TROJANS were outplayed by a strong and talented Basingstoke side in their London 1 South Hampshire derby at the weekend.

There was not much to choose between the sides in a recent cup tie but ’Stoke stepped up a gear to claim the league clash 57-0.

Most of that damage was done in the first half as Trojans turned around 33-0 down. They put in an improved performance after the break but, despite long periods of possession, rarely looked like getting on the scoreboard.

Basingstoke were dangerous every time they had ball in hand and crossed the line nine times during the game.

It took ’Stoke 15 minutes to touch down for the first time, and they did it with style. The backs received the ball off the back of a scrum to charge to the line where they were held up before Matt Guilfoyle went over under the posts.

Basingstoke were 19-0 to the good after 20 minutes when they went over in the corner twice – once through Tom Gardner and then full-back Ceri Cummings.

It took Trojans almost half-an-hour to threaten the Basingstoke line with waves of attacks from the forwards following a line-out.

Dave Strange was inches from getting over the whitewash but a determined Basingstoke defence held tight and punished the home side who lost possession and watched winger Gareth Kelly sprint to the line.

They conceded again before the break as Basingstoke backs cut open the Trojans defence, Freddie Gleadowe getting the first of his hat-trick.

Twenty minutes of hard work by Trojans at the start the second half went unrewarded and Basingstoke made them pay as Gleadowe broke out to go over in the corner.

Basingstoke found an overlap to increase their lead to 43-0 via Kelly while down to 14 players through a sin binning, before the try of the game. Guilfoyle fought off three tackles and sprinted from his own half to cross in the corner before placing down under the posts. And, just before the whistle, quick Basingstoke hands moved the ball from one side of the field to the other where Gleadowe zipped over to score under the posts.

Trojans coach Barry Bridgman praised his opponents, saying: “They are a very, very good side and all credit to them. They were much better than us at every level.

“Our forwards battled hard, our line-out was OK and the scrum was constant after a difficult start.

We had possession but we did not know what to do with it when we had it and our tackling was weak.”

Basingstoke head coach James Croker said: “Today we saw how simple rugby is. The forwards did their job, which is to win the ball, and the backs did their job, which is to use it.

“I thought our decision makers had a good game, which allowed us to play our patterns and choose the right options.”