Basingstoke & District League Match Reports from Saturday 19th January , By Peter Raynbird.

North Hants May Cup Quarter Finals

It was North Hants May Cup Quarter Final day and there will be two Basingstoke League clubs going into the Semi Final draw. The match of the round was between Twentyten and Hook, with the league leaders Hook triumphant after winning a penalty shootout after drawing at ninety minutes 2-2. Although Ally Brown headed against the post from a Dan Mellors cross, it was Twentyten who went in at half time with a 2-0 lead. Dan Hancock put them in front in the 25th minute after an error by keeper Greg Archer, his 17th goal of the season. In the 36th minute their lead was extended when Ryan Lupton headed home a Karl Hanks corner kick, making his tally also seventeen overall. The Hook club has won this cup seven times in their long history; the last time was three seasons ago and soon got back in the game when in the 51st minute this time Brown was on target from a Mellors free kick. Twentyten looked to be going through until in the 85th minute another Mellors free kick was put away by Brown and although it was first flagged for offside and disallowed, it eventually stood, and this brought the penalty shootout. Morgan Davies, Ben Watson, Dan Allison, Jack McKee and Mellors were successful for Hook, while Hanks, Lupton and Hancock netted for Twentyten and Archer did well to save the spot kick from Ben Osborne

Silchester Village played Division Two Oakridge and are through to the last four after winning 3-1. The Division One side forced several corner kicks in the first half, but it was an even contest with Oakridge taking the lead in the 41st minute. It came about after a mix up between keeper Gary Hibbs and Joe Tallentire, handed Alex Spencer his chance to slot home. Silchester drew level three minutes into the second half when Peter White scored following a cross from Kye Theodore. A clash of heads between Nicky Black and Louis Purcell caused a long delay and ended in a hospital visit and stitches. It was in the 75th minute when Silchester struck again. It was Theodore with the spade work and then the centre for Stephen Burgess to bundle into the net. Despite a couple of good saves by Jake Barnes, the Villagers proved the more experienced side and the third came in the 81st when White put away his second.

There was no joy for AFC Berg who entertained the May Cup holders Kingsclere and crashed out after losing 5-2. The Andover League club opened the scoring after ten minutes when the Berg defenders backed away appealing for offside and keeper Torren Kirrage had no chance one on one. It was a repeat soon after as they went 2-0 down, but in the 36th a long throw from Jessie Todd led to Ashley Elward lobbing the keeper. Any hopes of a further comeback vanished when Berg conceded again before the break and it was 4-1 before in the 70th minute Mark Howell scored Berg’ second. There was no repeat as the fifth was conceded late in the game.

Division Two Basingstoke Athletic looked never at the races against Andover League club Broughton, winners of the cup two years ago and crashed out well beaten 7-0. Chris Chaplin felt the finishing score flattered their opponents; it was errors at the back by his team that brought about the heavy defeat.

Leading scorers:
Division One: Kye Theodore Silchester Village 22; Ashley Elward AFC Berg 19; Dan Hancock Twentyten 17; Ryan Lupton Twentyten 17; Jason Graham Silchester Village 11; Jack Nisbett Silchester Village 9. Dan Alliston Hook 8; Dan Mauradian Hook 8; Dan Mellor Hook 8; Chris Dobbie Herriard Sports 8.

Division Two. Stephen Bean Twentyten Reserves 18; Andy Bullock Overton United B 16; Banica Oprea North Warnborough 16; George Lagden Renegades 13; Jack Hulbert Twentyten Reserves 12; Bailey Roffey Overton United B 10; Arron Johns Oakridge 10; Sam Trodd Oakridge 9.