Matches

STEADY FREDDIE SINKS SOMBER ‘STOKE
by David Jarvis

Goals at the end of either half from Freddy Eastwood sealed another away victory for Blues. However a second bookable offence for Ade Olayinka after two unnecessary yellow cards put a different spin on the game.

The first half was fairly uneventful. (Your correspondent has to admit he turned up a little late after missing every turning in his directions before finding the ground!) Both teams picked up yellow cards and Basingstoke went closest with a couple of efforts that kept Grays 'keeper Mel Capleton on his toes.

However, on 44 minutes the increasingly deadly Freddy Eastwood drew first blood for Blues. Turning up on the right wing, Eastwood nipped in behind the Basingstoke defence and slipped his shot past the keeper into the corner of the net.

At half-time, an impromptu fireworks display behind the ground showed just what was required from both teams after the break.

Nevertheless the second half continued to be as scrappy as the first. Basingstoke’s Alex Ewin and Neville Roach both had half chances, first with a shot across the face of the goal, and then with a close range effort that was guided away by the Grays defence.

Danny Hayzelden had two good chances on 52 and 54 minutes. On both occasions he was through on goal after showing good skill, but couldn’t find the finish to put Blues two up.

Then Ade Olayinka showed a little inexperience with a clumsy aerial challenge that had referee Mr Linington reaching for his yellow card for the second time for the Blues defender.

With Grays down to ten men, Basingstoke drifted back into the game as they sought to exploit the extra space on the right hand side left by Olayinka’s departure.

Basingstoke’s best effort of the second half came on 59 minutes when a whipped cross from the left was met by a looping header from Craig McAllister. Fortunately for the away faithful, Capleton was equal to the task.

As Blues struggled to keep it tight and Basingstoke searched for openings in the last third, the game began to open up. But while the Grays defence held firm, gaps were appearing in the Basingstoke defence and on 80 minutes, a sweeping move from the halfway line resulted in Blues’ second goal.

Tony Lock, linking up well in attack having come on for a tired-looking Hayzelden, picked up the ball on the half way line and his pass found Leroy Griffiths on the left. Griffiths’ sweeping cross behind the Basingstoke defence found both Martin Carthy and Freddy Eastwood unmarked, but it was the young 19 year old striker who had the decisive finish to make it 2-0 to Grays.

So it was Eastwood the hero again after a battling yet scrappy performance. Not playing well and still getting a result when down to ten men shows a new kind of application from this young Blues side. Meanwhile Basingstoke will need to show more application in front of goal in order to improve their poor home record.

Teams:
Grays Athletic: Capleton, Bruce, Robinson, Olayinka, Youds, Williams, Marwa, Carthy, Eastwood, Hayzelden, Griffiths Subs:- Oshitola, Bradshaw, Lock, Barrett

Basingstoke Town: Tarr, Dickens, Neville Stamp, Ray, Bristow, Hemmings, Nathan Stamp, Elad, Craig McAllister, Roach, Ewin Subs:- Dyer, Allaway, Watkins, Laidler

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Your comments

Excellent report David, and I'm impressed at the speed in which you have put it on.

Another great win for the 'Superblues' especially when you consider they were down to ten men for most of the second half, and then endured quite a lot of constant pressure from 'stoke but battled well.

Great stuff David. Not sure about the spelling of "somber" though!! Any reason why top man Stuart Thurgood did not play? Roll on Saturday.

Stuart Thurgood had a one match ban, as he had accumulated 5 bookings.

Er, that's how you spell somber in my dictionary !!

Who's have you been using?

This is hardly an issue really, but for the record it can be spelt 'sombre' or 'somber', the latter being how it's generally spelt in the US.

Could anyone tell what has happened to wayne vaughn

I cannot remember what he said his injury was, but he is going to be out of action for most of this season. He may be back for the last month.

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