Match Preview: Isthmian South Central Division
Sutton Common Rovers vs Basingstoke Town
When: Saturday 21st January 2023 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Whyteleafe Sports Centre, Church Road, Whyteleafe, Caterham, CR3 0AR
Sutton Common Rovers (Rovers), Avg 2022-23 Home Att 77
Admission Prices: Have kindly reduced their prices to Adults & Concessions £5 U16’s £2
Stoke continued on its 2023 winning ways, with our third win on the bounce, in a come-from-behind victory against Westfield. An early unfortunate own goal was levelled just before the extended first-half via the penalty spot.
Stoke upped their game in the second-half, taking the lead once again from Bradley Wilson’s penalty spot conversion, before a Marcio Neves strike from a neat Sam Argent pass, extended our lead, and a fourth by George Reid, finished the scoring on the day.
We now head back out on the road as we travel back into Surrey to take on Sutton Common Rovers who ground-share with AFC Whyteleafe.
We played and beat the Rovers at Winklebury back in November in a close 2-1 victory, which saw yet another lengthy amount of added-time, which included both Managers being shown their marching orders.
Our Opponents
The Rovers are managed by both Darren Salmon & Lee Flavin. Salmon, is part of the Salmon family who founded and currently run the club.
Rovers head into the game on an awful ten match losing run in the league, and sit currently in a worrying 17th place with a record of Pld 19 Won 4 Drawn 7 Lost 8 with 19pts.
One thing you can say about the Rovers, is that there is plenty of player changes, at the club, as we head to them they will have already used 58 different players this season. This can make it difficult sometimes to see who is still at the club.
For their strikeforce, 27 year-old Shawn Lyle, now has four goals on the season. A big powerful player who played for Whyteleafe & Guildford City, before joining in 2021 from Westfield. Ex-Chertsey striker Tony Halsey has three goals on the season. Another striker Shakeel Morris, joined in November and has two goals, whilst Daryl Cooper-Smith recently rejoined the club on dual-reg with Abbey Rangers, He was a prolific goal-scorer for the club previously scoring 62 goals at a rate of one every two games. There is also another newcomer Zaid Quaret-Sorr, who has already added one goal since joining from Tooting & Mitcham Utd.
Their midfield contains Kyron Richards who has three goals and was at Leatherhead and before that Lewes & Cray Wanderers. Add Courtney Swaby, who plays out on the wing and joined from nearby South Park. Siao Blackwood, who was at Merstham earlier in the season, has now made five appearances for the Rovers.
Their defence contains Matthew Surmon a central defender who was at Northwood last season. Bertie Lloyd another reliable centre-back who joined from nearby Merstham, with fellow centre-back Hugo Odogwu-Atkinson who is a former Spurs youth player who has also spent time at various clubs such as Romford and Ebbsfleet Utd before joining Rovers. Another recent arrival is Danny Divine, who joined them from Haywards Heath.
Young Endurance Johnson, who joined the club on loan from Hampton & Richmond, will be the guy wearing the goalkeeper gloves.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
Another slow start against a determined Westfield side, saw us once again, open our account just before the halftime break. The second-half performance was a complete contrast and apart from an occasional Westfield break, we dominated the last forty-five minutes with some exciting attacking football and the three goals as stated above.
We now sit in second place as we face Sutton Common Rovers with our league record now sitting at Played 20 Won 13 Drawn 2 Lost 5 and 41pts.
Bradley Wilson’s double penalty-conversion goal last Monday now gives 19 league goals and 23 in total on the season. Sam Argent replaced James Clark as the other starting striker alongside Wilson, so whether Argent or Clark will win that starting role is unclear. The other will be on the bench. Assuming dazzling winger George Reid is fit and starts, then he will look to add to his xx goals on the season. Marcio Neves was given an unexpected start, but his second-half performance gives him a shot for a start tomorrow afternoon. Brody Peart also joined the fray in the last forty-five minutes and will be in the running to start or secure a spot on the bench.
Stefan Brown still trains on the sidelines, so is unlikely to be part of the match-day squad.
Simon Dunn will captain the side from his midfield role, and will be supported by the experience of Michael Atkinson and hopefully the return of Ben Cook. D’Andre Brown is still pushing for a starting role at least increased playing time. Lewis Hayden continues to make progress on his return and hopefully could be available from February.
The defence will likely be set-up with centre-backs Scott Armsworth & Nathan Smart, whilst Billy Upton recovers from injury. Rumours of another centre-back joining the club are still to be confirmed. With AFC Wimbledon loanee Ben Mason back, fit and raring to go, it will be interesting to see who will start at right-back, as Markus Johnson-Schuster has earned his starting role. Ben Mason or Markus Johnson-Schuster could if depending on how we set-up, be pushed into a more wing-back role. At left back Callum Winchcombe continues to be first choice in this slot. This leaves James Hayworth with likely role on the bench. Dan Williamson still appears to be recovering from injury and is unlikely to make the trip.
It is still unclear whether Mark Scott or Paul Strudley will be the starting keeper on Saturday.
This brings us to a game on paper, that we should continue our push for promotion and despite continuing train-line disruptions this Saturday, it should still not stop a large number of fans making the journey upto Whyteleafe tomorrow afternoon.
It will be very surprising if we don’t out-number the Rovers fans once again, so let’s get behind Dan, Aaron and the players and leave Surrey with all three points.
Match Preview by Martin French..
Thought Marcio changed the game, when he started running at the opposition. Hope for same tomorrow.