Not quite a day at the races but it seemed appropriate on the day of the Grand National to take in a game at Wincanton Town, close to the Wincanton race course. I retraced my drive of the previous weekend in bright sunshine before turning off the A303 and into Wincanton. The ground here is out of the town centre but was straightforward to find thanks to a quick gander at Google Maps before I left. As well as football the complex has tennis courts and a bowls green with plenty of parking available.
After following the signs to go through the bar, I walked along a pathway to the pitch. After paying £3 for admission and a programme I wandered over the touchline and had a read before wandering round to a spot near the impressive stand. There was only one other person there when I arrived and the crowd was only 6 when the teams came out. Gradually the locals turned up so by kick off the crowd had risen to around 30 or so. I recognised the referee and his assistants from my visit to Sturminster Newton a couple of weeks earlier.
Wincanton took the lead in spectacular fashion after 10 minutes. The ball was not cleared away from a corner and a great volley saw the ball fly into the top left corner past the keeper's dive. Sturminster Newton came close to an equaliser a minute later when they won a corner. The ball was aimed into the middle of the area and they managed a couple of efforts on target that were cleared by the bodies of defenders on the goal line before a shot was hooked just wide.
Wincanton should have extended their lead on the quarter hour when they won the ball on the halfway line. A player took the ball forward but with only the keeper to beat he sliced his shot well wide. Two minutes later a long kick from the keeper presented a similar opportunity for Wincanton as a player raced past the Sturminster defence to run onto the ball but he also failed to get a shot away on target as the visiting keeper closed in on him.
Wincanton made an early substitution in the 26th minute, a switch in central defence. Three minutes later and they went 2.0 up following a mistake in the Sturminster midfield, giving the ball to a Wincanton player who had plenty of space to run into. The defence couldn't get back to cover and while the keeper made a good save to stop the first shot, he couldn't hold onto the ball and was powerless to prevent the Wincanton player from running onto the rebound and tucking the ball in from a tight angle.
The long balls from the home keeper were presenting a number of one on one opportunities for shots as balls over the top Sturminster defence weren't being cleared. One shot almost squeezed under the keeper but he managed to sit on the ball as it passed under him. Sturminster had an opportunity to pull a goal back in the 37th minute from a freekick. The ball was played high into the area and as it came down a shot was fired just wide of the goal with the home keeper motionless. With five minutes left to play I was surprised to see Wincanton make a second substitution as there didn't appear to be any injuries. Just before half time the home crowd weren't happy with a marginal offside call from the assistant on the near side although none of them were actually in that half to be able to see any better than the assistant!
Wincanton were soon on the attack in the second half, a header from a very long throw into the box went just wide. Neither side seemed to have the final ball when in good positions and while the game was fairly end to end it didn't seem likely that either side were going to score as the half went on. When there were shots on target, they were either hit directly at the goalkeepers or the keepers made good saves. This changed in the 77th minute as another long deep ball from the Wincanton keeper flew over the heads of the defence and into space ahead of the Sturminster keeper. A Wincanton player was quickly onto the ball and played it around the keeper before tapping in his team's third goal of the afternoon.
As the clock wound down I listened to a couple of Sturminster followers behind the goal come to the realisation that it wasn't going to be their day. Wincanton wrapped the game up in the 87th minute when they won a freekick in the centre of the pitch just outside the penalty area. The keeper lined the wall up and positioned himself by the right post. The ball was curled to the opposite side and the pace beat his dive, an excellent strike to give Wincanton a deserved 4.0 win.
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