Basingstoke Town 0, Maidenhead United 1

NEW Basingstoke Town manager Francis Vines suffered his first defeat since taking over when Nationwide South bottom side Maidenhead scored in the last minute at the Camrose.

Having dominated, and largely controlled proceedings throughout, Basingstoke were arguably the architects of their own downfall in blustery conditions, as their poor home form continued.

This was the club's fourth successive home league defeat and it leaves them in 17th place and five points off the drop zone. The points separating them from safety are getting increasingly tight down at the bottom between Town, Eastbourne, Newport, Carshalton and Hayes.

In a scrappy and instantly-forgettable encounter on Saturday, the visitors frustrated the home side with a gritty defensive display as both sides struggled to come to terms with a bouncy surface.

The first half saw the Camrose Blues spend the majority of their time in the visitors' half, but with little or no creativity coming from the midfield, the best chances of scoring came from errors.

New signing Giuseppe Sole and James Taylor both failed to trouble Maidenhead goalkeeper Francisco Ramos with headers, while Taylor and midfielder David Ray were both marginally wide with efforts from the edge of the box.

Ramos did have to produce two good saves in the first period, the first to turn a goal-bound header from his team-mate Ryan Johnson around the post and the second to deny Ray's swirling cross, which was dipping under the crossbar at the far post.

When Taylor did find the net, from Lewis Cook's centre, referee Linington adjudged the striker had used an arm to control the ball before firing past Ramos.

The second half brought more disappointment for the home crowd. With numerous unforced errors in simple passes, and a lack of support for the strikers, there were plenty of frustrations for the management team of Vines and Steve Richardson.

The Magpies had the wind in their backs in the second period, but apart from a low shot by Eric Kwakye which Town goalie Stuart Searle gathered with ease, neither side threatened a goal.

That was until substitute Ryan Ashe, who was introduced in the 77th minute, scored the killer goal in the last minute.

His header looped just over the line, despite Lee Molyneaux's efforts on the line to clear.

The goal gave Maidenhead's slim chances of survival an unlikely boost, and put Basingstoke right back into the relegation scrap.

Even then, it took a goal-line clearance by Wayne Heath, allied to a superb reflex save by Searle from Kwakye's free header from a cross by Mark Graham in stoppage time, to prevent an even greater embarrassment for the home side.

Basingstoke Town: Stuart Searle, Lee Molyneaux, Neville Stamp, Jason Bristow, Wayne Heath, David Ray, Ben Surey, Jamie Gosling (sub Jerome Maledon 69min), Giuseppe Sole (sub Miguel-Angel Basualdo 62min), James Taylor, Lewis Cook. Subs (not used): Ricci Dolan, Nick Beasant, Andy Smallpiece.

First published: Monday, April 10, 2006