Match Preview: Isthmian League South Central Division
Basingstoke Town Vs South Park
When: Saturday 9th April 2022 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Complex, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
South Park (Nickname – The Sparks), Average 2021-22 Home Attendance 77
Admission Prices: Adults £10, Concessions £7 Aged 13-17 £3 Aged 12 & Under £1
A hard-working performance at Marlow, produced a point with other results mainly in our favour, kept us in fifth and a playoff place with four games to play.
We will paper over the shenanigans of certain Marlow players last week, and focus forwards as we head home to our penultimate home game as we host an improving South Park club.
Just nine weeks ago, a number of Stoke fans travelled upto the tiny village of South Park and on what was an awful pitch, an early Bradley Wilson strike was the only goal on the night, as we left Surrey with all three points.
Our Opponents
South Park, who currently sit in ninth, were on a decent run prior to last Saturday’s 1-2 loss at home to Bracknell, as they had tallied four wins and a draw, since their 4-0 loss at Bedfont back in February. They are the leading goal-scorers, outside the top four clubs, which includes a recent 6-1 thrashing of Guernsey at home. Their record now shows as PLD 32 Won 12 Drawn 8 Lost 12 GF 59 GA 47 PTS 44. The Sparks away record sits at 5 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses.
The Sparks are managed by Harrison Williams, who took over the managerial role in January, having joined from nearby Redhill. Williams brought his staff with him, and have steadied the ships since taking over.
Their leading goal-scorer Adam Aziz (18 goals) & fellow striker Ibrahim Jalloh (9 goals), are both no longer at the club, leaving experienced striker Melford Simpson to take over the goal-scoring. He has 16 goals on the season, 14 in the league. Simpson, has had a plethora of clubs before joining the Sparks. Brendan Murphy-McVey, one of three late season signings, added his first goal for the club in that Guernsey victory, and has previously played for Walton Casuals, Hendon, Farnborough, Staines Town, Carshalton Athletic and Kingstonian.
In midfield they have ex-Dorking Wanderers & Chipstead midfielder James Dickson, whilst attacking midfielder Sam King joined from Redhill at the start of the season.
In defence they have two ex-Three Bridges defenders in centre-back Matthew Faithorn, who has three league goals, plus Alex Andrade Felipe who is a regular in one of the defensive back roles.
In goal has been giant Mo Otuyo who joined the club back in September, but it was another keeper Zak Basey, who has been between the sticks in the past two matches.
Your Basingstoke Town Side
We return to our 3G surface following the battling point we won on that bumpy pitch at Marlow, with an understanding that we must look to win all our four remaining games to ensure our place in the season-ending playoffs.
We still sit in that last playoff place (fifth), with our record now PLD 32 Won 18 Drawn 7 Lost 7 GF 57 GA 43 Pts 61
With Bradley Wilson out for the rest of the season, this puts pressure on strikers Conor Lynch & Stefan Brown to step up, and it was good to see Conor at full training last night. Conor & Stefan have combined for 33 goals, with Conor leading the way with 22.
It was good to see George Reid play for over an hour last week, and he is starting to return to his early season form, which may be ideally timed if we make the playoffs. McKoy Palmer who replaced George, is likely to be in the same position this week, starting on the bench,
Simon Dunn was rested from training, but I think you would need a pair of handcuffs, to stop Simon from wearing the captain’s armband again this Saturday.
Anton Rodgers who missed last week through covid, may still miss this Saturday’s game, which leaves two places for Ben Cook, D’Andre Brown, Marco Magalhaes-Nevez, Lloyd Snell, Brody Peart & Jack French to fill. A lot of this will depend on how attacking Dan Brownlie wishes to be from the start on the day,
Defensively, the two centre-back roles, will be filled by Nathan Smart & Rob Sheridan, despite Daryl Wollers returning to fitness, Jon Boardman will be a likely option off the bench. The defensive back roles will likely be filled by James Haworth on the left, leaving Dan to make a decision around who starts in the right-back role as Dan Williamson, now seemingly fully fit, is looking to win his starting role back off Aiden Lewis, who has put in some excellent performances in recent games.
Paul Strudley who made an exceptional save last week at Marlow, will once again be wearing the goalkeeper’s jersey this Saturday.
The point last week at Marlow, with other results affecting the playoff places went in our favour, but now is the time to push forward and it is our home form starting with the South Park game tomorrow, that can secure us playing after our last league game on the 23rd April that matters.
In recent home games we have struggled to start fast, but I am hoping that with the return of Conor we can look to put pressure on a team that have been playing reasonably well recently. The pressure is on us, not South Park, so it is time Winklebury became a fortress, not an open invitation.
As always the fans can make a difference, so let’s get behind the players in this crucial home game.
Match Preview by Martin French.
English 
Polish 