WOOTTON Bassett can now fully focus on their Division One West promotion push after crashing out of the Supplementary Cup.

The Rylands Way side suffered a 5-0 defeat against Hellenic Premier Wokingham and Emmbrook at the second-round stage.

Without seven first team regulars, boss Dave Turner was forced to field a young, experimental side, and against strong opposition Bassett were overpowered.

The home side were under pressure from the off and the goal of stand-in stopper Luke Sharps led a charmed life as Callum Eagle twice wasted headed opportunities.

The opening goal came on the quarter-hour mark when Wokingham exploited a gaping hole on the right. Nick Bateman was fed with an incisive pass and his drive was parried by Sharps, but Matt Jones was there to slot the rebound into the bottom corner.

Although Steve Yeardley forced a fingertip save from Gary Aulsberry in a rare foray forward, Bassett quickly found themselves two behind as Elliott Rushforth beat Sharps to a long ball and poked home.

On the stroke of half time it was 2-0 when Danny Horscroft sent a precise free kick into the left corner.

Following the restart, Wokingham scored twice inside the opening 10 minutes and Bateman got both of them, confidently dispatching a penalty before reacting quickest to a headed effort that had struck the bar.

The hosts put up something of a fight in the latter stages and the half-time introduction of Matty Bennett added a spark, but Aulsberry produced two composed saves from both the former Highworth man and Andy Brien, the Bassett assistant manager.

Bassett boss Dave Turner said: “Before a ball was kicked we knew we were up against it, from the goalkeeper right through the spine of the team we had players missing, “On the plus side it gave six or seven youngsters a chance to play at that level and although they found it tough it was invaluable experience for them, so you can even take a positive from a 5-0 hiding.

“Matty Bennett played 45 minutes for the first time in a few weeks, he’s been unavailable due to moving house but will hopefully be more available to us now. It was good to get some minutes into his legs.

“Shaun Terry came back from a three-game suspension and he made us look a better side.

“The result I’m not surprised by, it was a massive ask for the youngsters but none of them let us down.”