Bet Victor South Division One South 14th September 2019
Basingstoke Town 1 – 2 Cinderford Town (The Foresters) Attendance 268
Where: The Simplyhealth Stadium, Hillier’s Way, Winchester
Red cards aplenty as Stoke head to the bottom of the table.
Martin Kuhl with another new player and yes more players missing through various reasons started with a line-up of; 1.Chris Rackley, 2. Dean Stow (Capt) 3. Alfie Saunders, 4. Scott Armsworth, 5. Reuben Collins, 6. Ryan Suckling, 7. Claudio Herbert, 8. Ben Cook 9. Reece Rusher, 10. Zach Robinson, 11. Harrison Cliff,
On the bench; Aiden Harris, Arnold Linturn, Andrew Charsley, Riccardo Andrady and Mikey Davis
With the clear blue sky, the game gets underway with Stoke creating the first attack on 2 minutes, when a decent pass finds Saunders, who takes two touches and hits one that flies past the post
We are back on it again on 6 mins, when an attack down the left, produces a cross that was initially headed clear to Herbert, whose shot is comfortably saved for the Foresters keeper.
Then the first of many incidents as on 13 mins as a heavy challenge in midfield, between Stow and the Cinderford No.4, sees Stow who recovers quickly shown a straight red card. The crowd call for the referee to even up the sides whilst the Cinderford player receives treatment and Stow trudges of the field. The defender finally recovers, and the referee does indeed show the Foresters player a straight red card, so both teams are down two ten players.
On 17 mins the visitors have their first chance as a break down the right by their No.7, who sends over a low cross that flashes past the face of the goalmouth.
The next attack of note is a speculative shot by Cook that goes comfortably wide of near post on 25 mins.
Then another sign of this seasons bad luck, as another long range shot, this time by Harrison Cliff takes a deflection and flies onto the top of the bar and out for a corner. The corner is initially cleared, is then put back into the 6-yard area, where the keeper claims it.
On 37 mins the next attack by the visitors again down the right is well blocked by two Stoke defenders as the attacker enters the 6-yard box. The corner results in nothing.
The next incident is on 41 mins as Cinderford attack and their forward breaks clear only for Collins to bring him down and the referee shows our central defender a straight red card and Stoke are reduced to 9 men.
The final few minutes of the half has Cinderford on the attack, but a good clearance by Claudio Herbert and a claim by Rackley from a corner is all they can muster, and the referee blows the halftime whistle with just two minutes added time.
The second half gets underway and the initial attack has the visitors left back break down the wing his decent cross is met by Cook who appears to be replacing about three players on the pitch, and Ben clears the ball to midfield.
On 54 mins it’s now Cook who takes a long range shot from 35 yards that flies comfortably over the bar.
The heat and the shortage of players seems to allow the game gets stretched but neither team are creating anything of note.
On 59 mins and the visitors should be one up as another cross from the left is met by a Cinderford player who heads it back across the face of the goal from 5yds and out for a goal-kick.
Stoke make their first change on 61 mins as Riccardo Andrady replaces a disappointing Reece Rusher performance.
The Btg then start the ‘Shoes off if you love the Stoke chant’ behind the goal which has a few fans laughing.
On 64 mins we have a chance to attack and Andrady is fed the ball and breaks clear. His first touch is poor and takes him out wider than needed and he decides to pass it into the box, but that is easily dealt with by a defender.
The deadlock is broken on 73 mins as what looks like a fairly free header from a corner flies past Rackley and into the roof of the net and we trail 1-0.
Cinderford are now full of running and create another chance that is saved by Rackley.
Then on 77 mins following another by Cinderford, last man Andrady makes a superb last ditch tackle and wins the ball cleanly, he then sends a beautiful pass to Herbert down the left, who breaks down the wing. Just as he enters the penalty box, he dummies his defender takes one step outside and thunders a left-foot shot that flies past the keeper and into the far corner of the net GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1 – 1 Cinderford Town.
When Herbert gets them, his goals are normally screamers and this one sends the Btg into raptures behind the goal.
Then on 80 mins, Cliff breaks just inside the box on the right, but his cross is cut for a corner. The corner is half cleared, to a Stoke player on the edge of the box, but he takes too long deciding what to do and the ball is taken off him.
It’s now end-to end as Herbert forces another corner, but again it is comfortably dealt with.
Then on 84 mins, Cinderford create another chance, as the ball is cut back from the right to an open Cinderford player who hooves it over the bar from about 7yds.
Then on 88 mins, the visitors retake the lead as they pass it around our penalty area, and their right back then takes a shot that flies past our defenders into the net and we again trail with just minutes to go.
We head into injury-time and we are unable to create anything of note and the referee blows the final whistle on another spirited performance but again we come up short.
Final Score: Basingstoke Town 1 – 2 Cinderford Town
Match Report by Martin French..