Headed over to Andy's to find that Liz would be joining us for her first ever live football match. Before leaving the house it felt quite mild outside but as we wandered around to the ground it started to get a bit chilly and I was glad that I had brought a hat along.
Flicking through the programme it was interesting to note that Bemerton had managed to keep their first clean sheet since the start of January on Saturday. They recorded an impressive 2.0 win against Brading Town although the visitors had been reduced to 9 men by the end of the game. Bemerton had also recorded a 6.2 victory in the reverse fixture back in November.
It didn't take too long for the first goal. The ball was passed into the Hamble penalty area in the 5th minute and Young hit an absolute screamer with his left foot that flew into the top corner of the net. However the lead and the clean sheet didn't survive past the 9th minute as the Bemerton defence parted as the ball was played through the middle, allowing a Hamble player to run onto the pass and place a low shot past the keeper.
While the Bemerton players looked frustrated about conceding an equaliser, they took it out on the Hamble defence by creating a number of chances to retake the lead. Sanger had a shot wide and a couple of headers from good positions ended up over the bar. In the 21st minute the pressure looked to have payed off when a Bemerton player was tripped up in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. The Bemerton player hit the ball low to the keeper's right but the keeper guessed correctly and saved the shot, gathering the ball at the second attempt.
Hamble were lifted by this and moved the ball forward down the left side. The ball came into the box and the defence managed to half clear it, only to see a shot from the edge of the area fly over the goalkeeper before hitting the bar and bouncing down over the line. It wasn't clear whether it was a deliberate shot or a cross that got lucky but the Hamble players weren't too bothered.
Bemerton continued to apply pressure and glanced a header from a corner wide. The Hamble keeper appeared to be caught and stayed down for a few minutes while he was treated. The game seemed to lose momentum after that and it wasn't until injury time that we saw some attempts at goal. Hamble had a shot that was tipped wide for a corner and Bemerton had another header over the bar.
After a Bovril break for my fellow spectators, the teams came out for the second half. It didn't take too long for the first goal in this half either - Sanger played a great cross that went over the heads of the defenders running into area and found Slade in the middle. He dived forward and put his header to the right of the goal, just out of the keeper's diving reach. Bemerton were pushing forward to try and retake the lead but the final ball was lacking and nothing came from the chances they created. Hamble had a rare attack down the right side in the 69th minute. When the ball was crossed into the area a group of players challenged for the ball in the air before it was cleared. The referee blew his whistle and it wasn't immediately clear what the offence was. He then pointed to the spot and awarded Hamble a penalty. The Bemerton keeper dived to his right, only to see the ball fly into the left of the goal to give Hamble a 3.2 lead.
Bemerton almost equalised three minutes later when a ball was cleared out of the Hamble six yard box only to deflect back towards goal as it hit another Hamble player. The keeper didn't have time to react but got lucky as the ball cannoned back off his legs and was cleared.
The game turned a bit nasty towards the end as Bemerton continued to press for an equaliser. It looked as if one of the Bemerton players kicked out at a Hamble player following a tackle but none of the officials spotted the offender and play continued. Joe Sanger was then taken out by a shocking tackle from the Hamble captain - last seen trying to get sent off at the abandoned match at Fareham - who was only booked for the offence after both teams squared up to each other. Sanger hobbled off the pitch and took no further part in the game.
Joe Fisher went up front as Bemerton moved to a 4-3-3 formation and he didn't pull out of a challenge on the keeper which caused another flare up. The keeper seemed to be fairly wound up and after the final whistle shouted abuse and squared up to the spectators behind the goal. A poor end to an entertaining game.
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