Southern League Premier South Division – Saturday 27th January 2024
Basingstoke Town 0 v 2 Winchester City Attendance 965
Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Dan Brownlie went with an unchanged starting line-up from last week: 1. Simon Grant, 2. Marcus Johnson-Schuster, 3. Massimo Giamattei, 4. Michael Atkinson, 5. James Clark, 6. Billy Upton, 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. Simon Dunn (Capt), 9. Liam Ferdinand, 10. Dan Rowe, 11. D’Andre Brown
On the bench: Paul Hodges, Ben Cook, Stefan Brown, Nathan Smart & Luis Le Paih
Referee – Adam Merchant
Our final league game in January has us hosting rivals Winchester City, and the game got underway with us defending the railway end in the first-half, and there was little to note apart from Dan Rowe getting booked in the second-minute.
Then in the fifth minute, Winchester come over the halfway line down the left and a crossfield pass, goes under James Clark’s foot, to a Winchester forward who completes a one-two move then hits a shot that forces a diving save out of Simon Grant, who palms the ball away, but a Winchester player is first to the rebound and taps it home from five yards, and we go behind. Basingstoke 0-1 Winchester
The game continues and Winchester have the next attack, as a header from a cross forces Grant to tip the ball over the bar for another corner. The corner is cleared.
Basingstoke’s first attack of note was on fifteen minutes, after good work from Dan Rowe down the right and cuts inside the penalty area and hits a shot, that falls to D’Andre Brown whose shot, rebounds of a Winchester defender out for a corner on the left. The cross is straight to the Winchester keeper, who makes the catch.
The game is pretty scrappy as we move to the hallway point of the half, but two further crosses from Stoke, are again straight to the Winchester keeper.
Winchester has more possession in our half and win two further corners, which we deal with.
Still nothing to report, apart from a Winchester shot that flies over the bar and high out the ground, with five minute to go before the break.
The referee states there will be a minimum of two added-minutes, which are played out and the referee blows the halftime whistle on a poor first-half, with Stoke a lot to do in the second.
Halftime – Basingstoke Town 0 v 1 Winchester City
With no Basingstoke changes at halftime, the game gets back underway with Stoke attacking the Railway End.
Again the very action to note, is a nice through ball from Simon Dunn to Rowe, who hits a first-time shot from thirty-five yards, that flies wide of the right-hand post, and then then linesman five seconds later decides to flag for offside.
Winchester’s first attack of the second-half, brings them their second goal, as we are unable to clear the ball from their attack, and the ball is knocked past Grant into the left-hand corner of the net. Basingstoke 0-2 Winchester
Basingstoke make their first change with Paul Hodges replacing Simon Dunn (58 mins).
A neat move down the right finds Liam Ferdinand, who turns inside and a clips a shot, through two defenders, that the keeper only sees at the last moment and is forced to palm it away for a corner on the left. Nothing comes from the corner, but a Winchester defends goes down with a head-injury and the game is held up for five minutes before he is able to get up and is helped off the pitch and replaced.
There are calls for a handball as the ball is crossed from the right and hits a Winchester player’s hand, but the referee waves it away.
In and effort to change the game, Stoke make a double-substitution with D’Andre Brown replaced by Paul Hodges and Dan Rowe replaced by Stefan Brown (72 mins).
Paul Hodges first touch of note, is a neat one-two move with Ferdinand, who runs into the penalty area, and smashes a shot that is straight at the Winchester keeper, who makes the save.
We move into the last ten minutes of a game that Stoke simply haven’t got going.
Winchester have a chance to make it three, but Grant makes the save.
The referee has indicated a minimum of five minutes of added-time, as we hit the ninety minute mark.
Calls for another handball inside the Winchester box, are again waved by the referee, and many Stoke fans have seen enough and are making their way home.
That’s five minutes, and the referee blows the final whistle, and Stoke deservedly lose to Winchester, who were far from impressive themselves.
Fulltime Score: Basingstoke Town 0 v 2 Winchester City
Barron 6 mins, Caborn 56 mins
Match Thought’s
A game short of any real entertainment, with a Basingstoke side unable to really get going yesterday. Not much else to say, but we slip back to thirteenth place in the league.
Up Next:
We head back out on the road to face rivals Walton & Hersham next Saturday in a 3pm kick-off at the Elmbridge Sports Hub
Match Report by Martin French..
English 
Polish 
Fair report. Unfortunately we were rarely in the game.