HELLENIC LEAGUE DIVISION ONE WEST: Wootton Bassett Town 1 Cricklade Town 1 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

HELLENIC LEAGUE DIVISION ONE WEST: Wootton Bassett Town 1 Cricklade Town 1

9:00am Monday 11th February 2013 in Football By Dan Barnes

WOOTTON Bassett Town were forced to settle for a point last weekend as they were held to a draw at Rylands Way by local rivals Cricklade Town.

Both sides cancelled each other out for large stages on a difficult surface but Bassett did respond quickly after falling behind in the second period to claim a share of the spoils.

The first clear cut chance of the afternoon came around 15 minutes in when Cricklade's Ryan Thomas collected the ball unmarked at the far post but shot straight at Stewart Thompson in the Bassett goal.

Late in the first half, Jack Allan blazed a shot over the bar from the edge of the box and the Cricklade striker did find the target just four minutes after the break.

Ben Carter powered forward down the left wing and held off the attentions of two Bassett defenders before drilling the ball into the danger area, with a grateful Allan on hand to turn it in to the net.

But it didn't take long for Dave Turner's men to hit back and they levelled the scores with 54 minutes on the clock.

Top-scorer Mark Barnes, who had just spooned an effort off target minutes earlier, saw the ball break to him just inside the area as the visitors failed to clear their lines and the Bassett man found the bottom corner with a low strike.

Midway through the half, Steve Yeardley went close to giving the hosts the lead with a shot on goal from close range but was thwarted by a fine save from Cricklade keeper Devon Brown.

Shortly afterwards, Yeardley again found himself in a decent shooting position but was this time denied by Adam Smith's block on the line.

At the other end, Carter found the side netting from the right of the penalty area and then in the 90th minute, Cricklade's Allan struck a powerful effort goalwards but keeper Thompson was equal to it, tipping the effort around the post to safety.

Turner's men travel to Lydney Town next weekend.

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