Basingstoke move up the league

Basingstoke 24 pts Chippenham 3 pts

FOR the second consecutive week, a stern half-time reality check was required before Basingstoke could claim victory and move up the Southwest one table. The first 40 minutes at Down Grange on Saturday were poor for both teams, but ’Stoke led 6-3 at the break thanks to full-back Simon Humberstone’s two penalties, scored on 20 and 25 minutes. With driving rain, allied to a less than stringent collective attitude, which prevented an expansive game, ’Stoke initially failed to shine in front of their home supporters.
But, after the interval pep-talk, ’Stoke came out a totally different team, with early pressure leading to territorial gain. Scoring opportunities came, but none were taken until Simon Buckland, restored to the centre, produced a great weaving run to score near the posts. Humberstone missed the conversion but, soon after, regained his composure to kick a longrange penalty to increase the ’Stoke lead to 14-3. With the rain easing, ’Stoke were able to start running the ball and they scored two tries in quick succession, on 75 and 78 minutes, to dominate play. The first was scored by Shane Murphy and came from a driving scrum. The second came from Simon Appleby, who was first to the ball following a kick ahead and chase. Both conversion attempts were missed. Although the final score followed a less than convincing performance, ’Stoke were never really threatened. At times they tried to over-complicate matters when a more simple execution would have been the better option. On a day where errors were plentiful, ’Stoke did at times show what they are capable of.

Man-of-the-match Jim Dixon, who turned 28 the day before, led by example, while Buckland and new signing Murphy, playing in his less favoured position of hooker, put in solid performances. Player-coach Dixon said afterwards: "I think our good fitness once again showed in a better second half display. "Although at times our tackling was not as good as it should be, our defence allowed few scoring opportunities for Chippenham. "We worked hard in training to eliminate the penalties we’ve been giving away, which we applied well in the game today. "But, with Clifton next up on Saturday, we will need an 80minutes performance."

’Stoke: Simon Humberstone; Dave Lambert, Simon Buckland, Matt Lucas, Gareth Jones; Carl Marshall, Darren Lillywhite (rep Jamie Fish); Phil Perkins (rep Mark Rushworth), Shane Murphy, Kym Townsend, Nate Mantle, Russell Northcote, Ross Stirling (rep Simon Crew), Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon.

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