MITCH Wyatt is more used to putting the ball in the back of the net than trying to keep it out, but the Wootton Bassett striker produced a man of the match performance between the sticks in his side’s 3-2 victory over local rivals Purton.

Wyatt was forced to go in goal after regular keeper James Domm injured himself in the warm-up, and pulled off a string of saves to help secure the victory despite suffering from injury himself for the majority of the 90 minutes.

The striker pulled his thigh muscle not long into the game which restricted his ability to kick the ball, but was pleased with his overall performance in what was an unfamiliar position.

“Our goalkeeper went down injured in the warm-up and we didn’t know about it until just before kick off,” he explained. “The gaffer told us he needed someone to go in goal and I put my hand up, and I think I did ok in the end.

“I used to play a little bit in goal when I was about 12-years-old, and I think that was as much experience as anyone in our team had, so I just went for it.

“I think I did ok, but I couldn’t kick the ball at all really and I was getting heckled from the sidelines about it. I didn’t have too many saves to make, but I did well to catch a fair few crosses and also collected a few balls.

“I maybe could have done better with their first goal, but it was a great performance from the boys to get the win in a local derby.”

Wyatt was rarely challenged in the opening half as the majority of the action was in the Purton goalmouth, and Bassett took the lead after James Blake was brought down in the box by Purton keeper Johnny Cowley.

Matt Bown put the penalty away, and minutes later Ethan Delaney was able to latch onto a long ball but was dragged down by Travis Barrett.

The referee had no option but to point to the spot once again, and Bown dispatched the penalty in the same manner as he did the first.

An Ethan Delaney lob which drifted agonisingly over could have put the result beyond doubt on the stroke of half time, but Purton fought back valiantly, taking the game to the visitors after the restart.

Bassett had to wait to halve the deficit, but soon did so in style as Tom Cadden’s 20-yard drive found the bottom left corner of the net to pull them back into the match.

A sweeping move, initiated by Marcus Hall, then eventually led to Cadden bagging his second as he turned in Scott Campbell’s low cross at the second attempt.

A gambling man would have presumed Purton to be a safe bet to go on and win, but Bassett had other ideas and Lee Bowen quickly latched onto an Alex Green knock down to head home a late winner.