After eight games without a win it’s now four wins and four clean sheets on the bounce for The Robins which has taken them to 15th position, four points above the bottom four and seven points above the two automatic relegation places. Sean Joyce’s men have really had to grind out these recent results and “win ugly” as Ben Gerring rightly put it.

It was such a performance that gave Bideford a somewhat unexpected win at Bashley a couple of weeks ago, Bashley’s only defeat in their last six. It’ll be another difficult task to get a result against the Hampshire side on Tuesday night who come into the game off the back of a 5-0 thumping of 4th placed Wimborne on Saturday. It was the second time this month that Bashley have put five past Wimborne. They’ve also had recent wins over Willand Rovers and Tavistock and sit in 6th place, three points outside of the playoff positions.

Craig Duff, Niall Heeney and Mattie Buchan remain sidelined and Ryan Turner has been recalled from his loan spell by Barnstaple.

Bideford’s last six (DLWWWW) Pos 15th Pld 25 W8 D7 L10 Pts 31
25/02/23 Bideford 2 Frome Town 0 (League)
21/02/23 Bideford 1 Bristol Manor Farm 0 (League)
18/02/23 Bashley 0 Bideford 1 (League)
11/02/23 Bideford 1 Larkhall Athletic 0 (League)
04/02/23 Melksham Town 1 Bideford 0 (League)
28/02/23 Bideford 2 Slimbridge 2 (League)

Bashley’s last six (DWWWLW) Pos 6th Pld 27 W12 D5 L10 Pts 41
25/02/23 Wimborne Town 0 Bashley 5 (League)
18/02/23 Bashley 0 Bideford 1 (League)
15/02/23 Tavistock 0 Bashley 2 (League)
11/02/23 Bashley 2 Willand Rovers 1 (League)
07/02/23 Bashley 5 Wimborne Town 2 (League)
04/02/23 Larkhall Athletic 1 Bashley 1 (League)

A Brief History of Bashley FC
Bashley FC were established in 1947 and played their football locally in the Bournemouth League. The club joined the Hampshire League in 1983 and won the Division Three title in 1984/85. After finishing 4th in Division Two in the 1985/86 season, Bashley became founder members of the Wessex League in 1986 winning three league titles in a row. The Bash then moved up to the Southern League and won the Division One South title at the first attempt in 1989/90. Four seasons were spent in the Premier Division before relegation back to Division One level where they would remain for the next 10 years. The club moved across to the Isthmian League and played in Division One for two seasons but returned to the Southern League in 2006. Bashley were Division One South & West champions in 2006/07 then spent a further seven years in the Premier Division before being relegated in 2014. The finished bottom of Division One South & West in 2014/15 only to be reprieved from relegation, however another bottom place finish followed the next season and this time they were relegated down to the Wessex League. In 2021/22, Bashley finished in 2nd place and gained promotion back to the Southern League ahead of the 2022/23 season.

Bashley FC
The GlenMex Stadium
Bashley Road
Bashley
New Milton
Hampshire
BH25 5RY
Web: https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bashleyfootballclub
Twitter: @FootballBashley

Previous meetings:
18/02/23 Bashley 0 Bideford 1 (Southern League Div 1 South)
16/11/13 Bideford 4 Bashley 2 (Southern League Prem)
31/08/13 Bashley 0 Bideford 1 (Southern League Prem)
23/03/13 Bideford 0 Bashley 0 (Southern League Prem)
27/10/12 Bashley 4 Bideford 1 (Southern League Prem)