JAY Gasson says that Basingstoke Town’s New Year’s Day fightback against former club Farnborough was a turning point for the Camrose club.

Town went into their first game of 2013 in the relegation zone and were on course to suffer another defeat at half-time, trailing 1-0.

However, a dramatic second-half comeback, which included a six-goal burst in the space of just 15 minutes, saw Basingstoke emerge from the game 6-2 winners.

They have not looked back since, with subsequent wins over Bath City and Staines Town lifting them out of the bottom three – and Gasson believes that the belief gained from the Farnborough game is carrying them through.

“To score six goals in the way we did just seemed to give us some confidence back,” he said. “It’s not often that the goals go in that quickly and I think it showed us that we were better than the performances we had been putting in before.

“Before, we would get frustrated or start to panic if we went behind. Now, even though we are still conceding early goals, we are finding a way back into the game.”

All three of Town’s wins in 2013 have seen them recover from going behind – and Gasson got his first goal of the season in last week’s win over Staines, rising high to head home a corner and seal a 3-1 win.

“I was quite pleased with the goal,” he added. “It’s always good to score, especially as the gaffer has always had faith in me, trying to get me to score.

“I want to repay that and score more, so hopefully that goal will be the first of a few this season.”

Next up for Town is a visit from Maidenhead United on Saturday (kick-off 3pm) – and Gasson is looking forward to playing against former teammate David Pratt.

“David was a real character at the club and I’m looking forward to seeing him again,” Gasson added. “It will be good to play against him as well, but it will be a tough afternoon. He will work hard, I know I will not get a moment’s peace because he was like that in training.

“Maidenhead have got a few strong players but I think we have got more quality. We should have enough to pull through that game and if we can win it would really set us up for Welling next weekend, because that will be a really big test of how far we have come.”

It’s been a frustrating time to be a Town defender, with the team only keeping two clean sheets all season – but Gasson is hopeful that more will follow.

“There is a good relationship in the whole defence and we are doing well as a unit,” the 28-year-old said. “Now we need to start defending better as a team, but that is coming. We are becoming more compact and harder to break down.

“Ross Adams coming back is good because I was chopping and changing between different partners while he was injured. We have a good partnership. We read off of each other and have a good understanding.”