Game 6: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 2.3 Gosport Borough (Friendly) 29.07.10

It was back to the old routine as I parked up at Andy's house and we wandered round to Western Way for tonight's friendly against Gosport Borough.

Bemerton were unlucky to be pipped for second place on goal difference and a promotion spot to the Southern League S&W division by Wimborne Town last season. Gosport finished eighth in that league, missing out on a play off spot by 12 points.

When we arrived at the ground the officials were warming up and I recognised one of Tuesday's assistants who was going to be refereeing this match. He was not the only face I recognised as Gosport's line up included former Salisbury players Andy Cook, Craig Davis and Grant Porter who was also at Bemerton for part of last season.

The game kicked off at 7.50 and after nine minutes of play Bemerton took the lead. A deep cross was played to Joe Sanger at the far post and he headed it across Porter and in, despite the keeper's best attempts to scramble the ball out.

Some of the Gosport players had been messing about before the game, hitting shots out of the ground and this wayward shooting continued with a couple of snatched half chances.Bemerton were playing with confidence and Sanger almost added a second with a fierce shot that Porter threw himself at and pushed over the bar.

Gosport drew level a couple of minutes later following a move down the right wing. The Bemerton defence didn't close the ball down, giving Gosport time to place an accurate low cross into the penalty area. A Gosport player threw himself at the ball and his diving header powered into the bottom corner before the Bemerton keeper had a chance to move.

Bemerton reacted quickly to try and retake the lead. One of their players took the ball through the middle and after outpacing the defence chipped Porter only to see his effort sail into the trees behind the goal. A couple of minutes later another Bemerton effort flew just past the right post and wide.

It looked like the teams would go in level at halftime but in the final minute of the half Gosport were awarded a disputed penalty. The Bemerton players were convinced that the trip on a Gosport player had taken place outside the area so the referee went over to speak to his assistant on the far side.

After a quick conversation, the referee confirmed that it was a penalty and Craig Davis stepped up from his right back spot to take the kick. I wondered whether I would see another penalty save after the previous efforts I'd seen this pre-season but Davis sent the keeper the wrong way to give his side a 2.1 lead at halftime.

The second half saw a number of changes from both teams and Gosport became more of a threat up front. Early in the half they came close to scoring with a header and in the 65th minute a cross from the left set up a goal from a diving header into the top right corner that gave the keeper no chance.

Bemerton didn't really create much until the last ten minutes of the half. Puckett broke into the box and played an unselfish pass across the goalmouth towards a team mate, only to see a Gosport defender appear at the last moment to clear the ball for a corner. A few minutes later he recieved the ball in the area again and this time went for goal himself, knocking a low shot past Porter to pull a goal back.