BASINGSTOKE Town were unable to dent the Poppies’ perfect start to the season, as they lost 3-0 at Kettering in the Southern League Premier Division.

The Dragons will now hope to chalk up their first win of the campaign on Saturday, when they host Chesham United.

This was always going to be a tough trip to Latimer Park and Town boss Terry Brown named an unchanged side to the team which lost at Dorchester 1-0 on Monday night.

With a strong wind throughout the game, the visitors had a couple of half chances from Sam Smart and former Poppies’ frontman Ben Wright early on.

The home side took the lead after 25 minutes from Brett Solkhon, as he headed home James Brighton’s free-kick.

The Dragons’ Colum McAdden then made a good save to keep out a low shot from Ben Milnes.

Dan Collier fired over from Wright’s corner and then captain Marcus Johnson-Schuster did likewise as the visitors tried to level things before the break.

With the benefit of the wind, the home side started the better, but the Basingstoke defence held firm with Dan Bayliss having a good game in the centre.

The home side had a shout for a penalty when Matt Stevens went down from a challenge from Shane Hollamby.

The visitors replied as Michael Atkinson went down in the box, which earned him a yellow card for diving.

The game was settled on 77 minutes thanks to a superb goal from Rene Howe. The striker spotted McAdden just off his line and with an exquisite chip found the back of the net.

Basingstoke tried to hit back, as Hollamby headed over from a corner and then Wright had the team’s first shot on target with six minutes left.

The Poppies wrapped up the 3-0 victory when sub Ben Baker scored in the first minute of added on time with a low shot.

The win left Kettering third in the table and Basingstoke 22nd being one of four teams yet to register a point so far.