Match Preview: Isthmian South Central Division
Uxbridge Vs Basingstoke Town
When: Saturday 22nd October 2022 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Honeycroft, Horton Road, West Drayton, Middlesex. UB7 8HX
Uxbridge (Nickname – The Reds), Avg 2022-23 Home Att 136
Admission Prices: Adults £10, Concessions £5, Under 16’s Free with accompanied Adult
After that uninspiring Velocity Cup exit, we head into this Saturday’s match at Uxbridge on the back of two defeats having lost to league leaders Northwood last Saturday.
Last season we took four points out of six from Uxbridge, after conceding a 95th minute equaliser and two points at home in November, we then took all three points at the Honeycroft in March with a strong 2-0 winning performance.
Our Opponents
The Reds finished last season just one place and four points below us in sixth place and are managed by Danny Edwards who after working at both Chelsea & Southampton football clubs went onto manage at Chalfont St Peter for 15 years before joining Uxbridge, bringing his whole coaching staff with him.
They currently sit in 11th place with a record of Played 7 Won 3 Drawn 2 Lost 2 and 11pts. With a number of cup competition games they have only played two league home games, a draw against Hanworth Villa and a 2-0 win against Thatcham Town. Last week they were on their away trip to Guernsey, leaving the Channel Islands with all three points, after a 2-0 victory. As for the cups they were knocked out 2-0 at Eastbourne Borough in the 2nd qualifying round, but are still in the FA Trophy after beating fellow league sides Chertsey, Bedfont & Walton & Hersham and now host step 3 Isthmian Premier side Wingate & Finchley in the first round proper in a weeks-time.
With just ten league goals on the season, it is clear they do not score many goals, but with just eight conceded, it appears they keep games very tight.
Their leading goalscorers are strikers Victor Osobu & Dan Williams who both have four goals on the season. Osobu is a well-travelled player who has paled for numerous step 3 and step 4 clubs such as Hemel Hempstead, Slough, Chesham United and Canvey Island to name just a few. Williams, is another experienced playing having played for Chalfont St Peter, Tooting & Mitcham Utd and Bedfont Sports and joined from Hendon.
Their striker group also contains ex-Hanwell Town player Gareth Chendlik who has one goal so far.
The midfielder contains Jack Beadle, who also has four goals on the year, and he has also played at Hanwell, and Chipstead in recent seasons. Alex Witham an attacking midfielder, was a former Arsenal youth player, has played for clubs such as Slough, Wealdstone & Northwood. Joe Jackson was a big part of Bedfont Sports playoff run last season, brings an energy and creativity to the side. Kensley Maloney regarded as a tricky player has previously played at step 3 clubs such as Beaconsfield Town, Harrow Borough and Slough Town. Alan Hedley who joined from Chalfont St Peter in 2019 can play in the midfield or defence.
Starting on the right side of the defence is Josh Andrew, who has played for Harrow Borough, Ashwood Town & Hayes & Yeading. With him will be Andy O’Brien another player who has joined from Hanwell Town in pre-season. Fullback Mark Goodman is likely to start and is another player who joined in 2019 from Chalfont St Peter. At centre-back should be Elliott Poley who is good in the air and joined from Ashford Town in July 2019. There is also the well- known ex-Thatcham Town centre-back Baboucarr Jarra.
Their keeper is the reliable Tyler Tobin who joined in 2019 from Ashford Town.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
We head to Uxbridge tomorrow afternoon, with the understanding that we need to get back to winning ways, against an Uxbridge side that is moving up the league and has games in hand.
Our loss last weekend to Northwood, and the straight-forward exit out of the Velocity cup, gives Dan Brownlie some simple squad decisions to make for this crucial clash. We now sit in 8th place with an overall record of Played 9 Won 4 Drawn 2 Lost 3 and 14pts.
With the understanding that Bradley Wilson will be absent this Saturday, this probably means the attack is likely to be Ezio Touray with on-loan signing Shamar Moore and or possibly Stefan Brown. George Reid will be the other attacking threat from the wing. Marcio Neves completed a good training session and is likely one of the options of the bench alongwith Ashleigh Artwell. Sam Argent is still a week or two away from returning to the starting squad.
The good news is in the midfield as Simon Dunn looked really good in training and knowing his desire to get back on the pitch, will be pushing Dan to get back his Captains armband. Whilst Michael Atkinson who appears recovered from last week’s illness, will also return to the starting line-up as one of the other midfield starters. Does versatile player James Clark, win one of the other slots here as we have many options upfront. Anton Rodgers who played in the cup game in midweek, could also be in contention. It was also good to see D’Andre Brown back in full training, and he could also attain a bench slot.
The defence will very likely return to the usual expected line-up, with Scott Armsworth & Billy Upton the centre-back pairing, with Ben Upton at right-back and James Haworth returning to his left-back slot. Nathan Smart, Dan Williamson, Callum Winchcombe and Aiden Lewis are candidates for possible bench slots.
Mark Scott is now the confirmed No.1 and will wear the gloves this Saturday.
With a number of possible players returning this weekend, Manager Dan Brownlie now has a number of options on how attacking or defensive he wants to be and more importantly has some offensive threats off the bench, which has clearly been missing for a number of weeks.
This will be game ten of our league season and another clear test if we are to be serious promotion contenders.
With the expectation of another large Stoke following, we need to get behind the team, in this crucial tough test.
Match Preview by Martin French..
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