BASINGSTOKE Town remain rooted to the bottom of the National League South table after a lacklustre display against Chelmsford City.

The hosts had beaten the same opposition 4-2 in the FA Cup a week earlier, but they were unable to produce a repeat performance at The Camrose on Saturday.

Chelmsford clearly learned from the cup game and made the necessary tactical adjustments to stop Town recreating their success.

They flooded the midfield, preventing the hosts from playing through with short passes.

Harrison Gilkes had been the best player on the pitch in the first game between the sides, making things happen for Basingstoke. On Saturday, there was constantly a man on him, preventing him from receiving the ball on the half-turn and moving forward.

As an attacking force, Town were completely stunted. Apart from their goal, which came from the penalty spot, they managed just two shots on target and rarely threatened.

In general, they were second best all over the pitch, playing with a distinct lack of intensity and conceding two bad goals.

It's a worrying time at The Camrose. There's a big FA Cup tie against Torquay United to look forward to this week, but Town's league form is terrible.

Saturday's defeat means it is now 13 games without a win at the start of the season and Basingstoke's meagre haul of six points is two fewer than they have ever had at this stage of a campaign since the Conference South was introduced in 2004.

A team that finished third last season lies bottom of the table, five points from safety and in the midst of a relegation battle.

Town manager Jason Bristow named the same team that had beaten Chelmsford a week earlier, but the visitors brought in three different players and one of them, loan signing Matthew Whichelow, proved to be the difference between the sides.

He almost opened the scoring in the second minute, his low shot deflecting off David Ray and rolling narrowly wide, with Mark Hughes getting up to head the resulting corner wide.

Tom Bird had Town's first real effort, but his low shot was too close to Christian Dibble in the Chelmsford goal, while Ray looped a header over and Louie Soares fired a free-kick past the post.

In general though, it was a low-quality affair, with both sides struggling to get anything going in an attacking sense.

Chelmsford's Jordan Brown and Town's Chris Flood failed to hit the target with snapshots, while Liam Enver-Marum's volley flew narrowly wide.

Bagosan Graham created a couple of half-chances, with Brown just failing to get a toe on his low cross and Aaron Howe having to parry another centre away.

The visitors grabbed the lead on 38 minutes. Town goalkeeper Howe looked to set up an attack by throwing the ball out to Flood, but he was under pressure and lost the ball deep in his own half.

Robert Girdlestone made progress down the right before pulling the ball back for Whichelow, whose shot took a wicked deflection off Jay Gasson, giving Howe no chance of making the save.

Whichelow almost doubled the lead before half-time, but his shot from distance flew narrowly over the crossbar.

Town briefly threatened at the start of the second half, with Flood failing to get his header on target from a Soares free-kick and then failing to make the most of an even better opportunity.

The striker raced onto a hopeful ball over the top and did well to hold off Marvin Ekpiteta. However, having got himself into a goalscoring position, he hesitated, allowing the defender to recover and eventually slipping before he could get a shot away.

The game was more open in the second half, but it was Chelmsford who began to create chances.

Howe made a fine save to keep out another effort from Whichelow, while Luke Daley failed to get his head on Graham's cross when any sort of contact would have led to a goal.

Bristow responded by introducing striker Lloyd Macklin and the substitute had an immediate impact, cutting in from the left and going down under a challenge from Daley. It was a soft penalty, but referee Samuel Allison pointed to the spot and Enver-Marum made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Dibble the wrong way to level the scores.

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Having got on terms, the hosts looked to push on. A nice move had Gilkes in down the left, but there was nobody on hand to get on the end of his low centre.

They were almost gifted the lead when Dibble dropped James Harper's ball over the top on the edge of the area. Enver-Marum was on hand to poke the loose ball past him and seemed to be pulled back by the goalkeeper, but the referee was unmoved and Ekpiteta got back to tidy up.

The visitors got what proved to be the winning goal on 76 minutes. Girdlestone and Daley made their way through several half-hearted challenges down the right before the ball reached Whichelow just outside the area. Nathan Smart allowed the winger to turn, but it was a tremendous finish from the Boreham Wood loanee, who found the bottom corner with a powerful shot.

The same player nearly put the result beyond doubt soon after, firing narrowly over from just outside the area.

Town enjoyed a bit of pressure in added time at the end of the match, but they were unable to level, with Dibble making a fine save to keep out Flood's far-post header from a corner and Ray nodding another flag kick narrowly wide.

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

PLAYER RATINGS

Aaron Howe - 6 (out of 10) 
Made one fine save and had no chance with either goal, but his throw out to Flood gave Chelmsford the platform to open the scoring.

Nathan Smart - 6
Targeted by the visitors after struggling in the cup game. Did better but allowed Whichelow too much space to turn for the second goal.

Tom Bird - 7
Generally solid defensively and did his best to get forward.

James Harper - 6
Kept possession well, but didn't provide enough protection to the back four.

Jay Gasson - 7 (Gazette Star Man)
A strong display in the heart of the defence. Unfortunate to see Whichelow's shot deflect off of him for the opening goal.

David Ray - 7
Solid at the back, making some important blocks and challenges.

Louie Soares - 6
Showed some nice touches but unable to really get into the game.

Harrison Gilkes - 6
A shadow of the player who had caused Chelmsford so many problems a week earlier. Marked out of the game.

Liam Enver-Marum - 7
Worked much harder than usual, caused problems and took his chance from the penalty spot well, but struggled with a lack of service.

Chris Flood - 6
Frustrated by a lack of opportunities and didn't take his chances when they did arise.

Manny Williams - 6
A couple of good moments but an otherwise uninspiring display.

SUBSTITUTES

Lloyd Macklin (for Williams 56min) - 7
Made an instant impact by winning the penalty but barely touched the ball after that.

Subs (not used): Robbie Rice, Will Salmon, Shaun McAuley, George Hallahan

Chelmsford City: Christian Dibble, Robert Girdlestone, Aiden Palmer, Mark Hughes, Marvin Ekpiteta, Rory McAuley, Luke Daley, Harry Morgan, Jordan Brown (sub Hugo Skepelhorn 83min), Matthew Whichelow, Bagasan Graham (sub Sean Shields 73min)

Subs (not used): Marvel Ekpiteta, Lee Sawyer, Jonah Gosling

Attendance: 453