Match Preview – Wimborne Town vs Bashley

 

 

Mention “last season” and “Bashley” in the same sentence to a Magpies supporter, and you won’t receive a very happy response. Firstly on a frosty evening in early February, the New Forest side ended Wimborne’s fourteen game unbeaten run with a 5-2 win at home; then, just eighteen days later, Matt Tubbs’ team completed the double with a humiliating 5-0 drubbing at New Cuthbury, including a first minute goal by Jack Lovell, in front of over 800 spectators.

 

Fast forward to the first month of this season with striker Lovell and full-back Sam Jackson having swapped their gold shirts for the black and white of Wimborne, to August Bank Holiday. A crowd of 869 saw Wimborne win 2-1 at the GlenMex with goals from Lewis Beale and a 98th minute winner from Harry Baker. That left Wimborne second and Bashley ninth in the embryonic league table. Since then Tubbs left to replace Tom Killick at Poole, with Ollie Cherrett taking charge of Bash resulting in quite a few changes in personnel on and off the pitch.

 

 

Since that fixture, Wimborne have not been out of the play-off spots, and currently sit proudly at the top of the tree with a W10 D4 L3 GF 34 GA 20 record; at New Cuthbury it’s W8 D1 L0. Bashley have slipped down the table and currently sit seventeenth with a W4 D4 L6 GF 18 GA 26 record, six points above the relegation spot (following the demise of Hamworthy Utd there’ll just be one team relegated) but with four games in hand. On their travels their record is W1 D4 L2: that victory was two weeks ago at Tavistock (3-2); the draws were at Melksham (0-0), Mousehole (2-2), Bishops Cleeve (1-1), and Yate (0-0); the only places they’ve lost at were Evesham (0-2) and Malvern (0-6). Bash’s stand-out result at home was the 3-2 win over high-flying Frome in October.

 

In the FA competitions, Bashley went out in their second tie in both without playing a single game at home. In the FA Cup they won 3-2 at Fareham, before bowing out 3-5 after a long trip to Mousehole. In the FA Trophy they lasted one game longer than the Magpies, winning 8-7 on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Evesham; then losing 2-4 on pens after a 3-3 draw at Cribbs – and we know what an achievement scoring three against our division’s meanest defence was.

 

 

Two of Bashley’s strikers are in good form – Conor Whiteley bagged a brace against Bemerton on Boxing Day, while experienced Brett Williams did the same at Tavistock. Look out too for seventeen year-old Jamie Arnold on loan from League Two Colchester United, and winger Eddie Hodge who was at Hamworthy. And while we’re talking of goalscorers, we could mention a third of Tim Sills’ squad: Harry Baker has 12 for the season, Lewis Beale 7, Jack Lovell beat Willand with a hat-trick, Matt Neale and Harry Morgan scored at Frome, and Sam Griffin the winner against Cleeve on Saturday, his first since his return to the Club; and surely Oakley Hanger’s ripper on Saturday was as good as a goal!. And don’t forget “king of assists” Jez Bedford.

 

Doing their best to stop the strikers finding the net will be two goalkeepers named Ross. the vastly experienced and unflappable Flitney for Wimborne, and the flamboyant Casey for Bashley.

 

For Wimborne, it looks like Connor Cocklin will be missing for a few weeks, while long-term injured Jack Hoey is slowly nearing a return. Tim has told us that he has a squad of starters so it will be interesting to see who he sends out for this local-ish derby.

 

 

Fixtures against Bashley are rarely dull, and with both teams needing the points, you won’t want to miss this one. Come on down to New Cuthbury with family and friends for a feast of festive footy – after all, it’s what the Saturday afternoon after Christmas was made for.

 

There’s likely to be a bumper crowd for our last game of 2023, so please be respectful of our neighbours if you have to park on the nearby streets.

 

Admission: Adults £12; concessions £8; U18 £5; U13 £2.

A packed, printed programme with 72-pages (yes, seventy-two) will be on sale.
Weather forecast: cloudy; 11oC; 50% chance of rain.

 

And finally, an apology to regular readers of these match previews. In the recent Bishops Cleeve one we incorrectly stated that there were two teams the Magpies hadn’t played this season in the league, Melksham and Tavistock. It is, of course, three – the other being Paulton Rovers who we’d already played home and away but in the FA Cup, with the league game being postponed because of a frozen pitch. Let’s call it a senior moment, but as Meat Loaf sang in 1978: “Two out of three ain’t bad”.