Basingstoke Town held second placed Chertsey Town for a goalless draw away from home, despite missing front men Conor Lynch and Stefan Brown through injuries.

Town rocked up to Alwyns Lane on the back of four straight victories, looking for vengeance against an experienced Chertsey side, who beat Basingstoke convincingly in the reverse fixture back in November.

Following a stormy 24 hours and the referee deeming the pitch fit for play, ‘Stoke lined up with academy starlet Brody Peart, who made his full debut.

The Curfews began the game on the front foot with Jake Baxter firing a shot at Strudley in the ‘Stoke goal in the opening two minutes. Chertsey’s wide attacking mentality was evident throughout and Didi Ndombe’s attempt flashed across the away goal just a minute later.

Basingstoke’s first real attacking opportunity came courtesy of the pace of Bradley Wilson as he chased down a ball on the right and squared it to D’Andre Brown whose wide shot wasn’t enough to test Nick Jupp in the Chertsey goal.

On 14 minutes, Chertsey’s opposite wide man Magnus Absiogun weaved his way through the ‘Stoke defence, which lead to a shot which Strudley did well to parry before getting quickly up to his feet to push another attempt wide of the post.

The pitch was sticky in some areas and Basingstoke were caught guilty of taking too many touches in the middle and were dispossessed with 26 minutes on the clock, with Abisogun’s effort eventually being diverted wide by the outstretched leg of Robb Sheridan.

A dipping Chertsey free kick 5 minutes before half time evaded the 5-man wall but not Paul Strudley as he got down well again to his right.

‘Stoke came out in the second half on the front foot and an opportunity rose for Peart to chase down and skip beyond former ‘Stokie Jay Gasson but his low drive was blocked on the 55th minute.

Three minutes later, Brown made a terrific claim for the ball in the centre of the park and fed Wilson who escaped a couple of markers before his chipped effort was collected high by Jupp.

On the hour-mark, Ben Cook took a knock and was replaced by new acquisition Marcio Neves for his debut in the white away strip of Basingstoke Town.

In another solid defensive display which saw Basingstoke concede just once in the previous four matches, in the 84th minute, Basingstoke gave away possession but Abisogun’s strike was just wide of the mark.

Basingstoke had one final chance to grab all three points in added time - following some good hold-up play by Wilson, his backheel found Captain, Simon Dunn who sent a high ball to the back post where Peart’s volley was brilliantly equalled to by Jupp in the Chertsey goal.

Basingstoke climb up one place to fourth in the table with table-toppers Bracknell Town up next as they visit Winklebury Football Complex on Saturday.