The first half didn't produce too many chances. Amesbury controlled the first ten minutes which saw two shots fly over the Downton bar and a low freekick from distance saved by the home team keeper who was directly in line with the ball. Downton wasted a good opportunity in the tenth minute which was set up by a long freekick to the back post. The ball was headed back across goal and then headed on target, beating the keeper but not the man on the line who headed the ball back out into the penalty area.
Both teams were playing some good football and the match flowed from end to end but neither team were able to test the keepers. Downton had an effort ruled off for offside just past the half hour and wasted another good chance from a header a couple of minutes later. The ball came down the right side and a great cross in with pace found an unmarked player in the box but he got his angles wrong and placed the ball wide. Just before halftime Downton came even closer to scoring. With his back to goal and two defenders around him, one of the Downton players chipped the ball up and then hit an overhead kick up into the air. The ball went over the defenders, past the keeper and landed on the crossbar before bouncing back into play.
Downton kicked off the second half and took the lead less than 10 seconds later. From the kickoff one of their players took the ball forward and dribbled through the Amesbury midfield who seemed to be half asleep. As he reached the penalty area he seemed to lose control but the ball looked to spin off a defender's leg at pace and this momentum allowed the ball to run past the keeper's dive and end up in the back of the net.A fluke goal but a great way to start the half for the neutral and the home supporters who had made it out of the bar in time to see it.
Downton should have extended their lead in the 54th minute when McGregor hit a first time volley wide of the right hand post. From the goalkick, the ball was worked to the left side of the Downton half where an Amesbury player was brought down. Danny Western took the freekick and curled the ball over the wall, over the keeper and skimmed the bottom of the crossbar before crashing into the net. A spectacular equaliser!
Amesbury took the game to Downton and were unlucky when a break down the left wing beat the defence and the offside trap, only for the shot to bounce past the far post with the keeper beaten. Downton then took the ball up the other end and a good pass found a striker in space with only one defender to beat. He forced the Downton player to take a quick shot and this flew just past the post with the keeper beaten.
The Downton keeper was giving his team some cause for alarm with his first touches whenever the ball was played back to him to clear. In the 70th minute he tried to act as a sweeper and came rushing out of his area only to clear the ball to Western, who placed a delicate lob over the keeper but it didn't have enough pace to beat the covering defenders.
Amesbury had a penalty appeal turned down in the 84th minute when a player ran into the area with the ball and went down under a challenge. In the 90th minute they had another opportunity when the goalkeeper came out of his area again and lost the ball to Western. He looked to be holding back and pulling down on the Amesbury player to prevent him from taking a shot but when Western went down, the referee blew and awarded a freekick to Downton instead. In the aftermath of the decision the referee went back to an Amesbury player and showed him a red card (presumably for something he said) before giving Western a yellow for diving which looked harsh. However the Amesbury player didn't leave the pitch and it appeared that the referee changed his mind - this caused some confusion for the spectators!
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