Town kick off pre-season with victory over Saints (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Town kick off pre-season with victory over Saints

1:00pm Monday 19th July 2010 in

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BASINGSTOKE Town kicked off their pre-season friendly campaign with an excellent 2-1 victory over a visiting Southampton XI on Saturday afternoon at the Camrose.

The home side won the game thanks to second-half goals from David Pratt and new signing Stuart Lake, either side of a Sam Hoskins header.

The victory left Town boss Frank Gray delighted with what he saw. He said: “It was a good work out for us today against some good footballers. They made it tough for us, being sharper and fitter, but you would expect that as they have been training longer.

“At the moment it is not so much the performance we put in, but everyone getting some minutes played. It is all about getting ready for August the 14th.”

“However, saying that I am pleased with the win and the number of fans we had here today.”

The only blot on an otherwise successful afternoon for Town boss Gray was that new striker Ross Montague was forced to limp out of the contest after 25 minutes.

It does not look good for the summer signing from AFC Wimbledon, who was set to be a great talisman for the side.

Gray said: “The injury to Ross is the only disappointment today for us and we will have to wait to see what the extent of the damage after a scan. It is the same knee he has injured before.”

Yesterday, Town were in action again when Premier League side Aston Villa were the visitors to the Camrose.

Then on Wednesday night they entertain League Two Aldershot Town in their final home friendly (kick-off 7.45pm).

Looking ahead to the visit of one of Basingstoke’s arch Hampshire rivals, Gray said: “I expect to have everyone involved again and it should be a good game for both the players and fans.”

Aldershot were in action on Saturday and won 4-0 at Didcot Town.

See The Monday Gazette for a full report and more pictures from Basingstoke’s win over Southampton.