Saw Mills End, 23 December 2023

It's set to be a very happy Christmas for Royal Wootton Bassett Town after an excellent display sealed a fine 2-0 win away at Longlevens.

Further strengthening their grip on a Hellenic League Premier Division playoff place on a weekend when five of the league's top ten teams fell to defeat, goals from Alfie Presley and Jack Hobson-McVeigh earned Bassett their latest victory.

Longlevens may have started the afternoon in 15th. But after the Gloucester side pushed Bassett all the way in their FA Vase second round clash in mid-November, Sam Collier and his team knew their visit to Saw Mills End would be a tricky assignment.

Bassett were more than up for the test though as they took home three more important points.

It certainly helped that Bassett went in front early on. With just four minutes on the clock Presley raced onto a ball over the top that the home defence failed to deal with and made no mistake.

That would be the only goal of the half, though both teams demonstrated the threat they posed going forward throughout the period.

Longlevens' first chance came just after the quarter hour mark when Alan Griffin could only head Shiyak Sutherland's cross as far as Nathan Payne, who could only fire over.

It was end-to-end stuff as Jowan Partridge rattled the post with a shot from range before the hosts had a shout for a penalty turned away after debutant 'keeper Sam Jepson was deemed to have got a hand to the ball as Sutherland sought to round him.

Corsham's number one last season, Jepson showed his worth by denying Luke Kavanagh and Jack Beardsell as Bassett held onto their advantage going into the break.

He saved his best save of the afternoon for shortly after the hour mark though when a Beardsell cross-cum-shot caught the 'keeper slightly off guard, but he did well to adjust and acrobatically tip the ball behind via the crossbar.

Bassett were next to find the woodwork as Presley's long range effort had Mateusz Wieczorek beaten only to shake the post.

But soon enough the visitors were 2-0 ahead. After Bassett earned a free kick on the left edge of the box, man of the match Hobson-McVeigh stepped up to take it and whipped a stunning effort into the top right corner.

That goal settled any potential nerves entering the final stages - with the game extended as a result of an injury to the assistant referee.

Longlevens had an effort cleared off the line late on, but they were unable to muster any serious reply as Bassett notched another win.

With the sides around them faltering, Bassett keep grinding out result after result after result. Their relentless run continues with three more big games over the festive period - including contests against fellow playoff contenders Highworth Town and Hereford Pegasus.

Maintain their fine run of form and record positive results in those fixtures and Bassett will enter the new year firmly in charge of their destiny.

That in itself is a somewhat strange thing to write conaidering only once (last season) have Bassett recorded a top half finish in the Hellenic Premier Division.

Such is the strength of this squad though that Bassett can perhaps start to dream big.

Credit: Stuart Smedley
Last modified on Saturday 23rd December 2023 at 21:50