BASINGSTOKE Town made an excellent start to 2013, ringing in the new year with six goals in the space of 15 incredible second-half minutes to beat Hampshire rivals Farnborough.

The hosts seemed to be suffering a New Year’s Day hangover in the first-half and trailed 1-0 at the break – but they hit top form in the early stages of the second period.

Simon Dunn levelled the game four minutes after the restart, sparking a remarkable purple patch. By the 64th minute they were 6-1 to the good, with Delano Sam-Yorke finding the net four times and Tim Sills also scoring.

Farnborough recovered enough to avoid conceding any further goals and even pulled one back late on, making the final score 6-2.

Town boss Jason Bristow said: “The difference was belief. It was as if the players had stopped believing in themselves in the first half.

“After the first goal, there was suddenly a confidence and belief that we could go on and get more. Hopefully, it has brought the confidence back and shown the players what they are capable of.”

Bristow gave particular credit to four-goal striker Sam-Yorke and Dunn, who was excellent on the left wing throughout the match.

“Delano’s header was as good a goal as I have seen,” said Bristow. “It’s not the sort of goal we are used to seeing him score and it was an unbelievable header.

“His fourth goal was really good as well. The chest control was fantastic and then to use his strength to turn and shoot was great.

“Simon Dunn has got to take a lot of credit as well. He scored the first goal and had a hand in a few of the others.

“Since he has come into the team, he’s made it impossible to leave him out. His energy levels are fantastic and he is technically very good.”

It was undoubtedly a fantastic result, but Basingstoke remain in the Blue Square Bet South relegation zone, two points from safety.

“There was a gap forming between us and the sides above, which makes it hard because you can win a game and still not move up the table,” Bristow added. “We are back in touch now and hopefully we can kick on and start the year with a good run.

“We said to the players after the game that this cannot be another false dawn. It’s only one game. We may have scored six goals but it only gets us three points and we will be working hard in training to prepare for the next game.”

January looks set to be a vital month for Town, with another four home games on the horizon. The first of those sees mid-table Bath City visit the Camrose on Saturday – and Bristow wants another victory.

“Bath will be tough opposition but January is a big month for us, with five home games,” he said. “By the end of January, hopefully we will have moved up the table.

“Bath are going to be a strong side because they were in the Blue Square Bet Premier last year. They have had an indifferent season so far but it’s a funny league with every side capable of beating everyone else on any given day.

“We just have to worry about ourselves and make sure we perform like we did in the second-half against Farnborough for the whole match.”