Game 5: AFC Portchester 0.1 Verwood Town (Wess 1) 08.08.09

An unusual start to today's game. After I dropped Amy off at Portchester Castle, I drove down White Hart Lane and into Cranleigh Road towards the ground. There was an ambulance blocking the entrance to the car park as it was too big to go under the metal gateway. As there were 30 minutes to kick off, I parked on the verge to see if the ambulance would move and listened to the Radio Solent commentary. A few more cars arrived and had the same idea as me but one vehicle drove straight up behind the ambulance. Turned out that this guy had the key to move part of the gateway and allow the ambulance to turn around in the carpark. Someone on a stretcher had been carried into the ambulance so hopefully they will be better soon.


Once I had parked and walked round to the ground, I paid my £4 to get in but programmes were not available. This was my first new ground of the season and my second to last ground to complete the Wessex League - only AFC Aldermaston to go!


The two teams came onto the pitch shortly afterwards and the regular line up to shake hands took place. Being the first game of the season, there was also the traditional photo line up for the home team.


The first 20 minutes of the game were fairly frenetic but neither team created a decent opportunity. The pre-season games may have increased the stamina of the players but the ball control under pressure was poor and possession was too often lost as a result.


I was expecting Verwood to be the better team but it wasn't until the 23rd minute that they got the better of Portchester. A freekick was played high into the box and headed down by a Verwood striker and into the back of the net. The celebrations around me were premature - Verwood hadn't got the better of the assistant referee who raised his flag for offside. An early one on one chance had been saved by the keeper as the Verwood player couldn't decide whether to shoot or to pass across goal in time.


Portchester then decided to see if they could assist Verwood with an own goal effort. A back header to the Portchester keeper was badly misdirected and was bouncing towards the net before the keeper got back to his line to prevent the ball from crossing the line. This keeper was kept busy. In the 38th minute Verwood won a direct freekick and a superb rising shot was hit from 35 yards out. The shot was on target but the keeper rose up and just managed to tip the ball over the crossbar.


The Verwood management team were obviously not impressed with the first half performance and the way their team were playing. They decided to use the pitch for the half time team talk rather than the dressing room and as I was on the far side, I got to hear the rollocking they were giving the team.


This certainly motivated the Verwood team for the second half. The key messages to use the width, not play to the opposition's strengths, put players under pressure to win the ball back and play simple balls into space were all put into practice. On 48 minutes the ball was played into the box from the left wing into space which allowed a striker in to head the ball at goal. His aim was slightly off and the ball cannoned back off the post. Portchester were content to scramble the ball away but their poor passing meant that the ball kept on coming back at them.


On 56 minutes Verwood created the best chance of the game so far. The ball was taken to the left byline and crossed back into space only for the Verwood player running into the box to mistime his cue and miss the ball in front of an open goal.


Verwood had increased the tempo of the game to put Portchester under pressure and on 58 minutes they finally took the lead. The Portchester keeper ran out of his box to clear a through ball but his clearance was weak and went straight to a Verwood midfielder just inside the Portchester half. He took one pace forward and then hit a controlled floated lob shot over the backpeddling keeper's head and into the back of the net. An early contender for Goal of the Season!


It seemed as if Verwood would settle for this narrow lead as the midfield were quite prepared to play long balls through for the strikers to chase but not support them with overlapping runs into the box. I was surprised that only Portchester were making substitutions as the teams started to tire in the heat. The final Portchester change was to go to 3 at the back and push 5 players into midfield. This almost paid off as they won a freekick in the 72nd minute.


The ball was passed into the penalty area rather than blasted at the wall and then flicked towards the far post by an onrushing attacker. He didn't quite get his angle right and the keeper was able to stretch out as if in slow motion and push the ball wide. In the 76th minute, Portchester started a counterattack run from the edge of their penalty area and the player kept control and made it past three defensive lunges. The fourth tackle was better but when the ball ran loose it found a Portchester player on the edge of the Verwood box. It looked like he would score but his shot was directed towards the keeper which made it easier to save.


Portchester finished strongly as the energy of the substitutes gave them an advantage but they were unable to use this energy to find an equaliser.I did wonder whether the choice of kit would be better for a foggy day - Portchester in orange and Verwood in yellow were very visible under the hot sun and occasional cloud. A good ground to visit in the summer but with no shelter I wouldn't fancy coming here in the depths of winter!