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Match Report by Nick Wilson, Photo by Steve Gridley
Dan Brownlie hailed his side’s performance on Friday night as arguably one of the best of his three-year tenure as Basingstoke returned to the scene of April’s playoff semi-final heartbreak, vanquishing those memories with a commanding 3-0 win over Chertsey Town.
Amongst the post-match disappointment five months ago, there was a sense of acceptance that ‘Stoke had been a little way short of promotion material but under the Friday night lights of Alwyns Lane, they looked to have taken a clear step forward. The new-look rearguard notwithstanding, that improvement was most clear up front as new striker Ezio Touray spearheaded the charge. The teenager’s predecessor, Conor Lynch, was kept silent by the Chertsey defence in April but Touray was a constant problem, bagging a brace to take his tally for the season to eight in six appearances.
He had already had a dinked finish ruled out for offside and a header somehow tipped against the crossbar by Nick Jupp before being sent clear by Sam Argent and keeping his cool to finish on half an hour. Less than five minutes later, the lead was doubled. Brad Wilson continued his terrific start to the season with his eighth goal of the campaign, racing after George Reid’s pass, cutting back onto his right foot and belting an unstoppable finish from the left-hand side across Jupp.
‘Stoke managed the game superbly in the second half as Chertsey were prevented any sight of goal. The hosts’ left-back Mason Welch-Turner produced incredible recoveries to prevent further Basingstoke goals at each end of the second half, firstly getting back to block Reid’s volley before nicking the ball from the toes of Brody Peart to deny the 17-year-old his first Basingstoke goal.
With stoppage time looming though, Wilson was set free by Reid and unselfishly squared for Touray to wrap the night up from close range, sparking wild celebrations with the travelling Basingstoke fans in the corner.
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