Match Preview: Southern League Premier South
Basingstoke Town vs Sholing
When: Saturday 2nd December 2023 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Sholing (The Boatmen), Avg 2023-24 Home Att 327
Following our defeat at Chesham, we now have three consecutive home games as we begin the month of December.
We played Sholing at Imperial Homes Stadium, earlier in the season, on a day where we dominated from the start, taking an early two-goal lead, and confirmed the three points with two second-half goals, running out comfortable winners on the day.
Our Opponents
The Boatmen are managed by Paul Doswell, who took over at Sholing in October 2023. Doswell, comes with a good Managerial record having previously been the boss at both Eastleigh & Sutton Utd.
Since their defeat to Basingstoke back in September, they have gone on a decent run with four wins, four draws and three losses, and now sit one place above us in twelfth place. Their record stands at Pld 19 Won 7 Drawn 4 Lost 8, with 25pts. a plus fourteen goal difference. Their home record is an impressive 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
Their leading goal-scorers are strikers Daniel Mason and Bradley Targett, who both have eight goals this season. Mason, is the younger of the two Mason brothers and over 260 goals for the club. Targett, can also play wing-back on either side and likes a long-range strike. Other strikers are Jake Cope who plays out wide and has added seven goals this season. Other strikers include Luka Chalwell, who has one goal and is on loan from Eastleigh.
In midfield Charlie Davis, a pick-up from AFC Totton is a classy midfielder, who has added three goals since joining. Byron Mason, is the older of the Mason brothers and captains the side. Keane Anderson is a 19 year-old midfielder on loan from Aldershot Town.
In defence is former Southampton player Jake Flannigan, who can also play in midfield. George Milner-Smith is a centre-half who’s another loanee from Aldershot Town. Centre-back Owen Roundell has made over 300 appearances for the club.
Ryan Gosney will be wearing the goalkeepers gloves, which he has done since joining back in 2014. He now has 150 clean sheets for the club in that time.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
Our defeat at Chesham now leaves us in thirteenth place, but with three consecutive home games in the next eight days, and one or two players returning from injury, this will be a chance to hopefully pick-up points and move back up the league table before the end of 2023. Our league record now stands at Pld 19 Won 7 Drawn 3 Lost 9 GF 37 GA 44 with 24pts.
Last Saturday although we had a lot of possession at times in-and-around Chesham’s penalty area, our strikers were unable to create enough chances on goal against a strong Chesham defence. I don’t foresee any changes at the top, so it will likely be Dan Rowe, Liam Ferdinand & Bradley Wilson leading the attack. Stefan Brown, may be fit to win a place on the bench, and George Reid could as well.
In the middle will Simon Dunn be able to lead the team, after making a late, late, appearance last weekend. Michael Atkinson who has been superb in the last few games is an able captain if not and one for the future. We can say the same for another midfielder D’Andre Brown, who is going through his best form, since breaking into the starting line-up. Paul Hodges who has been playing an attacking midfield role since his return, will win a starting role here as well.
Again with players pushing for places as they start to return from injury the defence could see some changes and some form of returning to our original line-up, depending on how Manager Dan Brownlie wants to risk one or two players with a two further games in seven days. If this is the case then Scott Armsworth could win one of the centre-back roles. What this means to Nathan Smart, Shane Hollamby & Alfie Grant is unclear, but I’m sure Billy Upton, and unused substitute last week, could well be pushing to get his role at the back as well. Marcus Johnson-Schuster will one of the defensive backs, whilst Kai Hobbs, could be back to start in the other slot. Left back Callum Winchcombe, may still be a week or so away.
Looking at other bench options, James Clark & Josh De Lacey-Turner, could be possible options as well.
With Mark Scott starting to get match-fit, I will assume Paul Strudley will retain the No.1 jersey tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s game is likely to be a much closer affair than the original game as Sholing’s defence has dramatically tightened up since our first encounter, and Stoke will need to be at our best to secure the much-needed three points to help us push back up the table.
As always your vocal support could help us get back to winnings ways, so let’s get behind Dan & the Boys tomorrow.
Match Preview by Martin French..
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