Southern League Premier South Division – Saturday 4th November 2023
Basingstoke Town 4 v 3 Swindon Supermarine Attendance 648
Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Today’s game saw Manager Dan Brownlie go with a starting line-up of: 1. Paul Strudley, 2. Kai Hobbs, 3. Markus Johnson-Schuster, 4. Michael Atkinson (Capt) Brown, 5. Nathan Smart, 6. James Clark, 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. D’Andre Brown, 9. Liam Ferdinand, 10. Stefan Brown, 11. Dan Rowe,
On the bench: Shane Hollamby, Aleksander Kokoszka, Noah Chengun, Harvey Collins & Josh De Lacey-Turner
Referee – Daniel Malyon
With the Remembrance Day laying of the wreaths and the two-minute silence observed solemnly amongst the large crowd, today’s game got underway with Stoke attacking the car-park end, and there was very little to note in the first few minutes, as both got use to the wet and greasy conditions of the pitch.
This all then changed on seven minutes, as an attack from the visitors allows their new striker get a shot away, but it’s poor and Paul Strudley makes the save, then releases the ball quickly, and the ball is slid to Dan Rowe, who takes the ball deep into the opposition’s half and then let’s fly. The shot is straight at the keeper, but once again, he fails to deal with it, as the ball bounces off his hands and into the net GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1 – 0 Swindon Supermarine (Rowe 7 mins)
The visitors look to get back in the game, and win two tackles in the midfield then slide the ball out wide to the right, where a Marine player clips the ball across and a Marine forward is first to the cross and heads the ball which looks odds-on to find the net, until Strudley’s reaction dive to the left allows him to push the ball over the bar, for a corner. The kick is headed clear but straight to a Marine player just outside the box, who lets fly a shot that flies five yards over the bar.
Stoke create the next chance, but Liam Ferdinand’s shot from an acute angle is saved by the keeper.
Good tackles by Nathan Smart and then Michael Atkinson, then put stops to two further Marine attacks.
Then on the half-hour, there is a nasty confrontation in front of the Marine bench as Kai Hobbs and a Marine player get involved in a pushing match, which ends with the Marine player shoulder barging Hobbs over. Calls for a red card from a headbutt are waived away, as both players go in the book.
Stoke create the next chance, as a neat move between Markus Johnson-Shuster who goes on a run, and a one-two with a Stoke player allows him and a one-on-one shot from close range against the keeper is blocked away.
We move into the last few minutes of the half, and Wilson breaks down the left and slides the ball across to where Ferdinand appears to backheel the ball towards the net, but the keeper makes the save, and the referee has awarded a free-kick against us anyway.
Then on forty-five minutes, Marine attack down the left and a shot from long range is initially saved by Strudley but the ball slips out of his hands and over the line for a corner. The corner kick is met by a Marine defender who heads home into the far corner to level the game. Basingstoke 1-1 Swindon Supermarine
Then from the kick-off whilst fans are bemoaning the timing of the equalizer, we break down the right and a cross finds Rowe on the six-yard line, and he glances his header home into the far left-hand corner of the net GOAL!! Basingstoke Town 2 – 1 Swindon Supermarine (Rowe 45+2 mins)
The game restarts and the referee blows the halftime whistle.
Halftime – Basingstoke Town 2 v 1 Swindon Supermarine
With no changes at halftime the second-half gets underway, with us attacking the covered terrace end.
Just three minutes in Supermarine, we leave their right winger wide open and he cuts inside the box and he looks to cross, but he appears to mis-hit the cross and it flies past Strudley at the near post and we are back level. Basingstoke 2-2 Swindon Supermarine
That appears to have knocked the homeside and the crowd, and Marine have the next attack, which appears to beat Strudley and is cleared off the line by a Stoke defender.
Marine have more play in our penalty area, but James Clark puts a stop to it with a fine tackle.
Now at the hour-mark, there are calls for a penalty as Wilson gets tackled inside the box, which are rightly waived away by the referee, but this seems to get Stoke pushing forward, and we attack down the right through Hobbs, who sends over a perfect cross, that only Ferdinand can get to and he makes no mistake putting it away from close range. GOAL!!! Basingstoke Town 3 – 2 Swindon Supermarine (Ferdinand 63 mins)
Supermarine then have an attack and Clark makes two important headers, the second allowing us to break, and the ball comes over the halfway line with Ferdinand breaking into their half and he slides the ball to Stefan Brown, who takes two touches then hits a shot from twenty-five yard that hits the keeper, but again he is unable to hold onto the ball and the ball bounces into the air and Ferdinand is first to it and his touch bounces off the keeper and into the air and Ferdinand hooks a shot from around his chest that somehow bounces off the ground onto the bar and flies away.
Supermarine then break a minute later as a long ball finds one of their players who has broken free into the right-side of the penalty area, and he hits a shot across Strudley into the net and we are back level once again. Basingstoke 3-3 Swindon Supermarine
Wilson then has some possession down the left, but his two crosses are blocked away, but then he breaks down the left into the box once more and he picks out Ferdinand on the six-yard line, who takes a touch, then turns and hits a shot past through the maze of Marine defenders and the keeper into the net. GOAL!!!! Basingstoke Town 4 – 3 Swindon Supermarine (Ferdinand 76 mins)
Stoke push forward again, but Marine are able to block away Rowe’s shot.
Marine then attack once more, but the through ball is given as offside, and the crowd can breathe again.
Stoke then make their first change, with Stefan Brown replaced by Aleksander Kokoszka with just three minutes remaining.
We now head into six minutes of added-time confirmed by the referee, and a long cross into our penalty area is claimed by Strudley.
It’s time for our second change as Noah Chengun replaces Bradley Wilson.
Time is running out and Kokoszka wins the ball on the halfway line then takes the ball fifty yards down the left wing and forces Marine to knock the ball out, with time running out.
A minute later, the referee has seen enough and blows the final whistle.
Full-time Score: Basingstoke Town 4 v 3 Swindon Supermarine
Rowe 7 & 45+2 mins, Liddiard 45+1 mins, Turl 48 mins, Sims-Burgess 66 mins
Ferdinand 63 & 76 mins
Match Thought’s
As I left the ground, the word rollercoaster is mentioned to me at least five times, so will go with that. It was at times end-to-end football with neither defence looking that secure at times. A win is still a win, especially with the number of players out. Brace of goals by both Dan Rowe and Liam Ferdinand, but battling performances by Michael Atkinson in the middle & James Clark at the back, sometimes go un-noticed, but were a huge part of or win today.
Up Next:
Well we have seven days before our next league encounter as we travel down to Dorchester Town next Saturday 11th
Match Report by Martin French..