Bristow delighted with Town's winning start to the year

The home side got off to the worst possible start at the Camrose on Saturday, conceding after just 39 seconds, but they hit back to win the game 2-1, Delano Sam-Yorke netting both Town goals.

It was Basingstoke’s second come-from-behind win in the space of five days – and manager Jason Bristow admits that he could not have hoped for a better start to 2013.

“It’s a fantastic start to the new year and I think today’s win was better than the win over Farnborough on Tuesday,” he said. “That was 16 minutes of madness but today we did well for 89 minutes against an excellent side.

“We needed to win back-to-back games and full credit to the players. To come back again to win again is a great feeling.

“We did not get off to the best start, conceding a soft goal so early on – but we got into the game more as the half went on.

“They caused us a few problems in midfield but we got to grips with them in the second-half. They did not cause us many problems after the break.”

Sam-Yorke’s brace made it six goals in just two games for the in-form striker, who is clearly full of confidence and was a thorn in the side of the Bath defence all afternoon.

“Delano’s all-round play was excellent,” Bristow added. “He linked up the play well and was a threat in behind.

“When a striker is among the goals they feel that everything they hit is going to go in. Delano looks like he has grown a couple of inches at the moment and he is a big player for us.”

The result saw Town climb two places to 19th and out of the relegation zone – but Bristow insists that there is still a lot of hard work to be done.

“It’s never nice to be in the bottom three so it’s good to have got out of it,” he said. “There’s only goal difference between us and the drop zone though and we are still a long way from where we want to be.”

See The Monday Gazette, on sale now, for a full report and more pictures from Saturday’s game.