The talk on the touchline before the game was that Downton had some injury problems and they were going to be playing a different goalkeeper to normal. He had a quick introduction to the game as Hamble took a quick freekick in the second minute, only to see an unmarked player head just over the bar. There were some familiar faces in the Downton line up and one of them, Matt Holmes, had their first shot on goal in the 11th minute.
Downton took the lead in the 17th minute against the run of play through another familiar face. Declan McGregor was able to outpace the defence, head the ball past the keeper and then hit a shot into the net from a narrow angle. Hamble continued to press and dominated possession. They had an appeal for a penalty in the 26th minute that the referee disagreed with and awarded a freekick to Downton. Three Hamble players surrounded him to argue their case but were unsuccessful. This frustration continued and the referee had to speak to another of their team a few minutes later for hitting the ball away when Downton won a freekick.
Hamble had two good chances to equalise in the 36th minute. The first opportunity came from a low cross from the right but the player shot wide under pressure. The resulting goal kick was short and quickly won back by Hamble but the shot at the end of the run flew over the bar from the edge of the area. Three minutes later and a rising volley from outside the Downton area looked to be on target before the new keeper made a great diving save to push it out for a corner. Downton should have added to their lead just before half time. The ball was cleared long into the Hamble half and allowed Declan McGregor to outpace the defence again. He took the ball round the keeper on the left side of the area and then crossed to ‘Crouchy’ in the centre but his delayed shot lacked pace and allowed the defence to clear their lines.
At halftime all the talk amongst the smell of a local bonfire was of Messi and his Champions League goals for Barcelona against Arsenal. Little did we know what was to come. In the 50th minute, Hamble played a strong back pass to their keeper and he had to run towards the touchline to try and prevent a corner. While he successfully cleared the ball, he hadn’t spotted McGregor move towards the right touchline where the ball ended up at his feet. Before the keeper could get back into position, McGregor controlled the ball and hit a shot into the back of the net to put his team 2.0 up.
Hamble continued to pressure Downton’s goal and saw a good chance go begging in the 52nd minute when the ball was played into the box but no-one could get a touch to divert it into the net. Two minutes later and the Downton keeper made another great save before blotting his copybook slightly when he dropped the ball from a corner. Luckily for him the ball was played to the edge of the area before being blasted wide.
Downton had another break away in the 59th minute. A high long ball into the box found McGregor and he ducked to put the keeper off his catch before running on to tap the ball into the net for a hat trick. Two minutes later and it was 4.0 with the best goal of the night. McGregor went up for a header with two defenders. He did enough to win the ball, dribble it round the defence and then dash into the centre of the penalty area. As the keeper came out he calmly shot the ball to the keeper’s left and into the net. "Who needs Messi with Dec around" commented one of the locals.
Hamble weren’t able to recover from this, despite Downton giving them an opportunity when one of their subs was sent off for a very late tackle in the 70th minute. They did manage a consolation goal in the 85th minute when they switched the ball to the right flank to an unmarked player who chipped the ball over the onrushing keeper before sliding the ball in.
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