Saturday, November 07, 2009

Game 25: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 4.1 Downton (aet) (Wiltshire Senior Cup) 07.11.09








Decided to head over to Bemerton for the local derby against Downton. Bemerton were going for a club record 8 wins in a row against a Downton team that had lost the two previous cup games I’d seen them play in this season.

Bemerton had former Salisbury keeper Grant Porter making his debut and it wasn’t the best start for him in the 10th minute when he missed his clearance, allowing McGregor in. He scuffed his shot and it wasn’t powerful enough to cross the line before a defender got back to clear the ball.

In the 21st minute it looked like Downton had taken the lead from a breakaway attack. McGregor crossed the ball for a team mate but he was in an offside position when he took his shot and the goal was ruled out by the assistant’s flag. The talk on the terrace was that Bemerton had gone with local players for this cup game as they would be “more up for it” but the reverse seemed to be true. Downton took the lead just before the half hour when dangerman McGregor took on a through ball and managed to get the wrong side of the defender marking him. He ran though and put a low shot past the keeper.

Downton continued to put pressure on Porter in the Bemerton goal. Thick had a good chance in a one on one but the keeper saved. A couple of minutes later a very strong back header saw the keeper having to dive at full stretch to tip the ball round the post for a corner. From the corner McGregor put a shot in from a tight angle and it hit the side netting. The home support in the crowd were getting agitated and started to show their displeasure just before half time when McGregor put a header just over the bar. It wasn’t until the referee had the whistle in his mouth for halftime that Bemerton managed to create an effort on target. The ball was crossed from the left and a strong header was on target for the top left corner until the keeper made a spectacular save to push it round the post.

It looked like it was only a matter of time before Downton added to their lead but Bemerton had a lucky break on the hour. They were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box and hit it low though the wall into the penalty area. The ball bounced around like pinball and fell to Jack Slade who popped it under the keeper’s dive and in for the equaliser. Downton continued to press for a winner and McGregor saw one shot pushed onto the post by the keeper and another shot beat the keeper but fly wide of the goalmouth. Downton also managed to chip the onrushing Porter but the ball dropped over the bar and onto the top of the netting.

In the absence of any more goals, the match went into extra time and Downton began to run out of steam. In the 95th minute Bemerton took the lead from a free header at a corner and never looked back. In the second period of extra time Sanger belted in a third from close range after a great pass by Pratt and Eastham scored with a header a moment after the Downton keeper had pulled off a point blank save from another header.

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