A SUPERB flicked header from Ollie Griggs was the difference as Basingstoke Town lost 1-0 at Dorchester Town in the Southern League Premier Division on Monday night.

Up until then the Magpies had struggled to create chances, with a David Jerrard free-kick smartly saved by Basingstoke goalkeeper Colm McAdden in the first-half, the only one of note.

This changed on 61 minutes, as Jerrard turned provider for Griggs after the hour mark, when his delightful cross was headed home to hand Craig Laird’s men their first points of the campaign.

The Dragons made one change to the team which lost to Frome with Michael Atkinson who signed on Monday back in the midfield in place of Cameron Green.

Basingstoke's lively winger Sam Smart was quick to exploit the space in behind the wing-backs, using his pace to hare down the left and set up Ben Wright, who saw his header deflected behind.

The visitors had two bites of the cherry from the corner, but could not muster a decent chance and Dorchester cleared.

With 15 minutes played, Dorchester had their first and only shot on target of the opening half, courtesy of a Jerrard free-kick.

Griggs was caught from behind 30 yards out and Jerrard bent his free-kick around the left of the wall, forcing McAdden into a scrambling save low to his left.

From the resulting corner, Ross Carmichael saw a header deflected for another corner, where Jordan Storey nodded well wide.

Smart was proving a constant menace and was at the heart of good play again when he popped up on the right and found Marcus Johnson-Schuster 12 yards out, but the Dragons’ captain could only blaze over when unchallenged.

On 38 minutes, it was the Magpies’ talisman Jerrard’s turn to provide some much needed creativity when he spotted McAdden off his line and sent a 30-yard lob just wide.

Moments later, Wright wriggled past two Dorchester defenders and hit a deflected strike into the arms of Chris Weale as the sides went into the break level.

On 58 minutes the Magpies received a major let off when Arron Jarvis beat Weale to a lofted through ball and squared for Smart, who could only blaze over with an unattended goal at his mercy.

Carmichael then saved Dorchester with a crucial sliding intervention after a slick low cross stemmed from excellent play down the Basingstoke left from George Bennett.

Carmichael’s good work was rewarded 60 seconds later when Dorchester took the lead on 61 minutes.

Beasley showed neat footwork deep in the Basingstoke half and offloaded to Jerrard, whose perfect cross found the unmarked Griggs to guide a header past McAdden.

The Magpies should have doubled their lead soon afterwards when Panesar-Dower raided down the right and picked out the free Jerrard, but his turn and shot was tame and allowed McAdden to safely collect the ball.

Basingstoke began to throw men forward desperately in search of an equaliser, but saw a Wright volley deflected wide and a Bennett free-kick expertly dealt with by Weale as Dorchester held on to collect their first three points of the season.