Southern League

Premier Division South

Tuesday 1st January 2019

Kick Off 15.00 Actual 15.01

Basingstoke Town 1 Farnborough 1, attendance 478

58’ 1-0

90’ + 3, 1-1

@ The Camrose Ground

Western Way

Basingstoke

RG22 6EZ

£12 Admission

£1 Programme, 24 pages.

New Years Day has fewer fixtures being scheduled as each year goes by, so it is not possible to visit anywhere new these days. With The Camrose Ground reportedly being vacated by Basingstoke Town in order to build houses on the site, this seemed a perfect time to pay what is likely to be my last visit here. My only other visit was on 20th July 1995, when they drew 1-1 versus Brentford in a pre-season friendly.

The match today was 17th versus 16th in the league table and was a really poor match, with very little quality and certainly not worth the admission money. Basingstoke went ahead with their first effort on goal when the ball was smashed into the top corner of the net from 20 yards out. Farnborough were let off the hook when a penalty was blazed over the bar with nine minutes left, keeping them in with a chance of nicking a point, which they deservedly did, some three minutes into stoppage time. The point lifts Farnborough three places up the table, but leaves Basingstoke relying on goal difference to keep them out of the relegation zone.

With a fussier Referee, this game may not have finished, as one of the floodlight pylons on the main stand side of the pitch had no bulbs working at all, with at least another four bulbs out on the remaining seven pylons. Watching from the side of the Linesman in that half of the pitch it was impossible to make out any numbers on the players shirts when they were in the far corner.

Once again the matter of whether a Matchday Programme has any future was brought to call. Today’s offering was 17 days out of date, with the usual excuse that the printers are closed over the Christmas Holidays probably to blame, although they certainly haven’t been closed that long!