Bashley squeezed into the Bryco Cup third round with a 3-2 win at Division 2 outfit Witham Town last night.

But manager Geoff Butler felt the scoreline should have been more convincing ahead of Saturday's visit of Division 1 leaders AFC Wimbledon, which is expected to draw a 1,100-plus crowd to Bashley Road.

"I told the lads that where we left off tonight we'd carry into the Wimbledon game, but it was a disappointing second half by us," he said.

Apart, that is, from young James Totczyk's goal. The 16-year-old, on as a substitute for Dave Wakefield, is rated by Butler as one of the club's finest finishers. He showed precisely why when he received a square ball from top scorer Richard Gillespie and, without a hint of panic, calmly passed it into the net. "It was a finish worthy of a much more experienced player," said Butler.

Gillespie was also the architect of Bashley's first goal, pulling the ball back from the byline for Steve Strong to score in his first loan game from Salisbury.

Wakefield sent the Foresters in 2-0 up at half-time, drilling the ball in from the edge of the box after Andy Culliford's shot had been cleared off the line.

Totczyk's goal apart, there was little else to impress Butler in the second half. Bash were first caught square from goalkeeper Alan Walker-Harris's kick and later conceded from a corner.