Game 18: Hungerford Town 3.2 Leiston aet (FA Vase) 17.01.09

Drove up to Hungerford with Alan via the A303 due to roadworks on the A338. After dodging a tractor or two, we arrived at the ground and managed to get one of the last parking spaces in the overflow carpark. After purchasing a programme outside the gate and paying our admission, bumped into Andy who had driven over from Calne after a model railway exhibition. While he headed to the bar to catch the end of the Preston v Burnley game, Alan and I had a wander around the ground. There were a number of different stands dotted around which we were grateful to see as heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon. The ground had a fair slope to it but the wind was hurtling by in the other direction to even things up. Hungerford were noted in the programme as being the outsiders, with odds to win the Vase of 40-1 compared to Leiston at 12-1.

The local paper had reported the previous day that Hungerford would be trying an all out attack approach and the play in the first ten minutes certainly backed that up. Within a minute, their first attack saw the ball heading just over the bar from a shot that really should have found the back of the net. This period of play saw 3 corners and a good opportunity for a 1 on 1 with the keeper that was wasted as the through ball was just too far from the stretching striker's right boot. It was no surprise when Hungerford took the lead from a corner on 9 minutes. The ball was passed from the left corner to the edge of the box where a Hungerford player hit a superb shot through the crowd of players and into the left side of the goal.


Hungerford had a chance to make it 2.0 a minute later but the Leiston keeper outwitted the striker who had gone through 1 on 1 to make the save. The visitors gradually started to play some football and on 25 minutes managed their first shot on target. The wind was certainly affecting the play, with Hungerford's goalkicks hardly making the halfway line despite the advantage of the slope.


On 29 minutes, Leiston equalised much to the delight of the 30 or so fans behind the goal and a few others dotted around the ground. The ball was swung in from a free kick about 10 yards from the penalty box towards a mass of players. It was too high for anyone to head and it looked like the keeper's dive to the left would be a comfortable catch. However the keeper spilt the ball and it hit Leiston's no 10 on the knee, pushing it away from the keeper. The two Hungerford players sliding in on the ball and goalmouth were not quick enough to beat the oncoming Leiston player who slid the ball in. This gave Leiston a bit more confidence and 3 minutes later the Hungerford keeper pulled off a tremendous point blank save from a header in the box.


Hungerford didn't let the goal stop their attacking play and as the game moved toward half-time, put together a super pass and move counter-attack from their own half that lead to a long distance shot just past the Leiston post. While Hungerford had missed some good chances in the first half, they will have been pleased to have missed the last chance - when a Leiston ball was crossed from the left it found a defender's head and the ball hit the post and flew just wide. There was no time left to take the corner and the arguments of one of the Leiston players to the contrary led to a booking.
At the start of the second half Alan was still in the slow moving queue at the teabar - luckily he turned round to see a Hungerford header flash just wide of the goal when all around us thought it was in. Hungerford continued to put pressure on the visitors to score and looked like they would in the 60th minute when a cross came in from the right and two players failed to make a connection. 5 minutes later they should have scored again - this time a Hungerford player went through on goal but delayed his shot which allowed the keeper to grab the ball at his feet. The locals started to look a bit nervous and one mentioned it was like the previous Tuesday when they had made all the chances and had lost 2.1

The nerves disappeared a few minutes later. Leiston's no 10 had been booked for a late challenge just after that chance and hadn't calmed down. He lost the ball on the left side, lost his temper and decided to kick out at a Hungerford player once the ball had gone. The referee spotted this late infringement and had no choice but to give him a second yellow. Hungerford took the lead a minute later. From a freekick, the ball was swung into the area and a Hungerford player got his head to hit ahead of the outcoming keeper. The ball looped over the keeper's hands, under the crossbar and in.


To give them their credit, the rest of the Leiston players didn't give up and continued to play good football in their search for an equaliser. Four minutes after the Hungerford goal and they had it - a great turn on the edge the area to create space on the left hand side and then a sublime cross shot over the keeper and into the back of the net. The goalscorer and his team mates then raced down towards the stand we were in to celebrate in front of some of their supporters. A fantastic goal that wouldn't have looked out of place on Match of the Day.

Hungerford looked to have paid for not taking their chances earlier in the game in what was turning out to be one of the best games I'd seen for a long while. Both teams now tried their best to get a goal before extra time - Leiston almost won it on 88 minutes when a ball came in to the box and bounced kindly off a Hungerford leg to one of their strikers. He turned well and dug the ball from under his foot, past the keeper but direct onto the post. Hungerford waited until injury time for their best chance - Leiston's keeper couldn't hold onto a shot from the left but when it bounced to a Hungerford player he was given as offside just as he hit the ball into the back of the net.

