Eleven-goal Christmas cracker at Bashley FC

BASHLEY kept a bumper crowd on their toes from the first to the last minute with an eleven-goal thriller against Team Solent.

Bashley started at breakneck speed, scoring two in the first three minutes! With most of the crowd still exiting the bar, Brad Morris found Hugh Dathan and his cross from short of the corner flag was met and buried emphatically by the onrushing Nathan Clements.

Two minutes later, it was 2-0 to the home side when a corner from the left was headed home by defender Brandon Hamerston at the far post.

Almost immediately Bashley conceded a penalty following Team Solent’s first upfield foray when Hamerston’s return to defensive duties was marred by an overzealous tackle. Bashley’s debutant keeper Callum Ward’s first touch was to retrieve Ethan Taylor’s well-struck spot kick from the back of the net.

Minutes later Bashley went 3-1 up when Dathan was on hand to smartly head home a telling cross from Jamie Webber on the opposite flank.

By this time The Sparks were beginning to fly, especially the front pairing of Ethan Taylor and the talented Hashim Kasimu who out sped the Bash defence to bring the score back to 3-2.

The home side closed the half with a fourth goal when, from a corner, Morris’s sharp cross-goal assist was flicked expertly past the startled keeper by Liam Farrugia.

Harvey Slade replaced Brad Strickland soon after the break and it was his perceptive forward pass to Cameron Beard that led to Bashley’s fifth goal as his sharp cross was met by the dancing Clements whose side-flick at speed was going nowhere but the net.

At 5-2 down The Sparks re-ignited and in the space of fifteen minutes they added three goals to bring the scores level.

Taylor was again at the forefront and took full advantage of slackness in the Bash defence to claim a pair whilst it was Kasimu who magicked Team Solent’s fifth with a run that left the home defence open-mouthed.

In the spirit of Christmas, a five all draw would seem a heart-warmer but not so for Man of the Match Datham who chose the 90th minute to unleash an unstoppable Christmas cracker from 25 yards that gave the home fans the present they wished for and ended this remarkable eleven goal thriller.

Bashley: Ward, Dathan, Hamerston, Morris, Thompson, Farrugia, Webber, Strickland, Munday, Clements, Beard. Used Subs: Slade, Aimson, McGrath.