As the romantic option for Valentine's evening wasn't a possibility due to Amy's shifts, I made the most of the time before her train arrived by taking in a charity cup quarter final match between Bemerton Heath and Moneyfields. I timed my arrival to perfection as no sooner as I had purchased my programme and walked round to the darkness of the stand, the heavens opened and it began to rain heavily.
I had expected to see Moneyfields in their traditional home strip of all yellow but to my surprise they were wearing an all white kit tonight that partially clashed with Bemerton's black and white quarters.
Moneyfields had an early opportunity to capitalise on a rebound in the third minute but the resulting shot went over the bar. They were made to pay three minutes later when Jack Slade took a shot from distance. The shot was on target to the keeper's left but he seemed to have it well covered until it bounced up off the wet turf and looped over the keeper's outstretched arm to give Bemerton a 1.0 lead.
The lead didn't last for long as Moneyfields equalised in the 9th minute. A hopeful long ball was played into the box and looked to be covered by the defence but the player missed the ball. This allowed a Moneyfields player to flick the ball up and it deflected off a Bemerton player and into the net.
Bemerton hadn't settled and were giving the ball away all round the pitch far too easily. Moneyfields had a couple of shots over the bar but didn't get the ball into the area enough to create any clear chances until the 32nd minute when they hit the bar with a close range effort. Moments later they could have taken the lead with a free header but it was steered wide of the goal. Moneyfields thought they had won a penalty in the 40th minute but the referee ignored their shouts of handball and waved play on.
Bemerton finally started to show some urgency in their play in the last five minutes of the half. A freekick from distance was a yard wide of the post and Renyard made an excellent surging run down the sideline before crossing into the middle. The ball fell to Sanger but his flicked header ended up going wide as well.
The Moneyfields players were out first for the second half and one asked the referee to hurry things along as he wanted to go home and make some love. They were in a hurry to get a goal and could have taken the lead in the 47th minute when a cross flew across the box from the right but fell behind the attackers in the area.
Bemerton's Sanger had the next opportunity when he anticipated a backpass from a defender and took the ball to the line. He crossed without looking up which wasted the opportunity as none of his team mates had caught up the play. Sanger had a more straightforward chance on the hour when he latched onto a though ball but his poor control allowed the ball to bounce up and he had to take a shot with a high foot as a defender caught up to him.
Bemerton did take the lead in the 63rd minute following another surging run by Renyard. He took the ball round a couple of Moneyfields players before launching an early cross into the area. The ball glanced off Michael Pratt's forehead and span past the keeper and into the net via the far post. The goalscorer was about to be substituted and a couple of minutes later O'Kane took his place.
There were few chances after that as Bemerton settled for their one goal lead. Sanger looked disinterested in chasing the ball down or working for the team. Slade was unfortunate not to score min injury time when he closed down a defender in the corner, won the ball, cut into the area and hit a shot that beat the keeper but bounced back out off the post.
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