Match Preview: Southern League Premier South
Basingstoke Town vs Malvern Town
When: Saturday 10th October 2026 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Malvern Town (The Hillsiders), 2026-27 League Position 22nd
Last week’s home loss to AFC Totton, means we are out of all cup competitions by the first week of October, and now have to fully concentrate on the league, starting with this week’s fixture against newly promoted Malvern Town, a team we have never played before.
Malvern Town reached step 3 football for the first time in their club’s history, after beating Shaftesbury 3-2 in the Southern League Division One play-off final.
Our Opponents
Consistency is what you see from Malvern, especially in their choice of Manager, who as a former captain, and player for seventeen seasons, Lee Hooper, has managed the Hillsiders since 2018, and has overseen three promotions as Manager.
Gaining promotion via the playoffs, the Hillsiders have got off to a tough start, sitting bottom of the table with a record of Pld 9 Won 1 Drawn 2 Lost 6 GF 13, GA 25 and 5pts. Their one victory was a 5-2 defeat of Gloucester City, helped partly to City playing with ten men for two-thirds of the game. Their away record stands at just 1 draw & 5 losses. Their leading goalscorer is attacking winger Harry Clark, who has given outstanding service over many seasons for the Hillsiders, and known for his quick feet and plenty of skill on the ball. Joe Tumelty has three goals, two from the penalty spot, and this seasons captain. He has had stints at Swindon Supermarine, Frome Town & Yate Town. Other attackers include Jay Malshanskyj, who signed in the summer from Bishops Cleeve, and previously played for Weston-super-Mare, Yate Town, Melksham Town and Taunton Town. Back for another season, is striker Sam Clark (no relative), and has one goal this season.
Apart from Tumelty, the midfield contains Matt Macdonald who is in his fourth season with the club. Joe Bullock, is another long-serving Malvern player, regarded as the engine room of the side. Denis Digie, joined this season following terms at Redditch Utd & Yate Town. He’s a tall and athletic midfield man, comfortable on the ball, who started his career with Kidderminster Harriers.
The defence again contains a number of long-serving players, starting with Charlie Johnson, who played an integral part of the club’s progression in recent seasons, and is a strong, determined left-footed defender, whose commitment to the cause has marked him out as a popular figure. Luke Payne, is an accomplished full-back who returned to the club during the course of the 2025-26 season, and well-liked across the club. A promising and emerging talent with a strong work ethic is Ben Baxter, who joined the club from Hartpury FC for the 2025/26 and played his part in the promotion success that followed. Matt Fulloway, joined the club from Sporting Khalsa and quickly became a popular figure on and off the field, as his higher level experience has served the club well. They have used four different keepers since August, but currently Jenson Kilroy, has worn the gloves in the past three games, arriving on loan from Walsall in September 2026.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
Following last Saturday’s rearranged Hampshire Snr Cup match where, a small late fightback, only followed a five goal blow the doors off performance by the visitors AFC Totton, now has us facing bottom-placed Malvern Town in the league, and already many believe a “Must Win” game by the fans and club management alike.
The good news is after two months of the season, a number of players are returning to fitness, which should strengthen the matchday squad moving forwards.
Our last league game saw us lose 2-1 on the road at a decent Uxbridge side, with Jeremiah Okine-Peters our goalscorer on the night. We head into tomorrow’s game sitting in a worrying seventeenth place in the league, with our record at Pld 9 Won 2 Drawn 3 Lost 4, GF 14, GA 16 and 9pts. Our home record sits at 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss.
Within the expected return of a number of players, our strikeforce should get the boost with the return of Cheick Sylla, who will take part in his first league action of the season, and could partner Jeremiah Okine-Peters upfront. Christos Papkonstantinou who has impressed many fans, will also figure somewhere in the team, whilst Andrei Chiriac and Finn Evans are still out with injuries.
The midfield will once more see Tom Blake & Louis McGrory lead the area, and will be joined by Amardeep Singh who made a short league debut last week. This will likely mean D’Andre Brown, James Henry, Alex Solomon and hopefully new signing Anthony Manocchio will fight for the last midfield slot, or be options off the bench. Scott Armsworth, who played in a more holding role in front of the defence, is also an option here as well.
Lloyd Snell & John Adebiyi are still out with injuries.
The defence could see a number of additions, as Jack Ball, could make his league debut following his pre-season injury, and could start alongside Billy Upton, who will once more don the captains armband. If Ball starts on the bench, then Bernie Tanner will partner Upton in the centre-back pairing roles. There is also the potential that left-back Joe O’Loughlin could return to the matchday squad, which give Manager Dan Brownlie a number of decisions, has to start in this role, as Casey Bocarro has held down this role since his O’Loughlin’s absence. On the right, we should see Lewis Colwill return in the right-back slot. This should mean that Jonathan Gjoshe will earn a slot on the bench. It is hoped that Simon Grant, who made four huge saves, to keep us in the game at Uxbridge, should return to the starting line-up tomorrow afternoon.
As stated above, this is already regarded as a must win for the club, and despite Malvern sit bottom of the table, they will come to Winklebury, with a nothing to lose attitude, which we must deal with, and find some much needed goals to put this game to bed as soon as possible.
The weather is mean’t to be dry, with a mix of sun & cloud.
Let’s Go Stoke !
Match Preview by Martin French..
Polish 
English 