AFTER three defeats on the bounce for Basingstoke Town there was relief from the league as they welcomed Kidlington in the FA Trophy.

Dan Brownlie’s side have seen a poor run of results but on Saturday, October 9, ‘Stoke took a breather from the league to play the Oxfordshire team in a third-round qualifier at Winklebury.

‘Stoke took the lead 20 minutes in with a James Clark play into Dan Rowe, who lifted the ball over the keeper to make it 1-0.

In the 33rd minute, Bradley Wilson crossed the ball to Billy Upton who headed it home (2-0), and just two minutes later Michael Atkinson cut the ball back to Clark who slotted it into the bottom corner.

Speaking after the match, Brownlie said: “The first half we did our good work, we scored some beautiful goals, still the tempo was a little bit slow but it’s difficult sometimes to raise the tempo when teams sit off you a little bit.

“On the whole, I was really pleased with the first half and then the second half, there was no reason for us to come out, we learnt our lesson from Stoneham which was good.

“Still disappointed that we didn’t necessarily put the tempo back into the game, part of today was about gaining a bit of momentum and stopping the rut that we have been on the last three games.”

‘Stoke were hit with injuries and players were unavailable including Ben Cook, Morrison Hashii and Ashleigh Artwell, to name just a few.

Brownlie’s men will now face Swindon Supermarine away in the FA Trophy first round at Webbswood Stadium on Saturday, October 28.

Swindon Supermarine currently play in the Southern League Premier division alongside Basingstoke Town with the sides due to meet at Winklebury Football Complex in the league, just seven days later.

Brownlie said: “Admittedly, I’d have preferred someone outside of our league, but it was unlikely with the amount of teams that are still in it and the regionalisation of it all. It gives us the chance for a nice away day; albeit against a side we’ll be facing a week later. It’s a competition we want to do well in, so we’ll be looking forward to giving it our all on the day.”