Southern League Premier South Division \u2013 Tuesday 5th December 2023
\nBasingstoke Town 2 v 2 Hungerford Town Attendance 538
\nWhere: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
\n<\/b>Manager Dan Brownlie\u2019s starting line-up was: 1. Paul Strudley, 2. Kai Hobbs, 3. Markus Johnson-Schuster, 4. Scott Armsworth, 5. Nathan Smart, 6. Billy Upton, 7. Bradley Wilson, 8. Michael Atkinson (Capt), 9. Liam Ferdinand, 10. D\u2019Andre Brown, 11. Paul Hodges
\nOn the bench: James Clark, Stefan Brown, Callum Winchcombe & Mark Scott
\nReferee \u2013 Chris Williams<\/p>\n
This December Tuesday evening game got underway with Stoke attacking the railway end in the first half, and Stoke had a lot of neat passing possession along both flanks in and around the penalty area, but are unable to put any pressure on their keeper in the first ten minutes.<\/p>\n
The visitors then break down the right and a cross is knocked away to the Hungerford No.4, but his shot deflects up into the air straight to Paul Strudley who makes the catch.
\nStoke continue to be the team on the front foot, but again all our possession does not create any shot on their keeper.<\/p>\n
Then totally against the run of play, Hungerford break into our half and a through ball splits our defence and a Hungerford forward is clean through and he slots his left-foot shot past Strudley in goal and we go behind. Basingstoke 0-1 Hungerford<\/p>\n
Marcus Johnson-Schuster is then fed the ball down the right and he picks out Bradley Wilson just past the penalty spot, he has the option to shoot, but taps the ball to his right and is tackled and there are calls for a penalty, but the ball rolls to Liam Ferdinand who slides a passing shot that is comfortably saved down low.<\/p>\n
Hungerford apart from the goal, have created very little as Michael Atkinson, seems everywhere making tackles, but again we have put very little at the Hungerford keeper.<\/p>\n
We are now heading into the final ten minutes of the half, and Hungerford break down the left and a low cross is met by a first-time shot by another Hungerford forward and Strudley is able to get his right-hand to it and rolls out for a corner. Stoke defend the corner.
\nThe referee indicates there will be two added-minutes, which are played with any incident, and the referee blows the halftime whistle.<\/p>\n
Halftime \u2013 Basingstoke Town 0 v 1 Hungerford Town
\n<\/b>The game gets back underway, with us attacking the carpark end and it\u2019s Stoke through Wilson who breaks down the left, but his cross is blocked away.<\/p>\n
Still lots of neat passing in Hungerford\u2019s final third of the pitch.<\/p>\n
More neat play allows a through ball to Ferdinand, who races onto it, and is challenged by the Hungerford keeper, and both are down injured. The game is held up for a couple of minutes as both receive treatment, and both are able to continue, however two minutes later Liam Ferdinand is clearly not well and is replaced by Stefan Brown (57 mins)<\/p>\n
Stoke continue to push forward and a nice bit of intricate passing has us inside the penalty area, with Hodges who is fouled and goes down, and the referee awards us a penalty. Bradley Wilson steps us and beats the keepers dive, as he finds the bottom right-hand corner of the net.\u00a0GOAL! Basingstoke Town 1<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 1 Hungerford Town\u00a0(Wilson 63 min Pen)
\n<\/b>
\nStoke are straight back on it and we win a corner down the right, but Hungerford defend this and the visitors break and we lose three tackles, and a cross into our penalty area and D\u2019Andre Brown, and Billy Upton are able to put tackles in and we clear.<\/p>\n
A minute later another passing move just outside their penalty area has their defender make the tackle, but the balls rolls onto Atkinson, who has space and he slots the ball past the Hungerford keeper into the net.\u00a0GOAL! Basingstoke Town 2<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 1 Hungerford Town\u00a0(Atkinson 66 mins)
\n<\/b>
\nThe game is delayed before the restart by the Hungerford defender who made the tackle, who is still down injured and finally has to be replaced.
\nWe head towards the final twenty minutes, knowing there could be a considerable amount of added-time at the end.<\/p>\n
Hungerford then win a corner on the left. The cross flies over the back and come back into the six-yard area, where a Hungerford striker diverts the ball towards the goal, but Strudley stops the ball on the goal-line and despite all the calls for a goal, the referee correctly waves play-on.<\/p>\n
A minute later some nice passing play has Wilson away and clear, but he drags his shot past the left-hand post.
\nIt\u2019s time for our second substitution on seventy five minutes as Paul Hodges is replaced by James Clark.<\/p>\n
Hungerford Town then create a chance, but the shot is saved by Strudley who punches the ball away.<\/p>\n
Then with nine minutes remaining we lose then regain the ball inside their half, and D\u2019Andre then feeds the ball to Wilson, who breaks towards the penalty area, then hits a left-foot shot, that the keeper gets a hand to and pushes it out for a corner on the right. The kick is met by a Stoke head, but it flies straight at the keeper who makes the save.<\/p>\n
Hungerford are pushing forward with just five minutes to go, but we are holding them and Nathan Smart who has made two good tackles and blocks in the space of two minutes, seems to have picked up a knock, but is able to come on, which is good because we are short on the bench.<\/p>\n
Then down by the corner flag, Strudley is shouting \u201cNo Foul, No Foul\u201d, but the Hungerford forward turns D\u2019Andre, who has hold of him as they enter the penalty area, and he goes down and the referee has no choice but to award a penalty. Strudley gets a strong hand to it, but it still finds the back of the net. Basingstoke 2-2 Hungerford<\/p>\n
The referee has indicated a minimum of eight minutes and after a few minutes of Hungerford play, we break and win a corner. The kick is met by a Stoke head, but it bounces down and straight into the keepers arms.<\/p>\n
Hungerford win a free-kick just outside the penalty area, and the kick when taken hits Armsworth in the wall, and the game is stopped for him to receive treatment.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a little bit of play by both teams, and the referee has now played an extra ten minutes, and he decides that\u2019s enough, and blows the final whistle, with Basingstoke more than good for the point.<\/p>\n
Fulltime Match Score: Basingstoke Town 2 v 2 Hungerford Town
\n<\/b>Wilson 53 min (Pen), Atkinson 66 mins,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0De St Croix 21 mins, McDonagh 86 min (Pen)<\/p>\n
Match Thought\u2019s
\n<\/b>Many fans were worried about tonight\u2019s match-up, but the whole team put a shift in tonight, and for most of the game made a good Hungerford side look average. Special mentions for Michael Atkinson, who seemed in four places at once, and both defensive backs Kai & Marcus who not only supported the attack on many occasions, but also harried there forwards all-game.
\nWith the expectation that other players will be back Saturday, but the concern is the possible injury to Liam Ferdinand.
\nUp Next:
\n<\/b>Well the third of three consecutive home matches comes this Saturday with Beaconsfield Town being the visitors.<\/p>\n
Match Report by Martin French..<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Southern League Premier South Division \u2013 Tuesday 5th December 2023 Basingstoke Town 2 v 2 Hungerford Town Attendance 538 Where: Winklebury Sports Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF Manager Dan Brownlie\u2019s starting line-up was: 1. Paul Strudley, 2. Kai Hobbs, 3. Markus Johnson-Schuster, 4. Scott Armsworth, 5. Nathan Smart, 6. Billy Upton, 7. Bradley Wilson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,95,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-24-match-report","category-2023-24-news","category-featured"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Hungerford-Town.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7877,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions\/7877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.btfcsc.co.uk\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}