Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Game 8: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 3.1 Christchurch (WESS PREM) 18.08.09

Drove over to Andy’s on another sunny Tuesday night to see if Bemerton could keep up their 100% start to the season. Whilst Bemerton were comprehensively beating Winchester away on Saturday, visitors Christchurch were knocked out of the FA Cup by Ringwood who are a division below these teams.


When we arrived at the ground was surprised to see that players were allowed to warm up on the main pitch rather than using the outside pitch. Perhaps this will change later in the season when the award-winning groundsmen have to keep the pitch looking good in all conditions. Bemerton have changed their kit from the traditional Harlequin diamond pattern to a black and white quarters shirt similar to the design used by Bristol Rovers.

Bemerton started well and almost took the lead after 4 minutes when a mishit cross that took the ball towards goal managed to lob the keeper and hit the bar before skimming over the nets for a goal kick. Ten minutes later and it was 1.0. Bemerton broke up a Christchurch attack in midfield with a sliding tackle, pushed forward and crossed into the box where a Bemerton player was unmarked. He carefully lined up his shot and slotted the ball low past the keeper.


On 25 minutes it was 2.0 following a similar pattern as the first goal. This time the Bemerton player with the ball ran through the middle of the pitch and played a superb through ball. The ball was picked up by a striker who played a good dummy that put the keeper off his stride. It committed the keeper to going to his right while opening up the goal to his left. The ball was then passed into that unguarded side of the net to give the home team a deserved goal.

Christchurch had played some nice approach play but hadn’t really troubled the Bemerton keeper who really commanded his box well and was winning any high balls played in. They were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty on the half hour as a player ran into the box and fell under the challenge of a defender. From our angle on the side it looked like his ankle had been clipped to bring him down but the referee had a different view and decided to wave play on. A couple of minutes later and the Bemerton keeper was troubled by a shot but it didn’t cause too much of a concern as it was hit straight at him from distance.


Bemerton added a third goal in the 36th minute. As with the earlier goals, the ball was played into the box and then hit low into the goal. On this occasion the striker was marked and received the ball to feet with his back to the goal. He then span to his left, beat his marker to make space for a cross shot past the keeper. Christchurch should have scored from the restart. The ball was held up on the left hand side and then played into the path of a Christchurch player who had run into the box unmarked. He was leaning back as he hit the shot and it was no surprise to see the ball end up outside the ground. If he had kept it down and on target it would have been unstoppable.


The first period of the second half saw a several substitutions as Christchurch tried to find a way to get through the Bemerton defence. On the odd occasion that they managed to find some space in front of goal, shots were fired up into the trees behind. They did manage to pull a goal back from a corner on 55 minutes. The ball was played short to a team mate standing close to the corner flag and he put an angled cross into the box to keep it away from the keeper. The pass found a teammate in space in the box and he placed a strong header into the top left of the net.


Two minutes later and Bemerton missed a great opportunity to regain a three goal lead. The ball was played to the left to beat the line of Christchurch defenders and two Bemerton players headed towards the penalty area. The player with the ball brought it forward with pace and should have squared it across goal to his unmarked team mate. He didn’t attempt the pass and tried to side step the ball around the keeper, who had rushed out from the goalmouth. This side step failed and the keeper managed to smother the ball to the frustration of the unmarked player.


In the last ten minutes Christchurch had wave after wave of attacks repelled by the Bemerton defence as they tried to pull back another goal. They were unlucky not to score in the 87th minute when a shot on target from a corner looked to have been blocked near the goal line by a Bemerton hand. It wasn’t given and the away bench was up in arms over the decision. The goalkeeper near us continued to make angry comments about the decisions that his team weren’t getting from the officials until the final whistle.

When I got home I checked the FA website to see the other scores. While Poole and Bournemouth had both won and had the same goal difference as the Harlequins, the Wiltshire side were top of the table thanks to having scored one goal more.

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