PAUL HODGES reckons Basingstoke Town are on the rise again after teaming up with Dan Brownlie at Winklebury.
The former Woking forward marked his Dragons debut with a goal in the 3-2 defeat of Tooting & Mitcham United last Saturday.
That victory made it 12 wins in 13 games – and 36 points from a possible 39 – for Brownlie’s free-scoring side, who sat seven points clear of the Isthmian South Central table before yesterday.
“With the size of the club and the direction it’s going, it’s an exciting time for me,” said Hodges, who is on a dual registration from north Hampshire rivals Far nborough.
“I enjoy working hard and it is clear Basingstoke has that mentality. I am really glad to be here.”
Boss Brownlie, who worked with Hodges at Hartley Wintney, said: “It is testament to the club that it allows us to attract players of Paul’s quality and experience.
Strengthened
“He is a scorer of all types of goals and is creative too. He suits the way we play.”
Hodges’ ar rival coincided with Basingstoke flying high and it was little wonder they did not want
January to end. Six games played, six games won – asuperb sequence that saw the Dragons rocket to the top of the table with a goal difference of plus 37!
Tormentor-in-chief Brad Wilson struck nine goals in that spell to take his tally to 23 for the season.
“I am outdoing myself with every goal I score,” said Wilson, who had a spell in Australia before retur ning home.
“I have to admit, this season hasn’t come as a surprise to me. Given we fell short last year, we knew what the aim was coming into this year. And the club have strengthened when we needed to.
“It’s still just over half- way so nobody here is getting carried away. All we can do is tur n up every week, do our best and carry on producing the perfor mances.”
Learning
Bright young coach Brownlie is convinced his talented group of players can maintain their momentum and put right the wrongs of last season when the Dragons went down 4-1 to Chertsey Town in the play-of fs.
“We’ve had a terrific first half of the season, but the best thing is that we’ve been getting stronger as the season prog resses,” Brownlie added.
“We’re still lear ning a lot about players, but the early signs are great. The big thing is that they care.
“They care about perfor mances, they care about results and they care about the club. We’ve come a long way in a short period of time.”
With their uptur n in for m has come a surge in attendances with average home games topping 500 at their new Winklebury home following a turbulent last few years both on and off the field.
“I know the supporters are enjoying the moment, so we should never settle for anything less than giving everything,” the boss added. “We are enjoying the ride and there’s some really exciting games coming up. We’ve ear ned that.”
