Short Match Preview: FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Rnd
Basingstoke Town vs Shaftesbury
When: Saturday 4th October 2025 Kick-off 3pm
Where: Winklebury Centre, Winklebury Way, Basingstoke. RG23 8BF
We turn away from the attention of the league, to play our first and hopefully not our last FA Trophy match as we host Step 4 side, Shaftesbury.
Our Opponents – Shaftesbury (The Rockies),
Shaftesbury are managed by Jim Milligan, who is back with the Rockies after a short period at Bemerton Heath Harlequins.
Shaftesbury sit in sixth place in the Southern League Division One South league, with a record of Pld 6 Won 4 Drawn 0 Lost 2 and 12pts. They have scored an impressive 17 goals from those six games.
Saturday’s game will be their third game in this competition,
1st Qualifying Rnd beat Bristol Manor Farm (2-0),
2nd Qualifying Rnd beat Falmouth (2-2) Won 4-1 on Penalties
3 Players to Watch
Tobias Holmes – Their strikeforce includes well-known striker Tobias Holmes, who we have crossed-paths, whilst he played for Wimborne Town, Dorchester Town and Poole Town.
Harry Baker – Another centre-forward, who can also play central midfield, Baker has already found the net in both league and cup competitions this season. He has also had spells at Wimborne Town, Weymouth & Salisbury.
Alefe Santos – 30-year-old Brazilian winger, who has a wealth of football experience with clubs like Bristol Rovers, Yeovil, Aldershot, Chippenham, and more recently Poole, Tiverton & Hungerford Town.
Our Basingstoke Town Side
Following our strong battling performance at Gloucester City, which we ultimately left with lots of praise but no points, we now turn our attention to the FA Trophy, another competition we have failed to progress very far in recent times.
With this, I would expect a strong starting line-up, which Liam Ferdinand will head with Bradley Wilson & Robbie Gallagher, all looking to add to their goal tally tomorrow. It was Gallagher who got Stoke’s only goal last weekend at Gloucester City.
George Reid may still be sidelined, whilst Charlie Austin is expected to be out till December. Joel Rollinson has departed to Ascot Town.
The midfield competed well with Gloucester and is likely to have to deal with a confident Shaftesbury midfield tomorrow afternoon. With this is there likely to be any change from James Dickson & Josh Green, who have been mainstays, with the third spot going to either Ben Cook or D’Andre Brown. Connor Barratt is also a viable option, especially if we look to put out a more attacking line-up.
Our defence looked strong for large periods of the game, but ultimately another two goals were enough to beat us. Despite Shaftesbury’s decent forward-line, it could be a chance to rest one of our centre-backs, and give Scott Armsworth some game-time. If not it will likely be the same back four as last week, with Billy Upton & Jack Ball commanding the centre, whilst Joe O’Loughlin will patrol the left, and Markus Johnson-Schuster the right. James Clark is also an option in defence, whilst it is unclear if Elliott Legg, will be an option if he has recovered from his ankle injury. Simon Grant will once again be between the sticks tomorrow afternoon.
As this preview is being written, it is unclear if Manager Dan Brownlie has been able to strengthen the squad, with a striker and midfielder some of the key areas to upgrade.
On the edge of the playoffs just one division below, Shaftesbury will come to Winklebury with lots of confidence and expectations of an upset, therefore we will need to be at our best, and create and take our chances when they come along. With us out of the FA Cup so early, this is a chance for us to progress into the later stage of the competition, but also collect the £2,450 prize money up for grabs tomorrow.
As always let’s get behind our Boys.
Match Preview by Martin French..
English 
Polish 