OPPOSITION NOTES- Basingstoke town

After an unbeaten run of 10 games to start the Southern League Premier Divison, Basingstoke have won just three of their last 19 games as they sit perched firmily in mid table and looking down the relegation mire.

Denied at the last gasp by a 23 game unbeaten Merthyr Town side on Tuesday night away in Wales, Basingstoke currently sit in 12th place in the league, the same spot that they ended up finishing the 2023/24 season.

The 'Stoke are one of seven sides in the division currently sat on eight wins, with the hosts large amount of draws push them up the table with only Bracknell Town and Dorchester Town picking up more than their 11 in their 29 league games so far.

Their terrible run of form that has seen them lose 10 of those 19 games and has seen any hopes of a playoff push disintegrate as they are one of a number sides stuck in no mans land, sitting six clear of the relegation zone where the tide is increasing on the number of points needed to stay up.

Over a 20 game period Basingstoke have relegation form, with a negative goal difference of -13 that has seen them go from a sturdy, unbeatable side to one that has been exploited on multiple occasions.

In what has become an incredibly congested league from outside the playoffs sports to the drop zone they are just two points behind 8th placed Bracknell but only four ahead of 17th placed Plymouth Parkway

In their 14 matches at their home stadium the Winklebury Sports Complex they have a near identical record for wins, draws and defeats with 5 wins and losses, and a further four points on their own turf.

Town's currently top scorer is Liam Ferdinand with the 30-year-old forward currently sat on 11 goals for the season, the same amount that he netted for his current employees in 2023/24.

Behind Ferdinand on the scoring charts is Nnmadi Nwachuku on five and Dan Warre sitting on four goals.

They are the third highest scorers in the bottom half behind only Parkway and Chertsey as they currently have scored 43 goals in their 29 games, conceding 48 in that time which is the 7th worst in the entire league.

Despite their poor form in the last few months, the 'stoke are standing firm behind long serving manager Dan Brownlie, who has been in charge since September 2019 and he has seen them climb into the Southern League Premier Division, having got the hosts promoted from the Southern Central Division as champions in 2022/23.

In the reverse fixture it was a tale of two early goals with Nwachuku scoring the opener for Basingstoke in the third minute, before man mountain Ben Richards Everton pegged them back just two minutes later

There was little to seperate the two sides from that moment on till minute 90 as it ended in a 1-1 draw, one of two draws that City have had at the TigerTurf Stadium, after their most recent result where they picked up a strong point against AFC Totton.

That result preserved the sides respective home records and away records at the time, in what was supposed to have been a match between two sides gunning for the playoffs at worst but it has not transpired out that way.

Despite the trepid run of form that has seen a total collapse of fortunes from Basingstoke since the 10th game of the season, nearly picking up all three points at the Penydarren Park just missing out to become the first side to beat Merthyr on their own patch shows the quality that the home side still have at their disposal.

With strong backing behind their manager and a good squad, Basingstoke can still have hopes of getting back into the playoff fight, but they will need that to begin by defeating the Tigers to end a run of just one win in 10 matches, otherwise staying above the dotted line of survival may be what they have to worry about come the end of the 42 game season.