Football Days

The Camrose - Basingstoke Town FC

Basingstoke Town 3-2 Truro City

04/09/12 - Blue Square South

Att: 301

Having a Tuesday night off work is always a good opportunity to get out and see a game and after glancing down the fixture list I didn't fancy anything in the JPT, so I opted to make the 18 mile journey down the M3 to see Basingstoke Town's Blue Square South encounter with Truro City. Due to the Cornish side's financial crisis the game was in doubt, with the club due in court on Monday to face a winding up petition, however the court case was adjourned and the match went ahead as planned.

The Camrose is a ground that I've visited on a number of occasions down the years, the first time being in 1999 as I witnessed Aldershot Town's biggest ever victory, as they demolished Andover 9-1 in the Hampshire Cup final. Despite visiting before and generally finding it to be the coldest ground in the country, I was looking forward to the trip. With the ground being a good 40 minute walk from the train station I opted to drive down, leaving home about 6:30, going via the bookies. There was no traffic and I sailed through, pulling into the retail park car park opposite the ground around half an hour before kick off.

As you come down the A30 the first thing you're greeted with are the floodlight pylons and the exterior of the Main Stand, which backs on the road and stands high above the surrounding stands. I noticed that nobody had updated the sign on the back of the stand, so last Monday's match against Hayes & Yeading was still being advertised, which might go some way to explaining the crowd being over 100 people lighter than it has been in previous home games. As well as the sign, the general appearance of the exterior of the ground looks a bit tatty, which isn't doing much to entice the locals to come and see a game - Especially now they've got Premier League football up the road in Reading.

From the outside there isn't really a great deal to see, however the 'BTFC' brickwork at one end of the ground is a nice touch. After taking a few pictures of the outside I went round to the clubhouse and popped in for a drink before making my way into the turnstiles, which are located opposite. Upon entering I was handed a child ticket by the turnstile operator, who explained that he had to give me a child ticket because he'd given a child an adult ticket by mistake and had to balance his books. I asked if this meant I could be let in for child price, but he said no.

Basingstoke have played on this ground since 1946 and I think it's fair to say that the ground has seen better days. As you enter you come in at the Turnstile End, which is a small open terrace which is around 3 steps high. To the right is The Main Stand, which is the main focal point, with 65o seats it covers around a third of the pitch and is the tallest part of the ground. To the left is a covered terrace, around 6 steps high and bizarrely set around 10 metres back from the pitch, which when you consider there's a row of floodlight pylons in front, makes it far from an ideal viewpoint. A small covered terrace at the far end of the ground completes the picture of a ground that's had it's capacity reduced from 6,000 to around 3,000 due to safety concerns.

Plans are afoot for a new stadium with a capacity of 5,000. It's thought that the project will cost around £10m, with the club looking to raise the money by selling off the old site for retail development. It would certainly be a step in the right direction and help the club tap into the large catchment area which they enjoy, with the Basingstoke and Deane area having a population of over 152,000. Despite this, the football team is largely ignored, with crowds usually around the 400 mark, which is quite surprising when you compare it to Aldershot, which has a population of around 50,000, yet regularly get over 2,000 at their games.

Basingstoke were founder members of the Conference South in 2004/05, having played at step 2 since 1996 when they were promoted to the Isthmian Premier. In the 2006/07 season the club made national headlines when they defeated League One side Chesterfield at Saltergate in the first round of the FA Cup, before losing to Aldershot in a replay in the next round. Last season was a good one for 'Stoke, as they finished in a play off spot for the first time, however they were beaten by Dartford in the semi-final, who then went on to secure promotion. After the success of last season they've got off to a steady start this time round, winning one and drawing three of their opening four games. They were denied victory in their last home game as they conceded twice in stoppage time to draw with Hayes & Yeading.

Their opponents, Truro City, have been through the mill in recent times. With debts stacking up and HMRC wanting payment the club is under serious threat of going out of business. Despite this, the players have shown remarkable character and they've got off to an impressive start, with two wins, two draws and one defeat from their opening five games. It was thought that Saturday's game could be their last ever, in which they defeated Boreham Wood 2-0 to move up to 5th in the league table. With this in mind, their team and their band of loyal supporters would have made the 215 mile trip with high hopes of another victory.

It was a frantic start to the match, with the ball spending a lot of time in the air and not much passing to be seen. When another long ball into the channel was latched on to by Basingstoke's Delano Sam-Yorke he showed good strength and pace to beat the last defender before smashing the ball into the top corner to give the home side an early lead. Truro were shell shocked and just two minutes later 'Stoke were on the attack again. The ball was cut back from the byline, right into the path of Sam-Yorke who put the ball in the net from close range to make it 2-0 after just 9 minutes. It looked as if Truro's spirit had ran out and they'd be on the end of a serious beating, but to their credit they regrouped and got themselves back into the game. After a good spell for the away side they pulled a goal back when striker Stewart Yetton headed home. There was controversy just before the break, as Stefan Brown beat the offside trap before cutting the ball back for Wes Daly, who placed the ball into the bottom corner to extend the home side's lead. The Truro players went mad, as they were convinced he was offside.

At the start of the second half the home side put their opponents under pressure, winning a succession of corners but without really creating too many clear cut chances. After weathering an early storm Truro once again grew into the game and had a shot blocked off the line before they pulled another goal back with a long range drive from Kiefer Moore. With the wind in their sails the visitors really piled on the pressure as they chased an equaliser. They enjoyed the majority of the play in the last twenty minutes and had several chances to level the game, but they couldn't find the breakthrough and Basingstoke held on to register their first win since the opening day. Truro made the long trip home without any points, but they could be heartened by the way they responded to going two goals down so early on. But I'm sure they have far more important things on their minds in the coming weeks.

Getting away from the ground was easy enough with the ground located on the Ring Road, which leads straight back on to the motorway and I was back home by 10pm. It was a really enjoyable evening and the match was a thoroughly entertaining one. I wish Truro City all the best and I hope they can get their situation sorted out. I also hope Basingstoke achieve their goal of moving into a new stadium which I'm sure will help them tap into the potential that a town of that size has. The future could be very bright in this part of Hampshire.