Mark Molesley scored for a remarkable sixth time in the seven games he has played for City as the Lilywhites put in a much improved Milton Road performance to see off battling Basingstoke and record their first home win since the opening day of the season.

Gary Roberts stuck with the same team that had twice led at home to Eastbourne last Saturday, through Dave Sadler and Dale Binns, before surrendering all three points, and the chance to go top of the league.

Despite an inconsistent start the visitors, who narrowly missed the play-offs last term, began the day in seventh position and came into the game on the back of a 2-1 win over Carshalton thanks to early strikes from Mark Peters and Martin Whiddett. Visiting boss Ernie Howe moved Steve Hemmings to right back, in place of Brett Cooper who dropped to the bench, with Justyn McKay coming into midfield.

Carl Williams looks determined to gain possession of the ball

The opening twenty five minutes of the game were almost completely forgettable aside from counting the number of times the assistant referee on the far side of the pitch raised his flag for offside as Basingstoke made their intentions reasonably clear.

In order to pose a threat to the visitors City had to be more imaginative in their build-up play and on twenty eight minutes they produced a flowing move which saw Mark Molesley link up with Carl Williams, the latter freeing Paul Booth on the right who raced down the line and delivered a whipped cross into Dave Sadler at the far post. The former Hinckley hit-man was always stretching to reach the ball however and crashed his close range drive into the ground allowing Rob Bullivant to collect with ease.

City’s attempts to up the tempo were rewarded only a minute later when the combative Paul Booth muscled his way through the visitors defence and laid the ball off to Molesley on the edge of the box. The centre back pairing of Jason Bristow and Mark Paterson made the mistake of standing a yard off Molesley who shifted his weight onto his left foot before dispatching a perfectly placed low drive into the corner of the net beyond the reach of the despairing Bullivant.

Unlike the Eastbourne game a week before City worked hard to remain solid in the wake of the goal and always looked capable to maintaining their advantage until the interval. In fact, with only a couple of minutes of the half remaining it could have been 2-0 as the hard working Booth charged down Bullivant’s poorly executed clearance and raced wide to retrieve the ball before centring accurately for Sadler who was denied at the near post by Bristow’s timely intervention.

Basingstoke registered their first effort on target in stoppage time when Peters’ crisp low drive from the edge of the box was gathered in by Ricky Millard who had to be down smartly to smother.

City ensured there was to be no repeat of events in their last two home games by starting the second period in very positive fashion, continuing to take the game to the visitors. Dave Sadler’s angled through ball seemed to give Paul Booth an awful lot to do as he chased towards the corner flag. However showing tremendous strength and good close control the former Welling striker wriggled free and weaved along the goal line before lifting the ball over Bullivant only for the alert Steve Hemmings, covering his ‘keeper, to hook the ball off the line. The pressure was maintained from the resultant corner and Dave Sadler laid the ball wide to Carl Williams who sent a rising drive arrowing towards the top corner of the net but Bullivant flung himself to his left and palmed clear.

Matt Langston gets up well to power the ball goalwards

A further corner, this time from the left, allowed Molesley to pick out Dale Binns, given too much space on the edge of the area. The former Hendon wide man’s early strike faded narrowly wide of the upright with Bullivant scrambling across his line. Binns was in the thick of the action again moment s later when he latched onto Williams’ cross-field pass but under pressure from Hemmings was unable to hit the target.

With the game just under an hour old City came closer still to netting the second goal which would have put them into the comfort zone. The tireless Booth who impressed throughout capitalised on more industrious running by seizing on a loose clearance and powering through the inside left channel before checking inside and curling a well placed drive across Bullivant but the former Northwood custodian was equal to it and produced a top quality one-handed stop to keep his team in the contest.

Despite their superiority and a much improved defensive display, 1-0 looked like a very slender lead, especially when Lee Chaffey slipped on the greasy surface and Lloyd Webber raced into the space behind him and sent a driven cross into the path of Lewis Cook who was homing in at the far post. The wide-man, who spent a very brief spell at Milton Road, connected first time and City were indebted to Ricky Millard, largely unoccupied for much of the afternoon, as he made a good low stop and forced the ball away via an upright.

The work rate of strike partners Booth and Sadler always looked likely to create openings and it was last season’s top scorer who again turned provider setting up Williams but the winger was unable to hit the target as a second goal still eluded the hosts.

Paul Booth rides a determined tackle

When Mark Molesley was somewhat harshly penalised near to the half way line Neville Stamp capitalised by releasing Peters with a quick free kick. The former Brentford striker raced clear but was denied a fifth goal of the season by a fine Millard save which bettered his previous effort to keep out Cook.

The game was punctuated by a series of substitutions during the final fifteen minutes a period during which the Lilywhites failed to retain enough possession and as a result invited Basingstoke onto them. But despite the visitors’ best efforts the defence held firm. Glen Fuff remained a towering presence at the back and alongside him Matt Langston produced the kind of performance the Milton Road faithful were taking for granted last term. Full-back pairing Craig Pope and Lee Chaffey also looked back at their best after an indifferent start, compared to the exceptionally high standards they set for themselves last season.

An agonisingly lengthy period of added time did little to calm the nerves but it was to prove to be an afternoon of frustration for Basingstoke, in fact City could have added a little gloss to their display when Paul Booth freed substitute Robbie Simpson whose fresh legs gave him a yard on Bristow before Bullivant deflected his effort into the path of Molesley but the dynamic midfielder was unable to add to his tally as he shaved the outside of the post.

This performance showed all the character that was the trademark of last season’s success and having rediscovered those qualities City now need to find the consistency to maintain their position at the top end of the table.