Isthmian South Central Division – Tuesday 14th February 2023
Basingstoke Town 3 v 1 Chertsey Town Attendance 527
Where: Winklebury Sports Complex, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
First-half Goals and strong defensive work secures a 3-1 win for Stoke
Dan Brownlie’s line-up tonight was: 1. Paul Strudley, 2. Markus Johnson-Schuster, 3. Callum Winchcombe, 4, Michael Atkinson, 5. Billy Upton, 6. Scott Armsworth, 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. Simon Dunn (Capt), 9. Paul Hodges, 11. George Reid, 12. Ben Cook
On the bench: James Clark, D’Andre Brown, Nathan Smart, Ben Mason & Sam Argent
Referee – Charlie Bullock
Tonight’s latest promotion game got underway and the first attack of note was on six minutes, when Bradley Wilson breaks down the left wing and his cross was knocked out for a corner. Nothing comes from the corner, but Stoke are back on the attack minutes later, and a neat pass to Paul Hodges, allows him to turn and hit another shot, that is blocked out for another corner, that Chertsey are able to defend.
Stoke continue to come forward and Hodges sends a cross that finds George Reid, who has beaten his defender, but then thumps a half-volley shot that flies three yards past the left-hand post.
Stoke’s next attack is on 17 minutes as another Wilson run and cross down the left just fails to reach Reid as the Chertsey keeper is able to dive on the ball just inches before it reaches him.
Chertsey win a corner but Billy Upton, securely heads the ball clear.
It is still more pressure by Stoke, and we open the scoring on 26 minutes as yet another cross from the left, is deflected away from the goalmouth area, to Reid in front of goal, who smashes it into the net off the underside of the bar. GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1 – 0 Chertsey Town (Reid 26 mins)
Half-hour in and Chertsey have created very little, as Markus Johnson-Schuster makes a neat tackle to stop a Chertsey attack.
We then deservedly double the lead on the stroke of halftime, as Hodges slides the ball through to Reid in front of goal, whose shot is blocked by the keeper, that is followed up by Dunn, whose shot is blocked by a defender, but falls to Hodges who despatches a shot that hits the back of the net from ten yards. GOAL!! Basingstoke Town 2 – 0 Chertsey Town (Hodges 45 mins)
We play four minutes of added-time, before the referee blows for halftime, with Stoke looking comfortable with the two-goal advantage.
Halftime – Basingstoke Town 2 v 0 Chertsey Town
With no changes by Stoke at halftime, the game gets back underway, and Wilson is sent down the left within the first minute, but his cross is hit clear by a Chertsey defender.
As the game progresses, it appears Chertsey have pushed an extra player forward in an effort to get back in the game, and although they attack down the right over the next few minutes, our centre-back pairing of Armsworth and Upton, deal with it.
The game hasn’t really taken off in the second-half, and we make our first change on 65 minutes with Sam Argent replacing Ben Cook.
Argent’s first contribution is a vital headed clearance from a dangerous cross by Chertsey.
We move into the last fifteen minutes of the game, and although we have produced very little attacking moves, Chertsey have created very little goalmouth incidents, as our defence continues to dominate.
We make our second change on 79 minutes, with James Clark replacing George Reid.
Still very little to note, but then a strong tackle in Chertsey’s half by a Stoke player, allows Wilson to break with the ball and as he cuts inside the penalty area, he unleashes a right-foot shot that the keeper has no chance as it finds the far corner of the net. GOAL!!! Basingstoke Town 3 – 0 Chertsey Town (Wilson 83 mins)
The game gets back underway, and we make our final change with Ben Mason replacing George Reid (85 mins).
A minute later the ball falls to a Chertsey forward, just outside our penalty area, who hits a half-volley that flies past Strudley into the left-hand corner of the net. Stoke 3 – 1 Chertsey
Calls for a Stoke penalty minutes later, are waived away, as a superb diagonal pass from Argent finds Wilson, who breaks into the box and as he cuts inside, he appears to get pulled down, but the referee does not oblige another large Stoke crowd.
We are now playing five minutes of added-time, but apart from a shot that forces a Strudley save, we are able to see the game out and the referee blows the final whistle on another successful night for Basingstoke, as we hold our seven-point lead at the top.
Full-time Match Score: Basingstoke Town 3 v 1 Chertsey Town
Reid 26 mins, Hodges 45 mins, Wilson 83 mins Gogonas 86 mins
Match Thought’s
Stoke dominate the first-half and secure a valuable two-goal lead with goals by Reid and Hodges. The second-half saw Chertsey have a lot of the possession, but the defence was superb and kept them comfortably at bay for most of the game. Scott Armsworth & Billy Upton, never lost a challenge all game, and Johnson-Schuster shut down all attacks down the left.
Simon Dunn, was everywhere and made some important tackles throughout the game, but another all-round team performance gives us another victory and three points.
Up Next:
We are back on the road this coming Saturday, as we travel back into Surrey once more as we visit Chipstead Fc.
Match Report by Martin French..
English 
Polish 
Agree about the defence being top quality. Major improvement from years past.