Bashley 3-2 City

[Padz]

[claire]

Great 'local' Bank Hol fixture. Good luck to all! Come on City!!!

[DavidB5]

Copy of Bashley's match report obtained from their website


Bashley 3-2 Oxford City

Monday 5th April 2010



Bashley grabbed a dramatic stoppage time winner to boost their play-off bid after a spirited Oxford side had fought back from two goals down to draw level late in the game. Bash made one change, with Matt Parnell returning in place of Paul Gazzard to make his 200th appearance for the club. It was the hosts who made the better start, with Charlie Knight beating two men before flashing a shot past the angle of post and bar in the first minute. Bash then had a series of shots blocked in one passage of play, with Dave Allen and Adam Kelly the men denied.

A nice move then got Kelly in on goal, and he unselfishly squared the ball just behind Knight, who controlled and shot but recovering keeper Richard Knight kicked the ball off the line. Bash took the lead after nineteen minutes after a long throw from Knight was touched on and CHRIS KNOWLES headed home. Liam Malone was fortunate to avoid a caution for a lunge on Knowles, before Allen fired a shot over the crossbar from the edge of the area. Excellent play from Knowles then allowed him to drive in a cross from the left which the sliding Kelly could only steer wide as he came in beyond the far post.

With nine minutes remaining in the first half Knowles and MARK GAMBLE exchanged passes before the latter drove in a superb left foot shot from outside the area that found the bottom corner. Bash looked pretty comfortable at the start of the second period, with a Chris Ferrett cross glanced by Gamble but deflected just wide. With twenty minutes remaining the visitors pulled one back with their first real effort on goal. A shot from the edge of the area was deflected and David Elm could only push the ball up, and although he scrambled back to claw it off the line, MARK BELL tapped home from close range. The whole dynamic of the game changed with that goal, and Bell stabbed a cross from fellow sub Jamie Brooks wide a minute later.

Bash came close when a Parnell flick on came to Gamble who hooked a shot wide, while Elm made an excellent claim from a City corner. Still City continued to press and Elm made a fine save to turn away an effort from Brooks. With two minutes left the visitors were jubilant as ELLIOTT SANDY rammed the ball home from close range to bring the scores level. Kelly then forced a corner, which was punched out under pressure to Allen who lashed the ball over. Another fine run from Kelly in the first minute of added time forced another corner. Ferrett swung in the flag kick, and it was met by MATT PARNELL who saw his header strike the post but spin away and over the line to spark scenes of celebration around Bashley Road. Kelly was denied a penalty in the final seconds after another driving run forward, but Bash will be relieved to have taken three more points towards their quest for promotion.

Bashley: David Elm, Jack Smith, Chris Ferrett, Gary Middleton, Matt Parnell, Chris Knowles, Adam Kelly, Dave Allen (capt), Chris Mason, Mark Gamble (Joe Maxwell 90), Charlie Knight. Unused subs: Paul Gazzard, Joe Prodomo, Justin Keeler, Max Cream.

Oxford City: Richard Knight, Andy Ballard (Andy Gunn 67), Steve Davis, Dave Savage, James Clarke, Delroy Gordon, Mark Janes (Jamie Brooks 57), Elliott Sandy, Jon Douglas (Mark Bell 57), Liam Malone (capt), Harry Harding. Unused sub: Ben Moses.

[Padz]

Heartbreak for the travelling supporters, Bashley had the better of the first half with the wind behind their backs and their second goal was a superb 25 yard wind assisted drive that seemed unstoppable

Our performance in the second half was a fantastic spirited display with Sav once again the man pulling the strings and getting praise from the Bashley supporters, bringing Belly & Brooks on was where we kicked up a gear and the game swung, Bell scored the first following a 18 yard drive from Liam Malone which Elmo the bash keeper made a real meal of, and Belly then did really well to get around the outside of the full back with enough space to cross for elliott to score with his second attempt.

at 2-2 late on it looked like we were going to be the ones who scored again considering Bashley hadn't really been in the 2nd half at all, gutting for them to score with virtually the last kick of the game.

In recent weeks (Halesowen home & away, Swindon) it's been a case of a game of two halves, if we can knock the ball around and play how we did late in the second half today then everythings cool, it's just doing that for 90 minutes that has been a problem for us recently, Keep the faith!

Apologies to those looking for live scores today, impossible to get a mobile signal at Bashley's place, luckily Mark kept the forum updated with Bash's Twitter updates, normal Scores service will resume with the Hemel game and cover the remaining fixtures(inc. the truro trip )

[hedges]

not forgetting our small yet increasingly irritating issue of handing the opposition goals in 85+ minutes...everything would be cool if that didn't happen quite so often.....cost us another point on the board....another 3 points dropped in 3 days.