BASINGSTOKE RFC’s search for the first win of the season goes on after they suffered another loss in the London South West Two basement battle with Andover.

The Hampshire derby, Stoke’s third of the season went the way of the visiting All Blacks at Down Grange as they won 37-0.

After the game, Stoke captain Rob Northcote said: “I must thank all of the supporters who stood out in cold to cheer us on.

“It was a frustrating game and I know the guys were left with a huge feeling of disappointment at the final whistle.

He added: “We looked good going forward but our last pass wasn’t clinical enough and we dropped off a few tackles when Andover were on the attack.

“It hurts as well to go three games without getting a score on the board, especially when I know how much effort the guys are putting in.”

Despite the loss there were some positives to come out of the game.

Theser were when the backs had the ball they got over the gain line and David Byett in particular seemed to be a huge nuisance to the Andover backline.

Matt Woodhouse again had a great running game and James Ephraim and Fraser Parris looked elusive on the front foot.

Also on occasions Stoke’s forward pack looked like a completely different pack to the one that faced Portsmouth the week before.

They were more resilient in the scrum and tactically countered a heavier pack and their driving maul at the lineout.

Stoke have a week off this weekend, before facing a tough trip to second placed London Cornish on Saturday December 5.

l Basingstoke Academy lost to their Havant counterparts 56-5 in the Hampshire Cup.

The game started at a good pace and the visitors scored two converted tries to lead 14-0.

Stoke hit back and enjoyed a good period of possession, some good slow ball phases from the forwards resulted in the ball being moved out in the backs, where full back Leon Williams made a superb break, shaking off a series of tackles, before he offloaded to winger Ed King who powered over the line.

The rest of the half saw Basingstoke dominated possession, camped heavily in the Havant strike zone, but where unable to find that final pass to add to their tally.

Stoke assistant coach Terry Robson said: “A few hard lessons learned today, Havant were an exceptional side and very clinical in their finishing, I felt we had plenty of possession and matched them for long periods but we were unable to execute the final ball to get over the line.”