Royal Wotton Bassett v Odd Down Reserves

Our young reserves opened their Wiltshire County campaign with a tough visit to the magnificent Wotton Bassett facility.

The home manager stated without a first team fixture the squad was the strongest he would have all year and it certainly

looked that way in the early stages. We were very nervous making rash tackles and struggled to settle with the ball . WB

scored disappointingly from a set piece on 8 mins and it was only good goalkeeping from Seb which kept us in the game.

However, on 20 mins we began to settle and move the ball better. We started to get between the lines and look dangerous.

We equalised on 25 mins, Dan’s free kick was headed home smartly by Brad 1-1.

Moments later we were unlucky not to be in front, as our pace was causing problems, Ethan was in down the right and

brought down heavily by the keeper. With the net unguarded the referee decided a yellow would suffice.

On half time we went behind from another set piece, something we clearly need to improve on. 2-1HT.

We spoke at length during the interval about being brave on the ball and being patience and in the first 20 mins of

the 2nd half we were on fire. Birdy got in down the left and squared for Brad to equalise and then on 65 mins, the Birdman

again cut in from the left and scored at the 2nd attempt. The home side looked tired and we were rampant. Tekla and Birdy

both went close again. However, on 70 mins we hit the self-destruct button. Will got a 2nd yellow for kicking the ball away.

Tekla was sent to the sin bin for disputing the decision and on 75mins, Birdy overran a challenge and received a harsh straight

red for dissent. In truth we were down to 8 men and hadn’t committed a bad foul all game.

The boys battled valiantly, but on 90 mins the left winger hit a good volley into the corner for 3-3. Unfortunately, in the

99th minute we couldn’t defend a long straight ball and WB won the game.

The result was very disappointing but we received many plaudits for the way we played against such a strong outfit. We will

learn quickly about our discipline and look forward to visiting Melksham next.

Jay, Terry & Phil