Game 2: Downton 1.3 Blackfield & Langley (Friendly) 17.07.10

My original plan for today was to head down to Arundel to see their match against Bournemouth but after hearing the visitors had withdrawn from the game I decided to stay local and catch up on a couple of Wessex League teams.

This weekend last year I watched Wessex 1 team Downton take on a Wessex Premier team so I thought I'd take a trip down to Wick Lane to see if they could improve on last year's 7.1 defeat to New Milton Town.

Today's opposition were Blackfield & Langley who are managed by ex-Pompey and Saints defender Jon Gittens. I arrived about ten minutes before kick off and wandered over to the main stand to shelter from the bright sun that had been covered by clouds over Salisbury. A real change from last year when I had sat in the same spot to shelter from a torrential downpour! There was no charge or programme for the match.

I was looking forward to seeing how Dec McGregor would link up with new signing Danny Western from Amesbury Town as both players have a good goalscoring record at this level. While there were some decent moves from both teams, neither keeper was really troubled until the 32nd minute when the referee awarded a penalty to the visitors at the far end.

The keeper's preparation for the penalty was unusual. He crouched down in the centre of the goal and waited until the Blackfield captain started his run up. Before the ball was struck the keeper stood up and moved two paces to the right. This put him in exactly the right spot to save the kick and he pushed the ball away.

A great save but his clean sheet only lasted for another minute. Blackfield won a freekick on the left side of the area and played the ball into the centre. Their captain, a centreback, had stayed upfield following the penalty and he forced a header past the keeper from six yards out.

Downton hadn't created much in front of goal but a long through ball in the 40th minute split the Blackfield defence. Western ran onto the ball and as the keeper rushed out to meet him, he carefully chipped the ball up into the air and tried to round the keeper to play it in. The keeper wasn't having any of it and put his arm straight out and into Western's face. The ball came down, bounced back and ended up in the net before the covering defender could reach it.

The game had come to life and Blackfield almost retook the lead 2 minutes before halftime. Another freekick from the left was carefully passed past the wall and the ball was then crossed into the centre. A carefully placed low shot was out of the keeper's reach but hit the left post and rebounded out.

Both sides stayed out on the pitch for their half time teamtalks which meant the referee was able to get the second half started after a ten minute break. The only talking point of the first period was Downton sub Matt Holmes walking off the pitch and back to the changing room. It looked for a moment like he had been sent off but the manager put a sub on in his place. When the keeper asked what had happened it transpired that Holmes hadn't reacted well to some constructive advice and had decided not to carry on playing.

Downton's keeper wasn't confident in kicking the ball from his six yard box and scuffed one effort straight to a Blackfield player who ran into the penalty area only to overrun the ball back to the keeper when he could have taken a shot.

Blackfield took the lead in the 67th minute from another goalkeeping error. The ball was crossed into the penalty area from a corner and it looked like the keeper had caught the ball. However he let the ball slip from his grasp and as he scrambled back to try and retrieve it a Blackfield player knocked the ball into the centre. One of his team mates was the quickest to move in towards the empty net and had the easy job of tapping the ball in.

This lead was extended in the 78th minute from a corner. The ball was crossed into the centre and Blackfield's captain was in the right place again to head the ball down into the ground and watch it bounce up into the net. The game finished 3.1 to the visitors - an improvement on last year but not the positive result that Downton would have been hoping for.