Basingstoke ObserverBASINSTOKE Town’s season came to an end on 27 April as, despite a valiant effort, they were beaten by a strong Chertsey side as a pair of late goals sealed the Curfews’ place in the playoff final.
Several hundred away fans made the journey and pushed attendance over 1,100 but a depleted Basingstoke side were unable to break down a strong home defence. Tom Bird made his return to the club but Stefan Brown’s suspension ruled him out alongside fellow attackers George Reid and Brad Wilson.
Chertsey took an early lead as midfielder Andrew Crossley managed to sneak in behind Nathan Smart and poke home his ninth goal of the season after seven minutes. From there, Chertsey looked to sit back and play on the counter and were ruthlessly effective. Despite plenty of possession, ‘Stoke struggled to truly threaten the Chertsey goal in the first half. D’Andre Brown had the best chance with a near post flick from a corner that was deflected narrowly wide.
Chertsey doubled the lead early in the second half with a lovely, curled finish from the edge of the box, but Basingstoke were given hope a couple of minutes later as home keeper Nick Jupp was sent off for a handball outside the box and was replaced in goal by striker Scott Day.
Even with the numerical disadvantage Chertsey defended stoutly, clogging up the central areas to prevent Basingstoke testing Day with shots from range and dealing with any crosses effectively while holding some threat on the counter-attack through Magnus Abisogun. Abisogun had a fierce, angled strike palmed over the bar, but the game was seemingly wrapped up as Ashley Lodge burst beyond ‘Stoke as they pushed forward and finished calmly beyond Strudley to make it 3-0.
McKoy Palmer decided the game wasn’t quite done though and as the board went up to signal eight minutes of stoppage time, he received the kick off and lofted the ball directly into the net from the halfway line. With hope renewed, ‘Stoke piled forward once more but were caught on the break again as Abisogun tucked a low finish into the corner of the net and finish off a 4-1 Chertsey win.
