Drove up the motorway to Fleet on a pleasant sunny Bank Holiday afternoon. I had been tempted to take in the 11am kickoff at Farnborough North End but decided on a lie-in instead.
My original plan for my last three Wessex League games had been to take in a game at Fleet on Saturday, Portchester today and Aldermaston on the 18th but I’d missed Saturday’s game due to illness. A quick glance through the fixtures highlighted Portchester have a game against Totton & Eling on the 25th so a new plan was hatched.
I found the ground without a problem and squeezed the car through the narrow barrier before parking up. The ground is open on all sides and there was no-one taking admission or selling programmes. While Tadley didn’t have a good game against Warminster, I was hoping for a better performance from them today against the league’s bottom team
The first half hour didn’t live up to expectation. Both teams were struggling to put passes together or control the ball on the long grass. It was Fleet who had the first real opportunity after 22 minutes – a shot ended up over the bar after a good move down the right. They could have had more chances but their no 9 continually ran through too early and ended up offside.
On 30 minutes Tadley took the lead from a corner. The ball was floated into the box and the Fleet keeper punched it to the edge of the area. A Tadley player saw that the keeper hadn’t recovered his position on the line and chipped the ball over the keeper to find the back of the net.
Four minutes later and it was 2.0 – again from a corner. This time the Fleet keeper made a good save but was still on the ground when a Tadley player ran into the box and planted a strong header over the keeper and into the net. Tadley had all the play now but it was their turn to get the assistant referee busy with offside decisions. Fleet did manage a free kick on target but it was straight at the Tadley keeper who made an easy save.
The second half saw a much better performance from Tadley. They were almost gifted a third goal on 49minutes when a Fleet defender left a slowly moving ball on the edge of the penalty area, anticipating that his keeper would come out and collect it. This allowed a Tadley player to nip in before the keeper could react but his shot was smothered by the keeper and cleared. On 60 minutes a Tadley player hit a shot just over the bar. 2 minutes later and the same player hit a shot from the edge of the penalty area that flew into the top right corner of the net for 3.0.
Fleet didn’t completely capitulate and managed a shot (well wide) and a header over the bar. However there was little pressure on the away goal and it was no surprise when Tadley almost scored a fourth goal on 75 minutes. A low shot beat the keeper but hit the left post and bounced out.
It wasn’t long until Tadley did get their fourth goal. One of their substitutes waltzed though the Fleet defence and only had the keeper to beat as he ran in from the right hand side of the box. The finish wasn’t so clever – a weak shot that was more like a pass but the Fleet keeper had anticipated a stronger shot and the ball bounced off his backside and into the path of a Tadley player running into the centre. The Tadley player now had an open goal so rolled the ball slowly towards the goal, then dived down and headed the ball into the back of a net from 6 inches out. A cheeky goal to wrap up the game – one that will remain in the memory banks for a long while.
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