Basingstoke 23 pts v Barnes 16 pts at Pack Lane Sept 15th 2007
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

HAVING looked as if they were going to throw away victory in their first home game of the season, ’Stoke came back well to win with a last-minute penalty try. Leading 16-6 with just four minutes to play at Down Grange on Saturday, Basing- stoke conceded two late tries to leave the sides level on 16 points deep into injury time. However, there was still time for one last play and while ’Stoke had struggled to get their backs into the game throughout the match, it was they who produced the match-winning move. The ball was passed out to the left, where Glen Lewis did well to beat one man and draw in another before feeding Mike Goodall outside him. With just one defender between him and the line, Goodall kicked the ball over the top for Karl Buttle to chase. Buttle got to the ball first but looked to have wasted the opportunity when he failed to grab it. The Barnes defence were also unable to lay their hands on the ball though and it bounced past the try line where the winger looked set to dive on it before he was held back. Referee Mike Beech immediately awarded a penalty try, and the conversion was confidently slotted away by Goodall to give ’Stoke a seven-point victory.

Speaking after the match, a relieved Jim Dixon was pleased to have beaten Barnes, a club that has invested a lot of money in players over the last few years. "It was a close-run thing, but at the end of the day we got the result we wanted," ’Stoke’s director of rugby said. "We looked sharp and I was pleased with our set pieces. We won a lot of lineouts against the throw and scrums against the head, which is a really good sign. "I spoke at half-time about getting the backs more into the game, but we were just not able to do that. "It was a lovely move at the end, though, and the back three worked really hard off the ball and in defence throughout the match. "Overall, I thought we played pretty well but there is plenty to work on. We need to look at some aspects of our defending, play in midfield and especially restarts. We conceded most of our points from restarts. That is not good enough."

The first half of the match showed no promise of the drama that was to follow, with most of the play taking place in the middle of the field, and both packs dominating. Barnes had the better of the opening 15 minutes but ’Stoke gradually worked their way into the game. Simon Appleby (pictured left) came close to scoring with 39 minutes on the clock when he intercepted a pass by the Barnes No 8 and headed for the line. He was stopped two yards short and knocked the ball on, giving Barnes a five-metre scrum. A big push from the ’Stoke forwards saw this scrum won against the head, and flanker Ross Stirling was pushed over the line to give the home side the lead. Goodall slotted home the conversion, but Barnes scored an injury-time penalty to make the half-time score 7-3 to Basingstoke.

Goodall converted two penalties early in the second half to give ’Stoke a 13-3 lead, but it was the visitors who dominated much of the game from then on. Despite being reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes when winger Thomas Archer was shown a yellow card, Barnes continued to test Basing- stoke’s defence and only a great last-ditch tackle from Chris Jackson prevented flanker Francois Marais from crossing the line during this period. However, it looked as though ’Stoke had weathered the storm as both sides added three points from penalties to make the score 16-6 going into the last five minutes of normal time. With Basingstoke beginning to look tired, substitute Kiki Stowers was allowed to cross the line unchallenged to reduce the deficit. Shortly afterwards, the Barnes forwards managed to force the ball over to level the scores, though they appeared to knock the ball on in the run-up to the try. With both conversions being missed, the match looked to be heading towards a draw, but ’Stoke had saved their best for last and came away with the win.
Basingstoke: Dave Lambert; Glen Lewis, Mike Goodall, Gareth Jones, Karl Buttle; Dean Fenn, Chris Jackson; Neil Young, Glenike Hawea, Matt Oliver, George Scott, Nick Cooper, Ross Stirling, Simon Appleby, Christy White. Replacements: Jamie Folan, Tom North- cote, Matt Dramby.