So another 30 minutes in the cold but after the excitement of the first 90 minutes I wasn't unhappy at the prospect of more football. 1 minute and 26 seconds (thanks Andy!) after the restart Hungerford took the lead again. A header from a corner hit the crossbar, the follow up shot was saved and pushed onto the post only for the original header of the ball to be given a second chance. This time he managed to get his header on target and past the keeper. Hungerford made the most of the extra man and almost got another goal from a corner 8 minutes into the first half of extra time - this time Leiston managed to get a man on the line to clear the ball. The second half continued in a similar vein - Hungerford creating most of the chances but not converting them. Despite this, they did enough to prevent Leiston from earning a replay.

As we walked out of the ground, the Hungerford players celebrated by bouncing up and down and singing Wembley songs. A genuine cup upset and who knows - if they continue to create chances and maybe score a few more of them, they might be there in May.

Game 17: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 0.1 Romsey Town (Wess PREM) 27.12.08

Drove over to Andy's house then wandered round to Western Way to clear the Christmas cobwebs with some fresh air and a local derby with Romsey.

The first part of the game was pretty low key. Romsey took the lead on 28 minutes through an own goal - a cross from the left was deflected off a defender's legs and in. Romsey almost added a second a minute later but Bemerton's keeper made a good save.


In the second half Bemerton managed a few attacks but the consistent theme was that they broke down in the final third and the Romsey keeper had little to do.


Romsey were happy to contain Bemerton and created few chances themselves.



In the 73rd minute Romsey almost repaid the favour and came close to scoring an own goal. The header from the defender was planned but it caught the keeper out and he was wrong footed. Despite this, he managed to get back and make a save to keep the score at 0.1


That was Bemerton's best chance of the second half as they continued to create good openings and waste them with wayward shots that were more likely to hit bird's nests in the trees than the back of the net. In the final minute they almost equalised but the shot went just wide of the post. Not a classic game but it was nice to get out to two games over the Christmas period.

Game 16: Salisbury City 2.1 Oxford United (Blue Square Premier) 26.12.08

A cold afternoon up at the Ray Mac for the visit of Oxford United. I’d driven down from Reading and managed to arrive back in Salisbury at 2 so arranged to meet Andy at the ground. There was a big queue of traffic to get into the ground and it took about 10 minutes to get in as only one turnstile was open. While the Salisbury end wasn’t too full, the away end was packed and the game kicked off ten minutes late to allow everyone to get in. The away fans were certainly the loudest this season and with good reason – the attendance was 2,416 and over half (1,241) were from Oxford.



Salisbury attacked towards their supporters and took the lead in the third minute to silence the away end. Fowler leapt the highest at the near side of the penalty area and knocked a corner towards the back post. Griffin made up 6 yards in an instant and threw himself at the ball to head it past the stranded keeper.



Salisbury then doubled their lead in the seventeenth minute, Liam Feeney crossed the ball from the left side and found Ademeno lurking in the middle. He mishit his shot towards the near post while Billy Turley, anticipating a shot towards the far post, dived the wrong way. It seemed to take an age for the ball to bounce over the line but it finally trickled over the line.



Constable was looking dangerous for Oxford and managed to nick the ball past Bittner before collapsing in a heap. It was impossible to judge from the far end whether there had been contact made – luckily for Salisbury the referee judged that that it was outside the area and that no card was necessary. Salisbury defended deep and managed to clear a headed effort from a free kick over the crossbar. Constable had a couple of shots but didn’t get them on target to trouble Bittner.



Oxford made some changes at the start of the second half and after ten minutes of one way traffic managed to pull a goal back. Sam Deering was beating the Salisbury defence every time down the left side and after Constable’s shot was parried by Bittner, he chipped the ball into the open goal



That was the last contribution he made as moments later he went in for a tackle with Ruddick. At the time it looked like both players had gone for the ball, leading Deering to fall awkwardly. He had to be stretchered off but the referee didn’t see a late challenge and booked Oxford keeper Turley for running 40 yards to protest.



Yemi replaced him and almost found an equaliser with a strong cross shot from the edge of the penalty area that skimmed past the far post and went wide. Tim Bond also made a great goalmouth clearance with his head as Salisbury fought hard to keep the 3 points in Wiltshire. In the final minutes, Feeney should have scored when he went one on one with Turley but shot wide from distance when it might have been better to take the keeper on. By now the nerves were jangling but the Whites held on for a well deserved win.

Game 15: Christchurch 3.0 New Milton Town (FA Vase) 05.12.08

When choosing a game for this round of the FA Vase, I decided to go with the silverware and head down to Christchurch to see their local derby against New Milton Town. The FA Vase itself was on show in the club bar before the game with 2 FA staff and 2 security guards making sure it stayed there! It’s a nice gesture by the FA to bring their trophies around the country for people to see and I made the most of it by getting my picture next to the Vase.




