Match Report: Basingstoke Town 1 vs 1 Chesham Utd – Saturday 23rd March 2024

Southern League Premier South Division – Saturday 23rd March 2024
Basingstoke Town 1 v 1 Chesham Utd Attendance 926
Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
Dan Brownlie’s starting line-up against the league leaders was: 1. Simon Grant, 2. Curts Angell, 3. Massimo Giamattei, 4. Elliott Bolton, 5. James Clark, 6. Billy Upton (Capt), 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. Paul Hodges, 9. Liam Ferdinand, 10. Stefan Brown, 11. Luis Le Paih
On the bench: Dan Rowe, Shamar Moore, Shane Hollamby, Scott Armsworth & Joel Redmond
Referee – Chris Williams

The game got underway with Stoke attacking the car-park end, and after an initial attack by us, Chesham pushed forward over the next few minutes, winning a couple of corners, which we comfortably dealt with.

Then in the seventh minute, calls for offside are ignored, as Chesham break and two neat passes finds a Chesham player, who has time to cut inside and hit a shot that finds the far corner of the net. Bradley Wilson also goes in the book at this time. Basingstoke 0-1 Chesham.

Chesham continue to push forward, but create nothing over the next few minutes, and Curtis Angell is the next player who goes in the book.

We’re now at the twenty-fifth minute mark, and Stoke are still to put anything of note on the Chesham goal, as the first of a few Chesham players goes in the book for a late tackle.

Stoke then create their first real chance of the half as a cross from the right, finds Billy Upton who heads the ball back across past the goal to where Paul Hodges hooked the ball towards the goal, where the Chesham keeper made the save.
This inspires the next Stoke attack, as a cross went into the box, and a shot was blocked close to the goal-line and the ball then pinged around the Chesham goalmouth, before it was half-cleared straight to Elliott Bolton, who buried his shot in the bottom right-hand corner of the net. GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1 – 1 Chesham Utd (Bolton 44 mins)

Then in added-time, Stoke had the chance to take the lead, as a cross from the right is met by a Stoke forward, whose header somehow flew wide of the goal.

The last action of the first-half, was a strange decision, as the ball ran out of play off the head of James Clark, for a corner, only for the referee and linesman to award a goal-kick, to the annoyance of the Chesham fans behind the goal.
From the goal-kick, the referee blows the halftime whistle and Stoke go into the break, back on level terms.

Halftime – Basingstoke Town 1 v 1 Chesham Utd
With no changes at halftime, the second-half got underway and Stoke had an immediate call for a penalty as Hodges went down in the box, but the referee waved the appeals away.
Stoke continued to be the team pushing for the next goal as they broke across the halfway-line and a neat move culminated in us winning a corner, which unfortunately did not beat the first defender, but which was only temporarily cleared, as we regained the ball and attacked down the right, and Curtis Angell sent over a cross to the six-yard line where Liam Ferdinand met the ball, but smashed his header against the bar and out for a goal-kick.

Chesham had the next attack, a golden chance for their star striker, but he blazed the ball high over the bar from sixteen yards away.

Stoke continued on the front-foot, as Ferdinand came more and more into the game, linking passes both to Wilson and then minutes later to Luis Le Paih, whose shot was safely held by the Chesham keeper.
It was Ferdinand’s turn next to put a shot on goal, as a long ball was controlled and he neatly turned and fired a shot that forced the keeper, into a full-length dive, parrying the ball away, before retrieving it.

Chesham had the next attack from a corner, which was headed harmlessly wide of the near left-hand post.

Stoke then created the next chance, as a flicked header from Ferdinand flew a yard wide of the far post, from Angell’s cross on the right.

Chesham then wasted a free-kick from just outside the penalty-box, as the ball hits the wall and we clear, and it’s time for our first change as Stefan Brown is replaced by Dan Rowe (70 mins).

With fifteen minutes to go, it was Stoke who created the next chance, as a throw-in from Massimo Giamattei was headed on by Ferdinand, just out of the reach of Rowe’s jump at the far post.
Stoke then made their second-change as Luis Le Paih was replaced by Shamar Moore (77 mins).

Chesham had a little play around our penalty area, as we headed into the final five minutes, but first a strong header clear by Clark, and then a harmless shot that flied ten yards high and wide of the far post, was all they could muster..

Shamar Moore then neatly set-up Wilson, whose shot from just inside the box, was held by the keeper.
Then as we hit added-minutes, we won a corner on the left, which fell to Moore at the far post, whose shot flew wide of the right-hand post.
The referee then blew the full-time whistle in the seventh minute of added-time, with Stoke holding the runaway league leaders.

Fulltime Score: Basingstoke Town 1 v 1 Chesham Utd
Bolton 44 mins                                           Lafleur 7 mins

Match Thought’s
Many fans were expecting the worse after the opening ten minutes, but this Stoke side, has learnt how to dig in, and although the equaliser slightly came against the run of play, the second-half saw that we could more than compete with the league leaders, and we were unfortunate in some respects not to take all three points, but more than happy with the one. Elliott Bolton’s neat finish, his first for the club, just the tip of a strong performance by him.
The league leaders, were expecting to take another big step to winning the title, but came up against a strong performance by a Basingstoke side, who were more than worthy sharing the points on the day.
Up Next:
We host Gosport Borough on Good Friday (29th), with a 3pm kick-off.

Match Report by Martin French..