Royal Wootton Bassett Town were reduced to nine men as they fell to a 2-0 loss away against Binfield.

George Drewitt and Dale Richards both saw red as Royal Wootton Bassett Town slipped to a 2-0 defeat away at Binfield on a hugely frustrating for Paul Braithwaite's team.

Drewitt's dismissal, which led to the opening goal from the penalty spot after just half an hour, proved to be the game's turning point. Gifting the hosts both a man and one goal advantage, thereafter there was only likely to be one winner in the game despite a valiant display from the visitors throughout the contest.

Bassett had started the evening brightly, moving the ball around the field with vim and vigour, while pressing Binfield effectively enough to force a number of stray passes. The hosts, too, looked in equally good form, and an entertaining, closely fought affair seemed to be in the offing.

But when Drewitt dragged down forward Jemel Johnson as the last man after a quick ball forward caught the visiting defence out, the game's plot took an unfortunate twist. There was no choice but to send the Bassett skipper for an early shower.

However, the decision to award a penalty compounded Bassett's feelings of woe, the foul having appeared to take place a good couple of yards outside the area. Josh Howell then proceeded to leather the spot kick down the middle to put Binfield ahead.

Despite playing against ten men, Binfield failed to produce the additional chances that their numerical strength would naturally yield. Largely a result of strong defensive play and graft from their opponents, the home team nevertheless didn't need to pepper Curtis Meare's goal with shots in order to attempt to extend their lead given the struggles Bassett faced scatching out opportunities of their own.

Only once did they really come close, but Steve Robertson, after racing onto a Richards ball from the back, was thwarted by Nathan Silver, who produced a fine save at the forward's feet.

And by that stage Bassett were two goals behind. Shortly after the restart, Howell had driven just wide of the mark from an angle.

But Aaron Rowland made no mistake minutes later. His initial sidefoot shot from Johnson's low cross was brilliantly repelled at point blank range by Meare. However, the ball teed up kindly for the midfielder to nod in the rebound.

Try as they might, either through Sam Packer's ingenuity in the centre of midfield or quick kicks forward from Meare to try and catch Binfield overcommitting men forward, there was no route back into the game for Bassett.

And frustrations, both at the chance of points that had passed them by and the officials, eventually boiled over when Richards was giving his marching orders in injury time for using foul and abusive language.

Man of the Match: Sam Packer – lively and dangerous all evening, firstly in an advanced role and then back in the heart of midfielder after his team went down to ten men.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Tuesday 22nd September 2015 at 21:26