BASINGSTOKE Town extended their end of season unbeaten run to four games, with a comfortable win over 10 men Cinderford.

A Nana Owusu penalty, plus goals from Matt Partridge and Aaron Jarvis saw the Dragons coast to victory over the visitors, who had a player dismissed in added on time at the end of the first half.

Once again Basingstoke manager Terry Brown rung the changes with six in total this time.

Injured trio Aaron Redford, Ashleigh Artwell and Owusu all returned along with goalkeeper Kieran Greene, defender Terence van Cooten and midfielder Michael Atkinson.

In a lively start, Cinderford forced a corner after 20 seconds, which was cleared to the other end, where the home side were then given their own corner.

The Dragons took the lead in the eighth minute, as a delightful ball from Partridge down the flank, saw Redford try to run on to it, but in the process he was needlessly bundled over by Josh Nelmes.

Referee Bhupinder Gill immediately pointed to the spot and with a deft chip Owusu sent Cinderford goalkeeper Glen Cutlan the wrong way to score.

The visitor’s Lewis Bamford then tested Greene, before Owusu so nearly scored a second in as many minutes.

After 15 minutes, the Dragons were forced into a change as Sam Deadfield limped off after taking a knock to his ankle and was replaced by Dan Collier.

The visitors then had their best chance of the game, as Isaac Kelly’s full blooded 25 yard strike which moved in the air was pushed away by Greene.

Just before the half hour mark, the first yellow card of the game saw Hicks cautioned after a foul on Owusu.

Soon after, Rob Atkinson fed Owusu and using a lovely step over he was able to get a shot away, but only found the side netting.

As the first half came to a close, Bamford’s cross found James Bloom with his cross, but the Cinderford defender headed wide at the back post.

Two minutes into injury time, Robert Atkinson went on a lovely run which was crudely ended by Hicks. He was shown firstly a second yellow card and then a red.

With Cinderford reduced to 10 men, the home side bossed the second 45 minutes with Artwell and Robert Atkinson going close early on.

A rare visitor’s attack saw Greene anticipate the danger coming off his line to deny Jack Alderdice, as he went on to collect his second clean sheet in as many games.

Just before the hour, the home side so nearly added a second as skipper David Ray hammered a header against the crossbar and Michael Atkinson’s rebound effort was blocked.

However, the Dragons were not to be denied and a lovely team goal saw them double their advantage on 70 minutes.

Ray started the move with a lovely ball out wide to Redford on the right. The striker played the ball inside to van Cooten, who in turn fed Partridge inside the area.

The midfielder then showed great composure to stroke the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

The three points were then made safe seven minutes later, when Redford found Jarvis and his strike partner took one touch, before blasting it past a helpless Cutlan.

Owusu then nearly added a fourth, but his curling effort hit the crossbar as the home side had to settle for a 3-0 victory.

Talking after the game, Basingstoke boss Brown said: “It was not one of our better performances. It looked like an end of season game to me.”

“Aaron Redford was our best player today he really worked hard all game and it was nice to see Kieran (Greene) get another clean sheet.”

Town’s next game at Dorchester is tomorrow and the Dorset side still need a point to make sure of safety.

Looking ahead to the game Brown said: “All five subs today will start on Monday, and I think it will be a difficult game. We played out a very tight draw here and were fortunate to win in the cup when we were last there.”

Basingstoke conclude their league campaign with what could be their final game at the Camrose on Saturday, against play-off hopefuls Hitchin.