Game 28: Amesbury Town 0.4 Stockbridge (Wess 1) 20.11.10

I originally intended on another trip into Dorset for a match at Swanage Town & Herston but had to change my plans after some plumbing issues in the morning. I had enough time to get to a local game so decided to head to Amesbury's bottom of the table clash with Stockbridge.

When I arrived at the ground I noticed that Amesbury have put some see through fencing along the formerly open side of the ground. Both teams were warming up on the adjacent pitch. The weather was dark and gloomy and it looked like it could rain at any moment.

Paul eventually arrived after taking his traditional wrong turn on the Amesbury roundabout. It looked like the Stockbridge defence were taking the wrong turn straight from kickoff - Amesbury got through them with ease and put a shot across the keeper but parallel to the goal line in the first minute. A Stockbridge defender got to the ball first to clear it before Amesbury could poke it home.

The first goal wasn't long in coming but it was a real surprise when it went in. The ball was outside the Amesbury area when a Stockbridge player hit what looked to be a speculative shot towards goal. The Amesbury keeper didn't move and from our angle on the side it looked to have gone wide but suddenly the net moved and we realised that it was a goal. Wandering around the sideline, we weren't the only ones with the opinion that it was a fluke.

Stockbridge didn't rest on the one goal lead and if the first goal had been a fluke, the second goal in the 15th minute was the polar opposite where a deliberate chip from the edge of the area went over the Amesbury keeper and in to the net.

Stockbridge made it 0.3 in the 20th minute from a corner. The ball was played into the crowded area and then flicked out by a defender's back header. It fell nicely for a Stockbridge player and he hit a volley that beat the keeper at his near post.

Amesbury didn't have much to offer and wasted a couple of opportunities from free kicks. In the 25th minute they were in a good position to the right of the area but the ball didn't make it past the defensive wall. In the 39th minute they did get a shot on target but it was tipped well wide by the keeper. Just before half time Stockbridge almost made it 0.4 when the Amesbury keeper missed the ball when he ran out off his line. Luckily for him the ball went just wide.

Amesbury made one change at the start of the second half, a straight swap up front. They had a brief scare when a deep cross found a Stockbridge head to send the ball on target but were soon relieved to see their keeper claim the ball. The half time break seem to have helped them and there were some good passing moves to try and work the ball through the defence. One of them led to the first yellow card of the game when an Amesbury player had his legs sliced by a late tackle.

In the 53rd minute the game had to be delayed for several minutes as the assistant on the farside looked to have pulled a muscle or hamstring. After some discussion between the referee and the home manager, a spectator was found to cover the line. It appeared that he was a qualified referee so while the teams warmed up, he got prepared to take over.

Stockbridge managed a fourth goal in the 65th minute although it was not as spectacular as their earlier efforts. A long goal kick was knocked on and then hit over the onrushing keeper.

Amesbury looked to have won a consolation penalty in the 70th minute when one of their strikers was floored by a defender's shove in the area but the referee decided to wave play on. Stockbridge pressed on and almost got a fifth in the 81st minute with a great shot that the Amesbury keeper did well to dive to and push out for a corner. From the corner he made another good stop from a header.

There was still enough time for the home team to score and they came very close in injury time on a couple of occasions. The first effort came from their number 9 who went through on goal only to see his low shot parried out by the Stockbridge keeper. He couldn't get to the rebound in time and after a small melee it was cleared. The second effort was also by the 9 who shot narrowly over from the edge of the area when a corner was played to him. In between those chances the Amesbury keeper pulled off another save to keep the score down, just getting his hand to a shot before screaming at the defence. Perhaps it was a bit late to be asking them to cover players running in at the edge of the area!