Allpay Park, 25 November 2023

Entering his 350th game with Royal Wootton Bassett Town as either a player or manager, Sam Collier probably thought he had seen it all during his time with the club.

But football has the habit of throwing up something new - and that was the case for Bassett's long journey to face Westfields.

Allpay Park is never the easiest ground to get anything from - even with Westfields underachieving this year compared to the previous three seasons. And the Bassett boss was forced to travel with a somewhat depleted squad given injuries and unavailability.

Collier's task was made even harder though by the fact defender Luke Softley travelled to the wrong ground. Rather than Westfields in Hereford, the Hungerford Town loanee - who lives in Worcester - went to Westfield (note the lack of an s), based in Woking in Surrey.

That meant a late reshuffle with assistant manager Alan Griffin thrust into the starting line up.

It certainly wasn't the ideal way to start the afternoon. But it ultimately proved to be a blessing in disguise as Griffin played a key role, including scoring the last minute winner that took Bassett to a vital 2-1 Hellenic League Premier Division victory.

The result was made all the better too by the fact that Bassett wound up being just one of three teams in the top ten - alongside Pershore Town and Roman Glass St George - not to drop points this weekend.

Victory was certainly earned the hard way - in more ways than one.

Cursing his luck already, Collier's afternoon quickly got more stressful when Westfields earned a 9th minute penalty as Griffin was harshly adjudged to have felled Oli Barnes. Barnes took the spot kick and placed the ball just out of reach of Rob Brown and into the bottom right corner.

Bassett got back on level terms just before the half hour mark. Griffin rose highest in the box to meet a corner, with his header crashing off the bar and falling to Tommy Ouldridge who scrambled home the equaliser.

Westfields were having the better of things though and had excellent chances to go back in front before the interval as Bradlee Phillips, Jac Evans and Luke Firkin all came close.

The hosts continued to be the more creative of the teams after the restart but were unable to make their territorial advantage pay off.

Bassett therefore seemed as though they were going to just about hold on for a draw - that was until the last minute of the game when Griffin clinched all three points.

The visitors earned a free kick in the left corner, which Jack Hobson-McVeigh whipped in and, with a glancing header, Griffin stooped low to guide the ball into the bottom right corner.

What a way to end an afternoon whose turn of events you couldn't script.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Sunday 26th November 2023 at 08:03