Basingstoke Town's perfect start to the Blue Square South season continued with a 4-1 win over Weston-super-Mare at the Camrose on Tuesday night.
The victory made it two wins out of two for Frank Gray's side, who lie third in the league behind Dover and Woking on goal difference. Gray was able to name an unchanged side for the fixture, and there were only five minutes on the clock when Stuart Lake put the home side ahead.
The midfielder latched onto a clearance 25 yards out and his shot took a deflection that looped up and over Weston 'keeper Lloyd Irish. Within two minutes the Dragons had doubled their lead through David Pratt. Irish made a hash of a Wes Daly free kick and allowed Ross Adams to nod the ball down for Pratt to knock home from close range.
The nervous stopper could have conceded a third shortly before the half hour mark when Toby Little's cross was deflected towards goal and Tim Sills challenged Irish for the ball only for referee Sarah Garratt to penalise the striker for a foul. But on 29 minutes Pratt made it 3-0 with his second of the evening. Daly knocked the ball in to Sills who let it go past him, confusing his marker and allowing Pratt to run through and thread the ball under Irish and into the net.
Two minutes later a cross from Delano Sam-Yorke narrowly evaded the onrushing Sills and Daly and Pratt narrowly failed to convert a first half hat trick when his effort was blocked at the far post. Shaun McAuley should have done better when he played a clever one-two with Sills and burst through on goal only to shoot too close to Irish who saved with his feet.
The game continued in much the same fashion after the interval, with Irish in the thick of it. Sam-Yorke beat the 'keeper to a lofted ball into the box, which the visitors managed to scramble behind. From the corner Irish had to jump to tip the ball over the bar.
On 52 minutes Sills rose to get on the end of a free kick and after his initial header was blocked he fired the rebound over the bar. On the hour Weston switched to 4-4-2 in a bid to reverse their fortunes and Sam-Yorke was forced to leave the pitch injured, with Matt Warner coming on to replace him.
The change helped the visitors who pulled a goal back through Matt Huxley on 67 minutes. Running on to a through ball Huxley kept his cool to slot the ball past Ashley Bayes and make it 3-1. The goal lifted Weston, and Kane Ingram sent a shot over the bar from the edge of the box.
But Basingstoke stayed calm and Warner scored the fourth in injury time to seal victory. Pratt crossed from the left and the ball broke to Warner on the edge of the six yard box, and he drove it high into the net with glee.
