Match Preview: Southern League Premier Division South
Farnham Town vs Basingstoke Town
When: Saturday 21st March 2026 Kick-off 3pm
Where: The Memorial Ground, Mead Lane, Farnham. GU9 7DY
Farnham Town (The Town), 2025-26 League Position 2nd
Following that important win Tuesday, as we sent Tiverton another step closer to relegation, we then received the hopeful news that Simon Grant’s red card last Saturday, had been overturned by the FA, allowing him to play tomorrow afternoon, as we head to playoff contenders Farnham Town.
The reverse match was back at the beginning of November, and after a good opening period where we took the lead behind George Reid’s finish, Farnham struck back twice before the break. Farnham then seemed to dominate more of the possession, and added two more goals, winning 4-1.
Our Opponents
The Town are managed by Paul Johnson, who took over in charge in February 2022, having previously spent eight years at Bedfont Sports. Johnson, and his management team, have overseen back-to back promotions, bankrolled by wealthy owners.
Farnham like Basingstoke, had a midweek game, and were trailing by a solitary Dorchester goal, but somehow found two goals in added-time to win. This leaves them in second place, with their record at Pld 32 Won 20 Drawn 7 Lost 5 and 67pts. Their home record sits at an impressive 11 wins, 4 draws and just 2 losses. They have scored a massive 78 goals, which is only second to Walton’s 84 goals. This means they average 2 ½ goals a game, and are chasing Walton for that top spot, or at least second-place in the league. Their leading goalscorer is Owen Dean with nineteen goals this term. Apart from a short spell away at Badshot Lea, Dean is a fan-favourite, having come through Farnham’s development team. Ogo Obi, has sixteen goals this season, and a player, we have come across at previous clubs such as Hanwell Town, where he spent two seasons after leaving Hayes & Yeading. He has also played for Hemel Hempstead, Slough Town & Maidstone Utd. However, Obi has not played in the last month, so he maybe currently injured. Sam Evans, is in his second term with the club, and has added thirteen goals, having joined from National League side Slough Town. He was Farnham’s first-ever transfer fee deal. He also played for Hanwell Town, Bedfont Sports & Woking. They also have Adam Little, who scored twice in our first-meeting, and now has eight goals on the season. Previously played for a number of clubs at our level, as well as Reading, Eastbourne Borough & Chelmsford.
Farnham’s strong midfield, got a massive boost recently signing Bracknell Town’s Seb Bowerman, who had ten goals this season, and had spent eight of the last ten seasons with the Robins. Bobby-Joe Taylor (nine goals), joined from Dorking Wanderers in the summer of 2025, and is a vastly experienced player in full-time football, having spent ten years across clubs like Maidstone, Aldershot Town, Dover and Bromley. Another ex-Bedfont Sports/Bracknell player is Daryl Sanders, who now has also has six goals, and is in his third season with the club. Mat McKenzie (seven goals), broke through as a teenager at Redhill, before moving on to South Park. He then spent three seasons at Hanwell Town. Harry Cooksley, joined from Hartley Wintney in May 2023. Having spent time at Reading & QPR’s U18’s, and has since played at Aldershot & Farnborough. One more known player is Tom Leggett, who played for Stoke back in 2018, and has since played for Gosport Borough, Farnborough & Salisbury.
In defence they have Owen Dean’s brother, Jack, who joined from Bracknell in May 2023, and was part of Farnham’s back-to-back title winning seasons. At left back is Brandon Mason, who joined the Club from National League South side St. Albans City. He previously came through the ranks with Watford, making a handful of Premier League appearances as a teenager, then part of Coventry City’s successful promotion squad to the Championship in 2019/20. Centre-back Ryan Kinnane, is their captain, and is a tall and dominant defender, who joined after captaining Berkhamsted to Step 3 by winning the League and Cup double. His other previous clubs include Hemel Hempstead and Hanwell Town. Another ex-Stokie, who also played at Bracknell is centre-back Dan Bayliss. Joe Jackson, is a versatile player who can play a number of positions, and joined from Hanwell Town in August 2023. In goal will be the well-known Mark Eacott, who left Bracknell, after a number of successful seasons with the Robins.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
Tuesday’s first-half demolition of bottom-placed Tiverton, gives us a strong belief, that we can push away from the relegation zone, as the win pushed us up two places to fourteenth in the table. A crazy opening few minutes, saw new-signing Max Herbert find the net, only for our other recent signing Joe Grant to double our lead. Herbert was then to get his second and Stoke’s third inside twenty minutes, and it was Herbert once more just before the break, as he got his hat-trick and Stoke amazingly went into the break four goals ahead. With no further goals in the match, Stoke left Devon with all three points and our first victory in eleven attempts.
Our league record now sits at Pld 35 Won 11 Drawn 7 Lost 17 and 40pts. Our away record now stands at 4 Wins, 4 draws & 9 losses. Our forward line, could well remain the same as Tuesday, playing against a strong Farnham attack, with just two upfront in Joe Grant & Joe Barough, although Robbie Gallagher will be pushing to get a start tomorrow afternoon. Cheick Sylla & George Reid, who were close to playing last Saturday, did not travel Tuesday, allowing them to be available for Saturday. Dan Rowe, like Robbie Gallagher, was a second-half substitute Tuesday, and thus will be contention for a slot on the bench once more. Ore Bello, I assume is still a little way away from making the matchday squad.
The midfield saw it’s first hat-trick by a player (Max Herbert), for many, many years, and was a much needed boost to this area, which has slowly gotten stronger over the past few weeks. Depending how we set-up against Farnham, we may once more play with four in the middle, which should mean Max Herbert, should start alongwith the talented Tom Blake, the tenacious Josh Green, and our other new recruit Josh Dockerill, who has settled into the team very well. This means D’Andre Brown and Ben Cook, again both second-half substitutes at Tiverton, will once more be options off the bench tomorrow. Lloyd Snell who has missed the last two games through injury, could also be intention for a recall to the squad.
The defence who were confident they could hold Tiverton, completed their task, and thus was our first clean sheet since our goalless draw at Havant & Waterlooville. The centre-back pairing is likely to remain the same with our captain Billy Upton playing alongside the impressive Jack Ball, which means Scott Armsworth is unfortunate once more and will be the centre-back option off the bench. I am reliably informed that Joe O’Loughlin’s work commitments have ended, and is clearly the No.1 option to start at left-back. James Clark who has done a fine job in covering this role in recent weeks, is likely to be pushed to the bench. This is because Luton Town’s on-loan signing Zach Ioannides, has nailed down the right-back slot with two strong performances in this role. Elliott Legg, I assume is still out with an injury.
For once the FA looked at the video evidence and rightly revoked Simon Grant’s ridiculous red card in last Saturday’s game against Dorchester. Granty, will therefore don the keepers jersey tomorrow afternoon, and will need to be at his best, alongwith the defence to keep Farnham at bay.
Clearly a poor relegation-bound Tiverton, allowed us to set-up how we wanted, but the opening blast of goals, put any doubt of the result to bed early. This however, will not be the same tomorrow, as we face a Farnham side who are trying to chase down Walton at the top, whilst looking to secure homefield advantage if not via the playoffs. Farnham have goals from all areas of the team, and we will need to be at our best, if we are to keep in the game.
Many fans along with others, will regard this match as a free-hit, with expectations of us losing to Farnham. However, the recent additions to the squad, has clearly built a much stronger starting line-up and potentially could cause a much-needed upset tomorrow afternoon.
Let’s Go Stoke !
Match Preview by Martin French..
Polish 
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