WOOTTON Bassett travelled to Tadley only to find that the referee had failed to turn up so the league game was cancelled in favour of an unofficial friendly.

Bassett had their own front row problems with a side unrecognisable from that originally selected.

Third choice prop John Biddy cried off and second team prop Gary Zelley was also injured so veteran third team scrum-half Dave Scott got the call and performed creditably.

Without him, the average age of the side that finished the game was about 21, and it was excellent experience for the youngsters.

Scott was penalised immediately by the stand-in referee who tried hard all afternoon but never really got the hang of the game.

Bassett looked to run the ball despite the poor conditions and produced glimpses of excellent rugby, but they went behind to two early tries as they tried to get into a lacklustre game.

Frenchman Flo Vialan continued to produce a run of good form, winning several good pieces of possession and driving into the heart of the Tadley defence.

Halfway through the first half fly-half Pete Thornton had to be replaced by young Nick Parker, who started to trouble Tadley with his running.

Unfortunately, he was rarely able to find support and the moves fizzled out and later in the half captain Spillane left the field and was replaced by 18-year-old Tom Prior, leaving winger Alec Penny as the only three-quarter over 20.

Bassett produced phases of pressure but were unable to make it pay and a few mistakes let Tadley finish the game off in the second half, running out winners by 31-0.