Both of these teams had been in FA Cup action at the weekend. Romsey conceded five goals and some of their supporters noted that the team line-up had been revamped for this game. Bemerton had lost 1.0 on Sunday away at Highworth, the game being pushed back 24 hours due to a groundshare with a cricket team. The programmes had a new 2009-10 cover and included a new quiz question section that we ran through before the game kicked off.
Romsey have won all the league meetings between the two clubs since they were promoted back to the Wessex Premier and came close to taking the lead in the 5th minute. Their frontline pairing were making good runs to try and lose their markers and from one throughball, a Romsey player battled past the defence and headed towards goal. The Bemerton keeper was out to the edge of the area quickly and although the rising strike flew past him his actions in making the striker take a quick shot were worthwhile. The shot was just too high to hit the back of the net and smacked back off the crossbar.
Romsey were forced to make an early substition as their left winger twisted his knee awkwardly and had to be helped off the pitch by the physio. Bemerton had a couple of shots at the keeper but nothing to really trouble him. In the 20th minute Romsey took the lead from a freekick in front of the dugouts. The ball was curled to the nearside of the box and an unmarked player on the farpost placed a header low below the keeper's dive and in.
Bemerton equalised just before the halfhour. The ball was switched from the right to the left wing and then passed into the centre of the area. The Bemerton player hit a good shot that bounced off the left post. The rebound was picked up by a team mate whose follow up shot hit the right post but this time the ball crept into the net. Bemerton enjoyed a good spell of possession and put a shot over the bar when they should have scored.
There was an unusual save after 35 minutes. The Bemerton keeper had come up to take a freekick from the halfway line but hit the ball too short, allowing Romsey to counterattack. As the keeper got back to the area he stayed near to the edge of the box before turning towards the goal when a Romsey forward hit a shot from just in front of him. The ball bounced off the keeper's backside and went up in the air, allowing the keeper to collect the ball with ease.
The first half had been very open and both teams had good chances to score so it was no surprise when Bemerton took the lead after 48 minutes. The ball was played through the centre to a Bemerton striker and he managed to keep possession and run at pace into the box before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the right of the keeper. Two minutes later and it was 3.1 to the home team. Bemerton had the ball on the right side of the penalty area close to the deadball line. As the Bemerton player swivelled and tried to bring the ball back out again he went down as a Romsey player clipped his ankle and the referee gave a penalty. The keeper committed himself by running towards the left post as the kicker ran to the ball and the ball was played low to the opposite side.
Romsey were lucky not to concede two more penalties that seemed more blatent from our viewing position on the sideline. The first was in the 62nd minute when a Bemerton player was pushed to the ground. Andy's thought was that the referee would have given it if the player hadn't got back up and tried to win the ball back. The second was in the 75th minute when a Bemerton player was pushed to the ground. There was a flare up just after that when a Bemerton player was kicked while on the ground and the Romsey bench made a quick substitution to get the offender off the pitch before he was sent off.
Romsey were also lucky not to concede an own goal as their keeper was down quickly to stop a goalbound ball that had come off one of his teammates when sliding in for a tackle. Although a fourth goal would have killed the game off, Bemerton started to play the ball into the corner to try and waste time. This proved to be a poor decision as in the 84th minute Romsey managed to pull a goal back. A corner was cleared to the edge of the box only for a Romsey player to belt a shot that came down off the lower edge of the crossbar and into the goal.
Bemerton started to play deeper and deeper and their midfield allowed Romsey to push up and play without being challenged. In the final minute of injury time, this approach allowed Romsey to put a cross into the box to the back post. The ball was headed towards goal and although the Bemerton keeper made a superb diving save he wasn't able to hang on to the ball. The ball ran lose and was bundled into the net by a Romsey player to the delight of their management team, who ran down the touchline towards the Bemerton bench to celebrate. This lead to some angry scenes involving both benches and sets of players after the final whistle blew moments later.
No comments:
Post a Comment