a 3-1 defeat.

For the majority of the evening, the contest followed the same pattern as the teams' previously abandoned meeting in January. Worcester led 2-0 before Bassett got back into the match with an early second half goal. Ultimately the game would this time be played to a conclusion, albeit with the home side grabbing a third, clinching goal to claim the points.

The defeat is a setback to Bassett's hopes of overtaking Roman Glass St George and, now, Westfields for a top six placing. But Sam Collier and his side can be pleased with the competitive performance they put in against an in-form Raiders team who have their eyes on clinching third place in the Hellenic League Premier Division.

And it's not as if Raiders were gifted victory, their three goals all being of a high quality.

The best of the night was their first midway through the opening half. Up to that point, the game had been relatively even with Alfie Presley forcing Ryan Young into an early save and Isaac Cooper shooting narrowly wide at the other end.

Sam Carey then produced an unbelievable strike to break the deadlock, firing a long-distance first-time laser into the top corner beyond a helpless Matt Crowther.

Jade Ferron came close to replicating his teammate shortly before the interval with another audacious attempt from range, but his effort was just over.

But five minutes after the restart Jordan Murphy doubled Raiders' advantage with a clinical finish from the edge of the box.

The home side's two goal lead didn't last long though as Bailey Gallagher jinked inside from the right and, from a tight angle, arrowed a super finish beyond a partially sighted Young and into the opposite corner.

Just as in the first abandoned meeting, Bassett had clawed their way back and it was game on.

Raiders continued to produce the better of the chances though, with Ferron proving a particular threat.

It was to be teammate Cooper who dealt the decisive blow though - and he did so in style, curling a delightful free kick around the Bassett wall and into the top corner.

Fifteen minutes plus stoppage time still remained - but overcoming a two-goal deficit against strong opponents was a task too much for Bassett, even with the form they are in which has seen seven wins, one draw and just three defeats in the eleven league matches since the turn of the year.