Basingstoke & District League Match Reports from Saturday 2nd March, By Peter Raynbird.

Peter Raynbird Cup Semi Final.

It is Overton United B who will meet Twentyten in the Final of the Peter Raynbird Cup on Saturday 30th March at the Camrose Ground after they defeated Division One opponents AFC Aldermaston Reserves 3-1. It was Ross Soper-Dyer and Steve Caswell .who took over running the Overton third string this season and besides seeing the team through to this final, are also at present second in Division Two. It was the Division One side who took the lead after ten minutes when Caswell brought down Chris Allen and Lee Wheeler made no mistake from the penalty kick awarded. It was just before half time when Olly Parker broke clear and equalised with a 20-yard shot. Chances fell to Allen and Jamal Small, but it was Overton who took the lead in the 70th minute. A corner taken by Parker was not dealt with and Andy Bullock took advantage of the mistake. The third came with ten minutes left when Bullock scored again after chasing a long ball from Bailey Roffey.

Basingstoke A Cup Quarter Final Replay

The Basingstoke A Cup Quarter Final Replay, abandoned in December with five minutes to play with Berg leading 5-1 against Overton United A, was not played as Overton could not field enough eligible players. Berg has now been awarded the match and will meet Hook at home in the Semi Finals. The other Semi Final is between Silchester Village and Twentyten.

Basingstoke Saturday League

Division One.

It was Silchester Village who took maximum points in the local derby against Tadley Calleva A. with a 5-3 victory. Silchester, who remain unbeaten in Division One, were quick off the blocks and took the lead after just two minutes through Jason Graham. The lead was extended in the 15th when Omar ?????? netted. Play was really end to end after this with Tadley coming back in the 37th when a free kick from Charlie Neville hit the bar and post before landing to Bradley Cox who forced it over the line and in added time Jack Nesbit put Silchester 3-1 ahead. Within two minutes of the second half Tadley were back in the game with a 25-yard shot from the excellent 17 years old Neville, dipped past the keeper. Tadley’s chances of coming back again disappeared when Sean Newton’s foul brought a penalty and Kyle Theodore converted. A shot by Jason Graham hit a divot that confused keeper Gary Harper made it 5-2 before a penalty in the 82nd put away by Cox completed the scoring.

Twentyten, who are also undefeated, also had a good result by beating Hook, who now looks out of the running for the title. Hook had an early chance when a throw in by Dan Allison fell to Ally Brown and one on one with the keeper, shot straight at him. In the 30th minute the game changed in favour of Twentyten. A throw in by Joe Osborne fell to Joe Hill, on to Ryan Lupton and his effort was deliberately handled on the line by Dan Mellors, he sent off and Jack Clarke scored from the penalty. Just before half time Osborne and Hill combined for Lupton to make it 2-0 with an overhead kick. Dan Hancock came on as substitute in the 55th minute and five minutes later made 3-0 after a poor clearance.

Division Two

Renegades keep well on track for the Division Two Championship with a 6-0 away win against Basingstoke Athletic, helped by a four-goal haul from George Lagden. It was however Danny Costen who scored the opener in the fifteenth minute following a corner by Ian Ryan. In the 31st a free kick from Ash Burchett was helped on by Costen for Lagden to net his first and four minutes later Richard Reece, who had an excellent game, played Lagden through for his second and by the 44th he completed his straight hat trick. Ricky Smith added another in the 60th, after good inter play by Burchett and Reece. Finally, an overhead kick from Lagden completed the scoring from another Costen assist.

AFC Aldermaston A remain bottom of the table even though they won only their second game of the season when beating North Warnborough 2-1. Borough Manager Craig did not have the strongest of sides available but still had enough chances to win this game. Poor finishing from Banica Oprea on two occasions in the first half were scorned and Luke Ratcliffe went close before they lost two men injured and they conceded when Harrison Edwards scored. In the 44th they went 2-0 down when a corner from Tony Johnson led to Vinney Kennedy scoring. After this Borough pressed quite a lot and were rewarded when a free kick taken by Oprea hit the bar and Khalil Bentaleb put away the rebound. After this the Aldermaston defence did well to ensure all three points.

AFC Berg Reserves and Oakridge fought out a 2- 2 draw at Stratton Park, although Oakridge Manager Matt Morrison felt they should have won easily with the amount of chances’ in the second half. They took the lead after only eighth minutes play when Noah Pratchett found Sam Trodd with a decent pass and it was curled into the net from 20 yards out by the Oakridge striker. Jake Pratchett then hit the bar before they took a two-goal lead in the 18th minute and this came when Sam Mosdell robbed his man and again it was curling shot that beat the keeper. Just before half time Berg hit back when an error at the back led to Steve Death handing Karl Holbrough an easy tap in. Oakridge had striker Terry Dingley in goal in the absence of regular Jake Barnes and a dipping shot from Tommy Lucas beat him. Alex Spencer, Trodd and Mosdell all had good chances to win it of Oakridge as they dominated the second half.