Wootton Bassett Town 1 Woodstock 1 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Wootton Bassett Town 1 Woodstock 1

9:22am Thursday 23rd March 2006 in Football By Gazette Sport Reporter

Hellenic Division One West WOOTTON Bassett Town failed to close the gap between themselves and the leaders as they drew with fifth-placed Old Woodstock Town a team Bassett have four games in hand on.

In blustery conditions both sides were able to create numerous chances on goal as both defences found it hard to deal with the swirling ball.

In the fifth minute Bassett could have taken the lead when an Anthony McCusker corner was cleared off the line after being directed towards goal by an Old Woodstock defender.

Ben Gascoyne gave Bassett the lead in the 22nd minute when he drove a 20-yard shot into the bottom corner following a Matty Bennett back heel.

However, the lead only lasted ten minutes as Duncan Fitzgerald scored the equaliser, tapping in unmarked at the far post from an Aaron Davies cross. Neither side managed to seize the advantage in the second half but both sides created a string of good opportunities.

Midway through the second period a 40-yard free kick from Jon Davis, that was helped a lot by the wind, beat Old Woodstock keeper Darren Mole but came back out off the crossbar and Lee Marshall headed the rebound just over.

In the 75th minute a ferocious volley from Fitzgerald struck Andy Hallett on the head. If it wasn't for the Bassett defender's intervention the ball would have almost certainly found the back of the net.

Two minutes later Bassett had a penalty appeal turned down when Nathan Hall was tripped from behind in the box before an unmarked James Clarke struck wide from 12 yards at the other end.

Bennett almost snatched all three points for the home side with a minute to go. After rounding keeper Mole in the corner of the box, Bennett struck a shot at goal from a tight angle that drifted inches wide.

The draw leaves Bassett eight points behind Old Woodstock, still with four games in hand but they are falling further adrift of the top three, which is where manager Paul Burke wants to be come the end of April.

Purton produced a fine performance to beat third placed Harrow Hill and enhanced their chances of escaping the bottom three of Division One West.

Three goals in the last 22 minutes from Tom Goodey, Paul Blagden and Matt Hibberd sealed the victory.

"It was a good win and no more than we deserved," said Purton boss Chris Pethick. "We have been threatening to do this for a while.

"We played well and got our just rewards in the end.

"It takes us a bit closer to getting out of the bottom three and puts the pressure on Easington Sports and Cirencester United."

Cricklade came from a goal down with four strikes in the last 12 minutes from Craig Fallon (2), Reade and Ben Carter to beat struggling Ross Town 4-1.