Match Preview: Southern League Premier South
Basingstoke Town vs Dorchester Town
When: Saturday 14th March 2026 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Dorchester Town (Magpies), 2025-26 Curr League Position 15th
Last Saturday’s good performance, went to waste, as our defence was cut and then split wide open, in the final ten minutes of the match, as we went down to defeat at Chertsey Town. Added to this was the fact that two of Chertsey’s four goals, were scored by Stoke’s ex-star striker Bradley Wilson.
We now host Dorchester Town, having lost them twice already this season. Firstly back in October, losing to a late goal in a 1-0 loss in the league in Dorset. We then played the Magpies in the FA Trophy, and after the original game being abandoned due to a serious injury on the pitch, three days later we lost to them in the rematch, conceding a very late equaliser, and then lost the resulting penalty shoot-out.
Our Opponents
The Magpies (Dorchester’s version that is), are currently managed by interim boss and ex-player Wes Fogden. At the beginning of February, Tom Killick who managed the club for three seasons, moved upto the board of directors.
Dorchester head into this weekend’s game with a run of form that would match many in the top half of the table, with a record of four wins, 2 draws and just one loss since the start of February. This form has brought them out of the relegation places into fifteenth place, with their record now at Pld 33 Won 9 Drawn 10 Lost 14 and 37pts. Their away record however sits at just 4 Wins, 5 Draws and 7 Losses. Their leading striker is ex-Tiverton striker Joe Parker, with fifteen goals. He was previously at Gloucester City, Newport County, Leamington & Chippenham. Well-known attacking midfielder Tom Smith, has nine goals, but has been absent from the starting squad for a number of weeks, so is assumed injured. Wayne Robinson, who joined from Salisbury in September 2024, but suffered a number of injury set-backs last season, is now fully part of the Magpies starting line-up, and has found the net five times this season. Last month they added another Tiverton player, Daniel Kiota to their strikeforce.
Luke Pardoe, in his second season with the club, now has four goals. The winger, has previously played for Poole Town & AFC Bournemouth’s academy. In the centre of midfield is likely to be Corby Moore, who is their current captain, and previously had stints at Bishop Stortford, Poole Town and Chelmsford. Marcus Daws with four goals, is a former Northern Ireland U21 player who is an exciting winger, having had spells at Bournemouth at Poole Town. Former England schoolboys midfielder, Charlie Wooding, joined the club at the start of the season, having previously, been at Bashley & Salisbury. He has now won a starting role in the team over recent weeks. Experienced midfielder Cameron Murray, is back for his second spell with the club, having been at Gosport Borough recently. Murray was a Leeds Utd academy player, and played for a number of Northern Premier clubs, before moving south in 2018.
The defence starts with Jack Dickson, back for his third season with the club, and is highly regarded as a strong right-sided defender. In the centre of defence will be Jay Williams who joined on loan in January from Reading. He has also spent time at AFC Bournemouth. Marcel McIntosh joined last December, and has won a spot on the right-side of defence. William Spetch, in his third season with the Magpies, and played over 450 times for Poole Town. Ollie Haste is back for another season on the left-side of the defence, having signed permanently from Yeovil Town in August 2024. Harvey Wright, is a powerful and dynamic centre-back who joined in the summer from nearby Wimborne Town. Their current keeper is Monty Marriott, who joined in March on loan from Oxford Utd. He was at North Leigh last season.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
For all the hard effort that the team put in last Saturday, ultimately a lack of finding the net at key times, and five minutes of defensive slackness, saw us go down to defeat, at the hands of ex-Stoke striker Bradley Wilson. This extends our winless streak to nine games.
With other games played in the league during the week, we sit in sixteenth place, with our record at a worrying Pld 33 Won 10 Drawn 6 Lost 17 and 36pts. Our home record now stands at 7 Wins, 2 draws & 8 losses, with our last win at home over two months ago.
The midfield and forwards combined well for good periods last Saturday, but again finishing and what appeared a decent keeper, stopped us from taking the lead when we were on top. Question 1, will George Reid, who took a knock and left the game last week, be ready to go tomorrow? If not the strikeforce will likely be Cheick Sylla, Joe Grant, and either Joe Barough, or Robbie Gallagher. Dan Rowe, an unused sub last week, and potentially Ore Bello, may be options off the bench.
The midfield has seen a number of changes since last week, as well-liked James Dickson, decided to leave the club to find more playing time, with the club swiftly bringing in Josh Dockerill from Havant on loan till in the end of the season. Question 2, have the club then dipped into the market and signed 30-year-old midfielder Max Herbert, who was a long-term target of Dan Brownlie. If so, with one training session under his belt, would you give him a start, or an option off the bench. Question 3, will Rudy Allen be back in the squad, to make another appearance in a Stoke shirt? With this uncertainty, the midfield should also see the return of Josh Green, and would likely combine once more with Tom Blake, who continues to be on top of his game. D’Andre Brown, made a short appearance last week, in his return from injury, and will look for more gametime tomorrow, whilst Ben Cook, who led the team last week, is also an option to start once more.
With Billy Upton an unused substitute last week, it will be highly surprising, if he’s not back, wearing the No.6 shirt tomorrow afternoon. The question is who plays alongside him, in the centre-back role. Both Jack Ball and Scott Amsworth are strong contenders, and unless we go with a different set-up, one will be unhappy to be pushed to the bench. Joe O’Loughlin missing due to work commitments, will hopefully be back in that left-back slot, whilst the right-back role, depending on where Lloyd Snell slots into the team, as he could be pushed into a more attacking role to fully use his pace and skill. If not then the right-back role should be James Clark’s. Elliott Legg, injured last week, could be an option off the bench. Simon Grant, will be the keeper, trying to stop Dorchester’s strikeforce tomorrow.
Tomorrow we host Dorchester Town, in a game that has taken on much more importance than necessary, due to our poor run of form, and others below us, slowly clawing closer to us. Dorchester will come with expectations of leaving with points, after their recent run of form. We did set out last week with a very attacking bench, and would see no reason, that this won’t be the same tomorrow, in an effort to find the net more often.
Tomorrow would be a great time to get back to winning ways, and ease some pressures on the club and fans alike.
Let’s Go Stoke !
Match Preview by Martin French..
Polish 
English 