Ben Mason made a successful return from injury on Tuesday evening for his loan club Basingstoke Town.
The first-year professional came through 90 minutes, as a young side won 2-1 against Alresford Town to book their place in the North Hants Cup final. The defender has had a productive time during his spell with Basingstoke, having made 19 first team appearances this season.
“That was my first game back in five weeks after a hip injury,” said Ben. “I’m feeling good now and I’ve been training for a couple of weeks and feel sharp. I’m hungry to achieve goals for the rest of the season and push on.”
On the same night, Welsh youngster Morgan Williams played for Eastbourne Borough in a mid-season friendly against Westfield at Priory Lane.
“I got sixty minutes, then they rested me,” said Morgan. “I scored one and came up with two assists in my time on the pitch.”
“I think it’s going very well. I’m still relatively new to the group, but I’m really enjoying it at Eastbourne. I feel like I’m constantly progressing.
“Whether I’m impacting games by coming off the bench or controlling the game from the start, I’ve been faced with different challenges and brilliant experiences. Plus, of course, it’s great to keep registering the goals and assists with hopefully more to come.”
Unfortunately, fellow attacking midfielder Marcel Campbell has suffered a grade 3c hamstring tear.
It happened while playing in Harrow Borough’s recent Middlesex Senior Cup semi-final victory at Enfield Town. He’s been ruled out for the rest of the campaign, having signed his first pro deal last summer.
“It’s frustrating, but I’m working hard to come back stronger and push on next season,” said Marcel. “My loan with Harrow Borough was going well, but injuries are part of the game and I feel I can learn from this too.”
North of the border, striker Zach Robinson is not only scoring goals, but also forming a very useful partnership with Alex Jakubiak at Dundee. The duo are key to the Dee’s Scottish Championship title aspirations and they linked up to great effect to see off Ayr United 3-1 last time out.
Forward Aaron Cosgrave played for an hour and had a couple of early penalty shouts in King’s Lynn Town’s 1-0 victory at Hereford on Saturday. The Linnets are second and five points off top spot in the National League North.
Defender Remi Onabanjo made his Tooting & Mitcham United debut as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat at Marlow in the Isthmian South Central.
Photos: Steve Gridley and Ian Stephen.