New Milton started the better of the two teams and it took 14 minutes for Christchurch to create a decent chance. The ball came across the goal from a corner and presented Russell Cook with an open goal from two yards out . You guessed it – he missed!


Two minutes later and Christchurch did take the lead from a long throw in. The ball ended up in the penalty area and Mark Burrows looped a header over New Milton’s ex-Salisbury keeper and into the side of the net. It reminded me of some of the recent goals scored by Stoke from Rory Delap’s throws and Burrows was delighted with it, rushing towards one of the spectators behind the goal to celebrate.


The rest of the first half was fairly even. New Milton were limited to longshots that flew over the bar and it seemed that they were unable to counter the effect of playing down the steep slope. Christchurch looked like the better footballing team with some good passing and movement but their efforts only produced some soft shots that didn’t threaten the goal.


In the second half I moved from the far touchline to the main stand as the sun had gone down behind the trees and my back was rather sore – the old man in me needed to sit down! The sunset looked pretty amazing as the sky moved from orange to blue to dark blue and finally to black.


Christchurch scored their second goal after 47 minutes. Burrows managed to stay onside and picked up a perfect through ball. He ran into the box unopposed and chipped the onrushing keeper. If the first goal could be likened to Stoke, this one could be likened to Arsenal and their slick attacking play.


The next 20 minutes was all Christchurch and New Milton rarely left their own half. There were tow similar chances to extend the lead – one on 65 minutes and another on 71 minutes - long shot efforts on target but on both occasions the keeper pushed the shot over the bar.


The third goal finally came on 76 minutes. Michael Green won the ball for Christchurch on the halfway line, sped down the left wing and put a low cross into the middle with pace. As the ball came across, Cook stretched a leg out and swept the ball in despite the challenge from the covering defender. Another goal that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Match of the Day’s Premier League highlights!

Game 14: Salisbury City 1.1 Northwich Victoria (Blue Square Premier) 22.11.08

A bright start for Salisbury against their relegation rivals. In the second minute Jon Davis took a corner that was dropped by the Northwich keeper and knocked in by Matt Robinson, a rare goal for the defender during his career.

Northwich’s Burns looked to be a dangerous threat upfront and was unlucky not to be given a penalty when he was tripped in the box by Ian Herring. Northwich had several chances to equalise during the first half as Salisbury seemed content to sit back on the early lead. Luckily James Bittner was in excellent form to make some good saves.

In the second half Burns continued to cause problems – one cross he made into the penalty area was ideally placed if there had been any other Northwich players supporting. The goal that they had been threatening finally came on 54 minutes when a wide pass following a good run into the centre box gave Peter Winn an easy opportunity to place the ball past Bittner.

Jon Davis was a pleasure to watch as always and made some tricky runs. From one of these runs he took a shot that hit the outside of the Northwich post and bounced wide. With about twenty minutes to go the Whites had three good chances from corners in succession.

From the first, Robinson had a free header that was deflected over the bar. The second corner almost went in directly but the keeper palmed it over the bar. The third found Brian Dutton in space but he headed straight down into the ground and the ball bounced about up and over the crossbar.

Game 13: Willand Rovers 2.1 Bemerton Heath Harlequins (aet) (FA Vase) 15.11.08

After attending Bemerton’s last two FA Vase games, I decided to make the trip down to Devon to watch them take on Willand Rovers from the Western League. I made good time down the motorway and arrived in time to park in the ground and read the programme before heading to the touchline to watch the game.


The local paper had an article commenting on the possibility of Bemerton not having a keeper for the game due to injury and county FA call ups. Checking the line up, it was confirmed that they had managed to get a new keeper in time. Bemerton were playing up the sloped pitch in the first half and had some good opportunities early on to take the lead. On 15 minutes a shot was sent across the goal and ended up just going wide of the post while a later chance saw a close range shot blocked on the line. Willand also created some chances on the break but nothing to trouble the new keeper.


In the 26th minute, the hosts won a penalty for what the referee felt was a push in the box. This was rather soft and the defenders around the Willand player had the same opinion. However there was no changing the referee’s mind and the penalty was well struck into the bottom left corner of the net, giving the keeper no chance.


The muddy pitch was starting to cut up and the referee finally began to start to clamp down on late tackles, taking the time to talk to players and explain his decisions. Bemerton seemed a little bit stunned after the goal and took some time to get back into the game. They were creating some chances but their final ball continued to let them down.


Willand had been flagged offside a number of times during the first half but managed to suss the offside trap during the second half. There were a couple of occasions where players went through one on one with the keeper but each time the shot was taken early and went well wide.


