By Jacob Wilkinson

BASINGSTOKE Town won consecutive league games for the first time since September, as they beat Tiverton Town 3-2 at Winklebury.

Coming off the back of a valuable 2-1 away victory in Hanwell, Dan Brownlie’s side were delighted to welcome midfield man Ben Cook back into the fold – as he was named on the bench to face Tiverton.

The game was relatively balanced in the opening stages, with neither side generating too much in the final third.

Brad Wilson came the closest to opening the deadlock for Basingstoke, he collected a loose ball before curling an effort onto the crossbar from the left side of the box.

However, the visitors started to show promise in attacking areas, particularly out wide and in transition, and they were eventually rewarded – as they took the lead 20 minutes in.

Javan Wright was played in behind, and he slid the ball through the legs of new goalkeeper signing Simon Grant – who was making his home debut. (0-1)

Basingstoke did hit back minutes before the break, as they continued their feat of scoring in every game of 2024.

Captain Simon Dunn played a clever left-footed ball forward to striker Liam Ferdinand, who got his body across Josh Jones before slotting home a first-time finish. (1-1)

‘Stoke were much improved in the second period, and threatened early with far more attacking impetus.

The home side took the lead – through Brad Wilson. Ben Cook, who had replaced D’Andre Brown from the bench, lifted a ball over the defence which found Wilson on the left-hand side. He brought it down with a delicate touch, before firing into the far corner with his left foot. (2-1)

‘Stoke’s second-half superiority was emphasised shortly afterwards, as Liam Ferdinand bagged his second of the game. Michael Atkinson showed some tidy footwork in the box, before laying the ball off to right-back Marcus Johnson-Schuster. His cross was headed out, but only as far as Dunn – who nodded the ball back over the defence. Ferdinand rolled his man, then composed himself before smashing past Baker. (3-1)

Tiverton did reduce the deficit to one goal deep in stoppage time. Brad Wilson sliced a clearance, and River Allen hooked onto the loose ball before firing a deflected effort into the top-right corner from outside the box. (3-2)

Allen’s strike turned out to be solely a consolation, as the full-time whistle was blown shortly after – seeing Basingstoke secure a home league victory for the first time since November.

Next league game for ‘Stoke is the visit of Winchester City to Winklebury, who they leapfrogged with their 3-2 victory.