BASINGSTOKE Town have been awarded £2,000 for the loss of Kevin Gibbens.

The decision was made at last Thursday's tribunal at the FA headquarters in Soho Square.

Gibbens left the Camrose to join Eastleigh this summer, while still technically under contract at Basingstoke.

That entitled Town to a fee that wasn't forthcoming from Eastleigh, whose valuation failed to match Town's. The matter has been in dispute since then.

The 11.30am tribunal lasted until 12.55pm and was attended by Town boss Ernie Howe and secretary Richard Trodd, Gibbens, and the Eastleigh secretary.

Gibbens was called in first to discuss the matter individually with the hearing committee, before Howe, Trodd and the Eastleigh secretary then made their representations.

Sydenham-Wessex side Eastleigh were only initially willing to pay £500, a 10th of the £5,000 fee Town asked for Gibbens. Manager Paul Doswell did suggest upping it to £1,500 in a private chat with Howe, which was rejected by the Blues manager.

And although the tribunal favoured Town's argument, Doswell was highly satisfied with the committee's decision.

He said: "Ernie wasn't interested in £1,500, so we stopped negotiating at that point.

"I'm more than happy with the outcome of the tribunal. Kevin was outstanding against Hastings (Eastleigh won 6-2 and Gibbens scored) on Saturday.

"And, as Ernie himself said: 'Where can you get a player of Kevin Gibbens' quality for £2,000?'"

Howe told Talk of the Town: "We're not really happy with the decision but we have to accept it and at least we have got something.

"Our valuation was justified, the one we believed Kevin was worth.

"We have got far less than that, so of course Eastleigh are happy.

"You cannot really get a player like Kevin for that sort of money, and we're struggling to get anyone near his class for a similar fee."

Howe added he understood the reasoning of the tribunal committee, given the fact that players are not moving for large fees in the current financial climate.

But he then said: "We have followed the system, done nothing wrong, tried to get the fair price for our player and haven't.

"It's disappointing, but there we go, we just have to get on with it now."

The money has to be paid within 14 days from last Thursday. The cash is going to go into Howe's football budget.

He said: "It may well enable us to get a player in on loan for a period.

"I am working on two deals at the moment and hope to have one of those players here by the weekend."