Basingstoke & District League Match Reports from Saturday 26th January , By Peter Raynbird.

North Hants Junior Cup Quarter Finals

The AFC Aldermaston club has two teams going into the Semi Final stage of the North Hants Junior Cup after both their Reserve and A teams won though in the Quarter Finals played last Saturday. Their A team had a 2-0 win against AFC Berg Reserves. Vinney Kennedy in the 28th minute from a good ball from Tom Cannon and Ashley Jones-Skeggs scoring from a penalty after Liam Belcher was fouled in the 65th.
Their Reserves were at Barlows Park where they faced Tadley Calleva A and won 5-2. It was Tadley having the better of the first half where they crossed over 2-0 ahead. Ellis Theodore with a low shot from just outside the box gave them the lead after just four minutes and although Martin King headed home a corner by Ryan Alexander to level, Theodore netted again with another 20 yarder right on half time. Three minutes into the second half Michel Porter put Aldermaston in front from Liam Tackley’s corner kick and Luquan Small cut in to put them in front. Alexander made it 4-2 with a 35-yard free kick and finally Tackley went past three men and competed a successful afternoon for Aldermaston after being put through by Matt Wilkins.

Overton United A, without a win this season, met Renegades at Everest School and are through to the last four after beating them 2-1. . Renegades, who are top of Division Two, had six regulars out and fielded a make shift team. Even so after a goal less first half, they took the lead in the 55th minute when Richard Reece took a return pass from Ricky Smith and his shot was deflected in off Nigel Canings. It took Overton five minutes to level when a cross from Luke Skinner was headed down by Damian Trendall and Ben Wootton put away his chance. Overton’s then look the lead when Louis McCann ran onto a through ball from Wootton and slotted past the keeper. Renegades thought they had equalised in the 88th minute when a free kick from Ashley Burchett fell to Matt Baker and ended up in the net, but it was disallowed for a foul on the keeper.

The other Semi Finalist are Andover New Street Swifts who had a walk over after Twentyten Reserves were unable to fulfil the Quarter Final fixtures the previous week against them due to players cup tied, hence unable to raise a team.

Basingstoke Saturday League

Division One.

Hook retains top spot in the Division One table after a very tight game against AFC Berg, just one point behind them before this game. This was sweet revenge for Hook who were beaten 1-0 by Berg just three weeks ago. Although it was closely fought match, it was marred in the final two minutes when Kieran Alleyne, the Berg striker was sent off for head butting and looks to be facing a lengthy suspension. It was Hook who had the better of play in the first half and went into a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes. It was in the 7th when a free kick taken by Shaun Hayes was met with a glancing header by Ally Brown that proved too good for keeper Torren Kirrage. By the 15th they went two goals ahead, this time Dan Alliston with finish from an assist by Ismael Alvarez. Hook had manager Humphrey Sims in goal and two minutes before half time a shot from Reece Chapman beat him to put Berg back in the game and in the 67th they equalised through Kieran Alleyne. The winner for Hook came in the 76th minute when a shot from Hayes was blocked; fell to substitute Dave King, who showed great composure by finding the gap to beat the three defenders on the line.

Bottom of the table Herriard Sports suffered a humiliating 17-0 defeat against unbeaten Twentyten, who now moved into second spot in the table. With their keeper Matt Watson injured Herriard had an outfield player in goal and it took Alan Spacagna’s side 25 minutes to open their account when Ryan Lupton scored with an angled shot and by half time it was 6-0. Although Chris Dobbie did hit the bar for Herriard, it was one-way traffic with seven coming in the final 20 minutes, including a hat trick for Joe Hill, who came on as sub during this period. In all the goals came via Dan Hancock (3), Lupton (2), Charlie Hill (2), Karl Hanks (2), Jack Clarke(2), Joe Osborne (2), James Arnold.

Division Two

Overton United B keeps their title hopes alive with a 3-0 win against North Warnborough in Division Two.
Andy Tottman was brought down just outside the box in the tenth minute and from the resulting free kick by Kevin Beaumont they took the lead. .Borough, who were not at full strength with injuries, had a strong penalty claim when Bailey Craig was brought down, held out until the 56th minute when a Bailey Roffey through ball gave Tottman his chance to make it 2-0. For the last 40 minutes Borough were down to ten men when Matt Hobbs had to go off with an injury and conceded again with ten minutes left when Ross Harwood scored after an assist by Roffey

Oakridge are still well in contention for promotion after a 1-0 win against Chineham . Although they dominated play for long periods, they could only manage to net the once, when in the 28th minute a corner from Sam Trodd was met with a glancing header from Noah Pratchett. Chineham had a great chance when Ben Cronin was through and failed to beat keeper Jake Barnes in a one on one situation. Shane West, Paddy Callahan and Cronin all tested Barnes, who pulled off some superb saves as Chineham hit back, but the closest either side came to scoring again, was when Oakridge sub. Taylor Butler hit the post.

Basingstoke Athletic are having a great time at the moment after their good form earlier in the season. This week they went down 8-1 against Twentyten Reserves when Stephen Bean netted four times. It was Bean with the opener in the 4th minute after a goal keeping error and goals from Olly Knox, Jack Hulbert and Josh Bromley had them 4-0 up, a chance to pull one back for Athletic was missed when Kieran Challis saw his penalty kick saved by keeper Alan Burridge. Joe Richards netted the other goal for the winners and at 7-0 Greg Adams netted the lone goal for Athletic.