Match Report: Basingstoke Town 3 – 2 Tiverton Town – Saturday 20th January 2024

Southern League Premier South Division – Saturday 20th January 2024
Basingstoke Town 3 v 2 Tiverton Town Attendance 795
Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Dan Brownlie’s line-up of for today’s game was: 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: Ben Cook, Callum Winchcombe, Stefan Brown, Nathan Smart & Luis Le Paih
Referee – Geriant Holliman

With a number of Basingstoke changes, the game against Tiverton, a couple of places below us in the table, got underway, and after an initial attack by the visitors, we break into their half, and the ball falls to Bradley Wilson, who takes a touch then hits a shot that beats the keeper but smashes against the bar and away.

Tiverton then have a few minutes of possession, as their No.10 Niall Thompson forces two saves out of Simon Grant in goal.

Stoke then have the next chance, when Wilson breaks down the left and sends over a low cross that Liam Ferdinand gets to, but the ball is blocked away.

Tiverton then win a couple of corners in the next few minutes, which we comfortably defend.
Then on nineteen minutes, a through ball to a Tiverton forward, sees a misunderstanding between James Clark & Grant and the forward slides the ball under Grant and into the net. Basingstoke 0-1 Tiverton
Tiverton have the next attack, and their No.10 smashes a shot that Grant pushes over the bar. The corner is again well defended.

As we head to the half-hour mark, Stoke are pushing forward, but Tiverton seem able to break-up our attacks.
Tiverton look to add to their lead, but again Grant saves a left-footed shot from Tiverton’s Thompson.

Stoke are struggling to break down Tiverton’s defence with five minutes before the break, when we win the ball just inside their half, and Simon Dunn slides an inch-perfect pass to Ferdinand, who makes no mistake has he finds the bottom right-hand corner of the net. GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1 – 1 Tiverton Town (Ferdinand 41 mins)

The referee indicates a minimum of four added-minutes, which are played without incident, and we go into the break all-square.

Halftime – Basingstoke Town 1 v 1 Tiverton Town
The game gets back underway, with no changes by Basingstoke, as we attack the railway end in the second-half, and it’s Tiverton to create the next chance, as they break down the right once again and their No.10 picks out a wide-open player at the far post, who makes a hash of his header, as it flies two yards wide of the left-hand post.

Tiverton’s defence then tries to play it out the back, but finds Wilson who takes two touches and hits a shot that flies up into the air and Dan Rowe gets to the rebound first, but the keeper is able to smother his shot.

Stoke have certainly upped their game and are looking more dangerous as we break via Wilson down the left, but his cross is blocked away once again.

It’s time for our first change and the long awaited return of Ben Cook, who replaces D’Andre Brown (61 mins).
Simon Dunn then hits a shot from just outside the box, that flies just over the bar.

We are now limiting Tiverton to the occasional break, but one of these has their No.10 once more on the ball, but his shot is saved by Grant, whose dives to his right.

Wilson hits the woodwork for a second time as his long-range shot flies off the post.
Now in the last twenty minutes, the ball is slid to Rowe, but his shot is well-saved by the Tiverton keeper.

Rowe, has an even better chance to put Stoke ahead, as from a cross on the right, he directs his header down towards the goal, but the keeper flings out his left arm and hooks the ball away.

The midfield is now on top, with the added help of Cook, who makes the difference, with a neat thirty-yard pass, that Wilson brings down perfectly, takes another touch then slots the ball past the keeper into the far corner of the net. GOAL! Basingstoke Town 2 – 1 Tiverton Town (Wilson 80 mins)

Tiverton then have a chance as they break down our left, but the cross is held by Grant, low down at the near post.

Stoke push forward for a third, which comes with just under five minutes to go, as a neat move, has Michael Atkinson along the byline who pass is blocked away to Dunn just outside the penalty area, who heads the ball back into the penalty area, where Ferdinand uses his experienced, as he turns his defender then takes one touch and in what seems slow-motion then knocks the ball into the net. GOAL! Basingstoke Town 3 – 1 Tiverton Town (Ferdinand 86 mins)

It’s time for our second change with another welcomed return, this time Luis Le Paih, who replaces Dan Rowe.
The game now in the final minute of normal time, is time for the hobbling Billy Upton to be our third change, as Nathan Smart will take over his centre-back role.

The referee indicates a minimum of five additional minutes, and Stoke push a fourth via Wilson, but Tiverton are able to scrape the ball clear.

Then from a long ball, Ferdinand look to get his hat-trick, as he outmuscles his defender then turns him, one way then the other, and slides a shot past the oncoming keeper, but hits the right-hand post and Tiverton hold on.

Now in the sixth minute of added-time, Tiverton attack down the left, the ball is cleared away to a Tiverton player just outside the box, who calmly curls a shot through a crowd of players and into the top right-hand corner of the net. Basingstoke 3-2 Tiverton

The game is restarted, but thirty seconds later, the referee has seen enough and blows the fulltime whistle, and Stoke win back-to back games.

Fulltime Score: Basingstoke Town 3 v 2 Tiverton Town
Ferdinand 41 & 86 mins,                             Wright 19 mins, Allen 96 mins
Wilson 80 mins

Match Thought’s
Basingstoke took some time to get going, but Dan Brownlie’s halftime talk, worked well, as we took control for most of the second-half. Shame Liam Ferdinand could not get that hat-trick, but his experience showed once again as he managed his marker throughout the game.
A strong performance by the whole team today and good to see more players returning from injury.
Manager Dan Brownlie and our fans, will be sleeping a lot better following two wins on the bounce.

Up Next:
We take a welcome break, as we switch from the league to the North-Hants Cup Semi-Final, as we host Stockbridge this Tuesday evening with the usual 7.45pm Kick-off.

Match Report by Martin French..

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1 COMMENT

  1. Fair report again. Thought we looked strong in the second half and dominated with Atkinson plus Dunn in the middle.
    Big game and a chance to get some revenge too.

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