Poor display by fragile defence

AFTER the morale-boosting high of their midweek draw at league-leaders Weymouth came the morale-sapping low of defeat at bottom-of-the-table Newport. Very inconsistent. Very Basingstoke Town.

Continued problems in defence, failure to adapt to and cope with the windy conditions and mole-hill pitch, and an ability to match the determined approach of their hosts were all contributory factors towards another poor Town display.

The visitors were two goals down at half-time, after Jason Bowen's 15th-minute strike from eight yards out and James Taylor's unlucky own-goal on 32 minutes, when Craig Hughes' shot came back off the left-hand post and hit the forward to divert into the net.

Out of sorts, a third five-goal drubbing in as many weeks was only avoided thanks to goalkeeper Stuart Searle, who made three outstanding one-on-one stops in the second half.

The performance gave an indication of a clear divide between players who care and those who do not - shown by the effort, or lack of it, from individuals on the pitch.

And Town now find themselves sliding closer to a precarious Nationwide South position and relegation battle.

That is how Ernie Howe sees it too. "We are well and truly in the mix-up now," said the deeply disappointed manager afterwards.

Having targeted the fixtures against sides below them in the table as those they must win to help achieve league safety, Saturday's result was a set-back for Howe and Town.

Howe (pictured above) kept faith with the restructured, defensive-minded formation that served his team so well last Tuesday at Weymouth, with Scott Smith as sweeper and Taylor in front of the back-line as added protection.

But with Neville Stamp's absence with concussion and on-loan Matt Ruby's unfortunate knee dislocation on his debut, leading to recalls for Wayne Heath and Lee Molyneaux, it was a disaster.

"We looked so disjointed and could have conceded twice in the first 10 minutes," said Howe.

"I was contemplating changing things then and didn't. Perhaps I should have.

"But if I had gone back to the original system after Tuesday night and then gone 2-0 down, people would have asked why I didn't stick with it when we'd got a draw.

"Again, I could have changed it to a flat back four when we conceded to Weymouth, so was it about the system? I don't think so. I had a few players who looked around and didn't quite fancy it.

"Tuesday night was a big game, the pitch was good, there was a big crowd of nearly 2,000 people and an atmosphere. Today, the conditions were poor, the pitch was bumpy and the crowd wasn't as good.

"That might be why. In some players' eyes, it might not be as a big a game. But I'd need to be a psychiatrist to know for certain."

Town's poor run of form has led to much criticism, but Howe firmly rejected suggestions by irate supporters that he lacks the ability to motivate players.

"It's not about that, and the players will tell you that too," he stated. "It's more down to players' confidence. When you are in the run like we are, it is fragile and remains so.

"I was hoping Tuesday night would help us out there but it is still fragile, as we saw today.

"It is then that you want to see the characters who want to be out there with the determination to dig in and get it sorted. Perhaps we don't have enough of them, but things have got to change and I have to change them."

Howe acknowledged it is the side's defensive problems that need solving, fast, and that he would be pursuing a central-defender this week.

His players are in training tonight and Howe said he will be working them hard. "We need to get back to some sort of shape and form. At the moment we cannot defend.

"We also need to work on getting a better understanding with the two Argentinian lads, as they are paramount to us scoring goals, which we didn't look like doing at Newport."

Striker Miguel-Angel Basualdo had to be substituted at half-time on Saturday for his own good because, having had a booking, the 26-year-old striker was in danger of getting sent-off due to Newport's antagonism, manipulation and his own frustrations.

It was another source of dismay for the Town management team, who now prepare their players for Wednesday night's Hampshire Cup semi-final first-leg at Newport Isle of Wight.

"I am more concerned with the league and keeping this football club in the Nationwide South," said Howe.

"But yes, we do want to reach the Hampshire Cup final and hopefully win some silverware.

"I would expect us to be able to handle Newport, who are in a run of form worse than ours, over two games.

"We will go there in a positive frame of mind but we have to get to grips with our own performance as a team and individuals. It has to happen."

Basingstoke Town: Stuart Searle, Wayne Heath (Ricci Dolan 77min), Lee Molyneaux, Jason Bristow, Scott Smith (Justyn McKay 45min), Ben Surey, David Ray, Steve Hemmings, Pablo Pedrotti, Miguel-Angel Basualdo (Lewis Cook 45min), James Taylor. Not used: Andy Smallpiece, Neville Stamp.

First published: Monday, March 20, 2006