On a warm sunny evening Luton Town brought the squad that looks to start their 2019-20 Championship campaign down to Basingstoke’s temporary home, the Simply Health Stadium in Winchester.
Unusually it was agreed to play four 30-minute periods and this was going to be a test for the young Basingstoke squad of signed players and trialists vying for chance to be signed-up by Stoke’s Manager Martin Kuhl.
The game got underway at a fast pace and it was the visitors (Luton), who took the lead via the penalty spot. Then a moment of magic by Stoke’s winger come forward Reece Rusher who broke free and then chipped the keeper to equalize. The first-period finished 1-1.
The second 30-minute period saw two easy goals given away by the trialist keeper and another well-taken Hatters goal, gave them a comfortable 4-1 lead after 60-minutes.
The third-period saw a number of changes by both teams as the sun set behind the trees and the score-line was only changed by another Luton finish.
The fourth-period still with further changes saw the young Stoke team struggle to keep up with the clear superior fitness of the Hatters who added their 6th and 7th goals of the match before a thunderbolt by Stoke trialist Jayden Wareham gave Basingstoke it’s second goal and a final score-line of Basingstoke Town 2 – 7 Luton Town.
A good evening was had in front of a decent crowd and thanks to Luton’s Manager Graeme Jones for bringing their full-squad and fulfilling their contract obligations for the signing of Stoke forward Aaron Jarvis two-years ago.
Match Report by Martin French..
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