BASINGSTOKE Town produced an almost faultless away performance to move up to third in the Vanarama Conference South table.

A Liam Enver-Marum brace and a rare Louie Soares header gave the visitors a comfortable victory in Berkshire last night, with the visitors dominating proceedings for most of the game.

Despite a heavy pitch, Town managed to keep the ball really well, while their energy levels were exceptional throughout. Maidenhead had caused them significant problems when the sides met at The Soccer AM Stadium 10 days earlier, but a change of shape to 3-5-2 negated their pressing game and allowed the visitors to pass the ball through midfield.

Basingstoke made one change to the side that had drawn at St Albans, with the injured Manny Williams replaced by defender Robbie Rice as the visitors switched formations.

Maidenhead lined up in a 4-3-3 system, hoping to use their strikers to pressurise Town defenders into a mistake, but they were unable to have the same impact. Playing with an extra centre back gave the defenders more options, while all three of the midfielders were constantly on the move, creating spaces.

The visitors were on top from the first whistle. Enver-Marum almost forced an own goal early on but there was no stopping the striker when he latched on to a long ball forward after 12 minutes.

One of the Maidenhead defenders got drawn to Chris Flood, who had dropped deep, leaving Enver-Marum with just Mark Nisbet for company when the ball cleared them. The striker made ground into the area, holding Nisbet off before firing an angled drive beyond goalkeeper Ashley Timms to open the scoring.

Town goalkeeper Stuart Moore was called into action for the first time on 18 minutes, pushing Leon Solomon’s effort past the post, while Tashan Adeyinka was unable to make the most of a decent chance from the resulting corner, heading wide.

Generally though, Basingstoke were very much on top. Timms had to make a decent save to deny Flood, while Soares put a low shot just wide.

Two more chances fell to Flood before half-time. Tom Bird’s low centre got caught under his feet, preventing him getting a shot away, while a good drop of the shoulder saw him fire in a shot that Timms got down to save at his near post.

Maidenhead made a double substitution at the break, but the second half began slowly, with little in the way of action before Soares doubled the lead on 55 minutes.

Bird was allowed to cross from the left and his centre found the head of the midfielder, who directed the ball into the bottom corner from 10 yards to make it 2-0.

Any lingering hopes Maidenhead may have had were totally extinguished 12 minutes later, when Enver-Marum beat the offside trap to run through on goal. Timms was able to save his initial shot, but could not recover in time to prevent the striker firing home the rebound.

Town looked to kill the game, playing keep-ball, but to their credit, Maidenhead didn’t give up. Sam Barratt and Danny Green both forced Moore into action, while Barratt also saw his miss-hit cross rattle the crossbar.

Shaun McAuley went close to adding a fourth goal in the closing stages, but Timms was able to tip his shot from a free-kick over the crossbar.

Click here to watch a post-match interview with Basingstoke Town manager Jason Bristow

PLAYER RATINGS

Stuart Moore – 7 (out of 10)

Didn’t have too much to do, but made a couple of decent saves to ensure he kept a clean sheet.

Nathan Smart – 7

Never stopped running and gave Maidenhead plenty of problems down the right.

Tom Bird – 8

Excellent defensively, making a couple of key interventions. Got forward when he could and put in the cross that led to the second goal.

Robbie Rice – 8

Rarely troubled defensively and gave the hosts real problems by carrying the ball into midfield.

Rob Dickie – 7

Another solid display from the Reading loanee.

David Ray – 8

Organised the defence well, kept the dangerous Tashan Adeyinka quiet and followed Rice’s lead by taking the ball on to commit players in the midfield.

Louie Soares – 8

Always looking for space and took his goal really nicely.

Shaun McAuley – 8

A really energetic performance. Covered every blade of grass and made things happen going forward.

Liam Enver-Marum – 8 (Gazette Star Man)

Two really good finishes put Maidenhead to the sword. Did a good job of holding the ball up.

Chris Flood – 7

Direct running caused problems for the home defence. Worked hard and unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.

James Harper – 8

Worked really hard, creating space for other players. Rarely gave the ball away.

SUBSTITUTES

Lloyd Macklin (for Enver-Marum 68min) – 6

The game was already won when he came on. Caught offside too often as he looked for a goal.

Simon Dunn (for Soares 75min) – 7

A strong return to the side after injury. Caused problems with his work-rate and direct approach.

Andrew Jenkinson (for Harper 77min) – 6

Helped Town to keep the ball in the closing stages.

Subs (not used): Case, Cox

Maidenhead United: Timms, Vanderhyde, Solomon, Nicholls, Nisbet, Erskine, Green, Hutchinson (sub Upward 46min), Adeyinka (sub Brown 73min), Strutton (sub Barrett 46min), Tarpey

Subs (not used): Behzadi, Gray

Attendance: 352

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