Basingstoke slumped to a drab 2-0 defeat to Binfield to end their Velocity Cup campaign at the first hurdle, in a match where the damage was done inside the first 20 minutes.
Dan Brownlie made seven changes to his starting line-up with several key first-teamers rested or unavailable and stand-in central defensive pair Nathan Smart and Shaun Dallimore, struggled early on with Binfield’s pace in behind. It took just six minutes for the visitors to take the lead as Eddie Lee chased a long ball and took advantage of indecision between Smart and goalkeeper Mark Scott to nick the ball from between them and finish into an empty net.
Any chance of a comeback was further reduced on 20 minutes as Dallimore received his second yellow card, slipping as he stepped up to make a challenge and bringing down Kai Hobbs. Binfield responded with heavy pressure on the Basingstoke goal, Johnny Efedje glancing a header against the bar and Scott saved from Lee while James Beauchamp hit a post, but Basingstoke held out and were unfortunate not to equalise when Devon Gordon produced a fine, one-handed save to keep out a close-range header.
The tie was wrapped up on the hour mark though as Aiden Lewis was caught out by a long diagonal ball and Beauchamp rounded Scott to fire into the empty net and while the home side huffed and puffed, they were unable to get back into the game as time petered out.
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