In previous seasons I've tried to use Saturday's games for longer trips to new grounds but I'm now finding that a 75-100 mile round trip for a new ground is becoming the norm. I hadn't spotted anything with particular appeal for this Saturday's match and was tempted to watch the Amesbury v Westbury fixture in the Wiltshire Senior Cup until I got a text from Paul to advise he was looking at doing a new ground in the Wessex League. After comparing notes of where he hadn't been and what time he could arrive for a lift, we narrowed the options down to matches at Fawley or Blackfield & Langley. With local side Downton the visitors at Gang Warily we agreed on a trip to Blackfield.
I recalled that on my last trip to Blackfield there had been a local league match on the outside pitch and when we pulled up in the car park we found this was the case today as well. The game kicked off a later than expected but we were able to watch a couple of goals from a team. A bit of investigation later and it turned out to have been a Southampton Saturday league match between Forest Town Reserves and AFC Gulf Western that finished 2.5 - both goals we saw had been scored by the visitors.
After leaving the warmth of the car for the grey and chilly pitch at Gang Warily we saw Downton take a 5th minute lead when the ball was played high into the box from a freekick and found an unmarked defender who jumped up and volleyed the ball past the keeper. Blackfield won a few corners after that and should have done better in the 15th minute when the ball was flicked back from the near post and ran along the goalmouth before going out for a corner. When they managed to get an effort on target, Downton's keeper was well placed to make the save.
The equaliser arrived in the 23rd minute from a free kick on the edge of the area awarded for a high footed challenge. The Downton keeper set up his wall but was unable to do much when the shot was curved low into the bottom corner. Another defensive mistake allowed Blackfield to take the lead in the 28th minute. A good high cross came in from the right but it looked like the keeper had it covered to make an easy catch. He over stretched and didn't manage to gather the ball which dropped onto an attacker's head and bounced into the net.
Downton were unlucky in the 32nd minute when Turpin won the ball from the last defender and moved in on goal only to hear the referee's whistle for the challenge. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it and a good chance to equalise was lost. Blackfield had a couple more chances towards the end of the half, seeing a shot cannon back off the underside of the bar and the Downton keeper atone for his earlier error with a dramatic save. With two minutes left to play they added a third goal when a well worked pass into the middle was swept past the keeper.
Downton rearranged their team with a couple of substitutions at the start of the half and we moved under the makeshift shelter as it started to rain. Despite the change the style of play was unaltered and the midfield continued to overhit passes for the strikers and fail to support play further up the pitch. Blackfield were stretching the play and putting the Downton defence under a lot of pressure. They had already put one shot wide and another into the side netting when they won a penalty in the 70th minute. The Downton keeper came out to try and win the ball in the area but ended up taking the attacker's feet. Again he atoned for an error by guessing the right way and diving to the left to save the ball but he was unable to hold it and it rebounded back to the penalty taker to control and shoot into an empty net.
At 4.1 down Downton's heads were starting to sink and with four minutes to go Blackfield wrapped up the game with a close range header that gave the visiting keeper no chance as the ball had been crossed with such pace. The match finished 5.1 and we were soon back in the car and listening to an earlier than usual Non League Show on Radio Solent on the drive back up the A36.
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