Basingstoke & District League Match Reports from Saturday 13th January, By Peter Raynbird.

Hampshire Junior A Cup

Herriard Sports are through to the Quarter Finals of the Hampshire Junior A Cup after beating Sandhurst Sports 4-2 away and so joins Twentyten in the last eight. The good news is they have avoided each other in the next stage when Herriard are at home to BTC Southampton and Twentyten will entertain Athletic Romsey A, who knocked out Tadley Calleva A.

Sandhurst at present second in the Aldershot League, faced an on form, who swept into the lead after eleven minutes when Adam Nelson found Chris Dobbie with a 50-yard pass and he finished well. In the 42nd Sam Weber went on a solo run to give them a two-goal interval lead and he was to prove a match winner when he scored again in the 51st he scored again from a Dobbie pass and completed his straight hat trick by the 55th after Nick Saunders laid on the opportunity. Sandhurst converted a penalty awarded in the 66th and then scored again in the 72nd. Herriard however retained the lead, even though their manager Craig Lewington had to play in goal with regular Keith Dickens unavailable and he pulled off a fine save with his feet to avert a third as the home side pressed towards the end.

Tadley Calleva A lost 4-3 at Barlows Park against Athletico Romsey, but was in contention throughout. In a very tight first half they went behind after 20 minutes from a corner, but both Stephen Burgess and Gary Hibbs had chances but failed to hit the target. Jack Jones was playing up front in the absence of Peter White and Jeff Graham and three minutes into the second half he equalised and then in the 58th he swivelled and beat the keeper from the edge of the penalty area to put Tadley in front. They remained in change until the 65th minute when the visitors were awarded a penalty and later took the lead with a fluky looking goal from a long shot. It then became 4-2 in the 87th and the other Tadley goal came in added time when a header from Bradley Nash was blocked on the line and Burgess put away the rebound.

Peter Raynbird Cup Semi Finals

Hook has won the Peter Raynbird Cup four times in their history, the last time was in 2015, but they are through again to the final after beating Twentyten in a very close and good game at King George V Playing Fields, winning 4-3 after extra time. It was Twentyten who took the lead after eleven minutes when a through ball from Joe Osborne found Ryan Lupton who beat Greg Archer who was back in the Hook goal It was a long clearance kick from Archer that led to the equaliser scored by Dan Mauridian from a Pete Silvester pass. In the 23rd Hook took the beat when Dan Framp netted a pass from Mauridian. Good saves by Archer stopped Osborne and Lupton pulling things round before they went 3-1 down in the 60th when scuffed shot from Silvester beat keeper Harry Nash. In the 63rd came the big fight back when the visitors looked well on top and a move between Lucas Pickett and Jake Tanner led to Christian Cox making it 3-2. Tanner had a goal disallowed but in the 85th minute Carl Pearson headed Twentyten level and this meant extra time. It was Joe Hodge who came up with the winner, a scrambled affair following a ball in the box from Mauridian. A great one on one save by Archer when Lupton was through in the last minute avoided a penalty shootout. Nial Day, a Hook substitute, was sent off for two yellow cards in extra time.

The other Semi Final between Chineham and AFC Berg had to be abandoned after 68 minutes when the Berg striker Carlos Gonzales could not be moved after breaking his ankle. The match will now be replayed inn two weeks time. Lee Neal had given Berg the lead after just three minutes from a pass from Ash Elward and he added a sec8bd with a 20-yard free kick in the 17th.minute. Chineham replied in the 24th through Shane West following a pass from Richie Smith and West then equalised three minutes into the second half with another assist from Smith. Four minutes before his unfortunate accident, Gonzales had regained the lead.

Basingstoke B Cup Quarter Final.

AFC Aldermaston A came good in the Quarter Finals of the Basingstoke B Cup by beating one of the favourites Sherborne Saints on penalties when it ended 3-3 after extra time. Liam Belcher gave Aldermaston the lead after closing down the keeper. Tobi Judd equalised in the 30th from a Matt Livingstone cross and Luke Morgan headed the visitors in front from a Warren Hill centre. Vinney Kennedy scored a contentious second early in the second half, with a fierce debate as to whether the ball crossed the line to make it 2-2 and with neither side able to score again in the 90 minutes, extra time came. It was Belcher with his second following a rout one ball from keeper Matt Desay that put Aldermaston in front, but substitute Alex Izzo came up with the equaliser to force a penalty shoot out. Aldermaston A won this 7-6, with three saves from keeper Desay. It was Jamie Bridges who scored the seventh to see them through.

Basingstoke Saturday League

Division Two

After six weeks without a game, Basingstoke Athletic played Longdog Soldiers at Sherborne Road and the 1-0 win takes them level with Sherborne Saints and Twentyten Reserves on 15 points sharing top of the Division Two table. It was a close well contested match when in a goal less first half Terry Dingley for Longdog headed just over the bar and also shot wide, but for Athletic Matt Dean hit the post and Josh Boyle headed a chance wide. Longdog pressed in the second half when Jake Pratchett forced a good save from the Athletic keeper, but Jake Barnes in the Longdog goal also did well when Paul Taylor, who has now taken over as Manager, was right through. The lone goal to decide the points came in the 55th. Aaron Johns placed a low centre into the path of Ryan Watts who had an easy tap in.