Match Preview: Chipstead v Basingstoke Town Saturday 18th February 2023

Match Preview: Isthmian South Central Division
Chipstead Vs Basingstoke Town
When: Saturday 18th February 2023 Kick-off 3pm
Where: High Road, Chipstead, Surrey CR5 3SF
Chipstead (Nickname – The Chips), Avg 2022-23 Home Att 119
Admission Prices: Adults £10, Concessions Over 65’s £7 12 to 16 £3 U12 Free

Back-to-back wins against playoffs teams, extended our winning streak to nine games, and confirmed we are true promotion and Championship contenders as we head to Chipstead this Saturday. Tuesday night’s 3-1 win at home to Chertsey, was in some fans views a game of two halves, as Stoke dominated the first and with goals by George Reid & Paul Hodges, gave us that deserved two-goal lead. Chertsey then came back into the game, but apart from a decent amount of pressure, created very little for Paul Strudley to deal with. A third Stoke goal, a neat finish by Bradley Wilson, somewhat against the run-of-play, secured the points and Chertsey went back up the M3, with nothing more than a late consolation goal.
Tomorrow’s opponents Chipstead, back in October we played the reverse fixture and despite what was a tough game, we secured all three points with a brace by Bradley Wilson, interjected with a goal by George Reid, in a three-nil victory.

Our Opponents
The Chips continue to be managed by Rob Kember who has been in charge since April 2019. He is widely known for his playing career that included Crystal Palace, Woking and our own Basingstoke Town, as well as half a dozen other clubs. His assistant Rob Smith, also played for Crystal Palace & Woking, and was assistant Manager at Merstham prior to joining Chipstead.

Whilst Stoke were beating Chertsey Town on Tuesday evening, Chipstead’s game at South Park was abandoned due to the fog that descended across the ground in the first-half. The Chips did however do us a favour, when they beat promotion opponents Northwood one-nil at home last Saturday. This leaves them in twelfth place with an overall record of Pld 23 Won 9 Drawn 6 Lost 8 with 33pts. Their home record sits at 5 Wins, 3 Draws & 4 Losses.

Their leading goalscorer is much sought-after striker Andy Kabuikusomo who has ten goals on the season, after joining from Croydon Fc in the 20-21 season. Jonathan Hood (aged 31), has added eight goals and has played for a number of Welsh clubs including Barry Town, as well as Aegir in Iceland. Michael Dixon (aged 30), has also added eight goals, and was previously at Tooting & Mitcham.

The midfield is led by reliable 31 year-old Jensen Grant, who has two goals, who was at Three Bridges a few seasons back, and is regarded as a box-to-box player. Kofi Anokye-Boadi (aged 22), joined in the 2021/22 close season. Thomas Smith & Josh Burr are two young players, who has won roles in the midfield.

In defence we start with the experienced Daryl Coleman (aged 33), who is club captain this season has played for a host of clubs including Glebe last season, as well as Lingfield, Whyteleafe, Horsham, Corinthian Casuals, Dorking Wanderers and Walton Casuals. They have dependable defender Michak Stanic-Stewart (aged 24), who is happy to play at full-back or centre-half, whilst Jerry O’Sullivan will likely start on the right. At left-back it is likely to be 19 year-old Charlie Kennett who joined from Tooting Bec last season. Terry Perkins who has rejoined the club from Concord Rangers, having previously been at Welling Utd, will be one of the centre-backs. Peter Wedgeworth is another option in the defence and is a left-sided defender. Daniel Pappoe, is another option who has played for Dulwich Hamlets and joined the Chips from Carshalton Athletic.
Matt Kerbey (20), will be the keeper, who was a member of Sutton United’s squad which won promotion to League 2 in May 2021.

Our Basingstoke Town Side
Well we couldn’t have hoped for much more, as six points from the two games also put a dent in Marlow & Chertsey’s playoff expectations, and it kept our seven-point lead over Walton & Hersham.
This gives us a league record of Pld 26 Won 19 Drawn 2 Lost 5 with 59pts. Our away record is the best in the league with 9 wins 1 draw and two losses.

Bradley Wilson got back to goal-scoring ways with the final goal, that secured the win against Chertsey, which now gives him twenty-six goals on the season. It was George Reid’s fifteenth goal of the season, a shot that thundered in off the underside of the bar, that gave us the lead. Paul Hodges with a finish just on halftime, doubled our lead and gives him two goals since joining us three games ago. Sam Argent, who scored the second last Saturday, has him sitting on six goals now.
Fighting for the other places on the bench, is likely to be Marcio Neves, James Clark and possibly Brody Peart.

With both Simon Dunn and Michael Atkinson on the pitch on Tuesday evening, they played their parts in controlling a decent Chertsey side, as we managed any real attacks from the opponents. Alongside them was Ben Cook, who won the third midfield role, and did the hard graft of chasing down a lot of Chertsey possession, before being replaced. James Clark replaced George Reid, and unless the line-up changes, will be one of the options off the bench. D’Andre Brown was an unused substitute and will feel unfortunate he has not earned another start after his performance against Marlow. Lewis Hayden is still out on a loan deal regaining match fitness.

If the back-four were superb at Binfield, then this was matched with their performance against Chertsey, as both Scott Armsworth & Billy Upton looked like what they are, the best centre-back pairing in the league. Ben Mason who has been waiting patiently on the bench, is likely the option of the bench, as Markus Johnson-Schuster, seems to have control on the right-back slot, following his strong performances recently. Callum Winchcombe continues to hold down the left-back role, which means James Hayworth could be an option off the bench. Nathan Smart will continue his back-up role on the bench.
Paul Strudley will once again wear the goalkeeper’s jersey tomorrow.

With just minor changes to the team game-by-game then a number of players are fighting for one of those five places on the bench each week, thus competition at training improves the strength and camaraderie of a successful squad.

We head to Chipstead tomorrow looking for our tenth win in a row, and despite Chipstead’s mid-table position, they are more than capable of giving us a hard game, especially on a pitch that will suit them more than us.
It’s not the easiest of grounds to get too, but I still expect that we will outnumber their fans tomorrow afternoon and hopefully by 5pm our fans will have seen another Stoke away win as we leave Surrey and head home to Basingstoke.

Match Preview by Martin French..