Bemerton started to assert themselves onto the game and on 75 minutes scored a well deserved equaliser. The ball was played into the penalty area and broke to Paul Palmer who smashed it into the net from six yards out – the cue for celebrations on and off the pitch as Bemerton had brought a number of supporters down from Wiltshire.


The game went into extra-time and as the fog started to roll in, it looked like both teams would have to go to Western Way for a replay. It was now a question of next goal wins it and in the 119th minute the game was won. Willand won a corner and played the ball across the box. Players from both teams tried to get onto the loose ball and it was a Willand foot that hit a shot through the keeper’s legs, across the line and in. Heartbreak for Harlequins!

Game 12: Laverstock & Ford 0.3 VTFC (Wess PREM) 25.10.08

After missing a couple of weeks of games while my back was healing, it was nice to get out to a local game. Decided to watch this game as there were a couple of familiar faces playing for VTFC – Paul Sales and Tyronne Bowers who are both ex Salisbury players. Arriving at the ground I found that the regular car park was closed off and I had to park the car in an adjacent field.

Laverstock had an early chance on 5 minutes but the shot was dragged wide. VTFC were soon in control and their passing was of a much better standard than normally seen at this level. They earnt a couple of free kicks and corners but most of the talk on the terraces was about the referee and his assistant on the nearside who were making some unexpected decisions with corners and missing clear offsides.

VTFC took the lead on 24 minutes when a cross came in from the right and a Laverstock player headed it past his own keeper when under no pressure from the opposition. On 32 minutes they had a good opportunity to make it 2.0 when a header (from their own team this time!) went just wide of the post. 3 minutes later and the same player came close to scoring again. A Laverstock defender misread the bounce of the ball and when it bounced over his head the VTFC striker read it well and tried to lob the keeper. His shot bounced narrowly wide and perhaps he would have been better placed to try and bring the ball under control first before placing a shot.

In first half injury time, a free kick was given to VTFC when Paul Sales was shoved over. The free kick was played to Sales but his diving header from two yards was straight at the goalkeeper who managed to push it away.

VTFC had most of the play in the first half and this continued in the second half, along with the abuse from a Laverstock spectator who turned out to be the same “gentleman” who I’ve seen abusing officials at Bemerton. The players were finding it hard to keep their footing and the strong wind gusts were not helping. VTFC scored a second goal on 65 minutes with a player running through the Laverstock defence and chipping the goalkeeper from distance. In the 90th minute they wrapped it up with the best goal of the game. A sub took the ball down the left wing, rode through 3 challenges and put the ball past the keeper’s right hand.

Game 11: Portsmouth 2.1 Stoke City (Premier League) 05.10.08

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been to a league ground so decided to take a trip down to Fratton to catch up with Alan, Matt and Chris and take in the game against Stoke, currently managed by ex-Portsmouth boss Tony Pulis. I was in a bit of pain with a bad back which stopped me walking too far so we had some lunch in Fratton and walked to the ground early. I haven’t been on the old Milton end since a game against Charlton in the early 90’s and I was glad to see a roof has been added since my last visit so the rain showers weren’t a problem.

The Portsmouth team has certainly improved since my last visit with a number of regular England players in the squad. However even the best players are prone to making mistakes and Stoke were gifted a great chance to score when David James hit a clearance straight to Rory Delap who put Dave Kitson in on goal. Kitson hadn’t scored for Stoke in his first 6 games and perhaps a lack of confidence led to his shot going wide.

The bulk of Portsmouth’s attacks were coming down the left flank with Nadir Belhadj and Armand Traore interchanging passes and positions. Pompey took the lead on 25 minutes with a quality strike from Peter Crouch. The ball came across from Defoe on the left handside and Crouch hit a spectacular overhead kick into the bottom left hand corner of the Milton end goal. From our vantage point you could see the ball heading in all the way – which gave me half a second to try and stand up before the crowd leapt up around us.

Stoke’s main threat this season has come from Rory Delap’s long throws and every time he got the ball he got a chorus of abuse, although this was more likely to have been due to his previous history as a Southampton player. In the 48th minute he launched a long throw into the box and another former Saint (and Pompey) player, Ricardo Fuller, managed to knock the ball in from close range.


Defoe almost replied within a minute but his shot from distance hit the post. A minute later and he repeated the trick, cutting in from the left and firing a shot past Steve Simonsen and in. Pompey made some good chances to add a third but it wasn’t to be and the game finished 2.1

The diagnosis for Stoke was another defeat but for me it turns out that I’ve torn a muscle in the base of my back and won’t be at football for a couple of weeks. Looks like it will take six months to heal properly.