Two moments of magic from Rodney Bascome turned this match on its head and halted Somerset's slide down the First Division standings.

He made the first goal out of nothing and scored the second with a cracking 25-yard drive as a rejuvenated Trojans side ran Vasco ragged at PHC Stadium.

In the end, only desperate defending and brave goalkeeping by Keenan Tucker prevented the Trojans from scoring a flurry of late goals.

Bascome had announced his intentions as early as the eighth minute when he sent over a pin-point cross to unmarked Lamaul Crofton 10 yards from goal. But Crofton, who was given acres of space and way too much time by Vasco's defence, could only head tamely over the bar.

Midfielder Steven Arorash should also have done better with a 20-yard volley, which he hammered wildly high.

Both teams struggled to string their passes together due to a vicious crosswind.

Vasco had a chance to grab the lead in the 29th minute with their first real shot of the game following excellent work at both ends of the pitch by Albert Wolffe.

Wolffe won the ball in defence, laid it off and then ran half the length of the field to join the attack.

When the ball came back to him, he chested it into the path of Irving Burgess but his left-foot shot from a difficult angle was saved by Somerset 'keeper Antoine Swan.

Moments later, Somerset appealed for a penalty when Vasco centre-back Karl Roberts handled the ball in the area but referee Esten Curtis ruled it was not intentional.

Instead, it was left to Bascome to change the course of the match in the dying seconds of the half.

There appeared little danger when he picked up the ball tight on the touch-line on the left edge of the six-yard box, surrounded by three Vasco defenders.

But Bascome turned on a dime and beat them all in one movement before sending a pin-point pass across the face of the goal for Crofton to stab home from close range.

Crofton had a glorious chance to add a second early in the second half but he shot over the bar from 20 yards out with only 'keeper Tucker to beat.

Instead, it was left to Bascome to end the match as a contest with another flash of brilliance in the 52nd minute.

Again, there looked little apparent danger as he controlled the ball 25 yards out from the Vasco goal.

But he unleashed a blistering snap-drive that took Tucker by surprise and thundered into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Twenty minutes later, the ball was back in the same part of the net following a cracking left-footed shot by Randy Simmons out on the left after a deft pass by Bascome.

Somerset had plenty of opportunities to double their score late in the game but missed a hat-full of chances.

Substitute Clifton Anderson could easily have had a hat-trick in the 15 minutes he was on the field.

The only setback for Somerset came when left-back George Cann was taken to hospital early in the second half with a suspected fractured ankle.

Vasco: K.Tucker; E.Richardson, P.Towlson, K.Roberts, J.Cunha; V.Astwood, D.Thomas, A.Wolffe (C.Bell, 55 mins); A.Cabral (M.Tankard, 81 mins), R.Mallory, I.Burgess.

Somerset: A.Swan; G.Cann (D.DeRoza, 50 mins), L.Simmons, T.Dickenson, P.Place; C.Sabir (C.Anderson, 73 mins), S.Arorash, R.Simmons; R.Bascome, L.Crofton, R.Tucker.

Referee: Esten Curtis.

Men of the match: Karl Roberts (Vasco); Rodney Bascome (Somerset).