SYDENHAMS (WESSEX) LEAGUE DIVISION 1
SATURDAY 20TH OCTOBER 2010
COWES SPORTS 1 VERWOOD TOWN 1

The squad was a bit stronger than the one that faced Whitchurch and there was a feeling of optimism.

The game was only 3 minutes old when King found himself free in the box... In Pete's words he spotted an opening and fired a 20 yarder into the top corner. The crowd saw a 3 yard tap in. Whatever it was it put us ahead 1-0.

Elysee stormed down the right flank and a rising shot went just over the bar. Cowes hit back straight away and Fawcett was brought to his knees to save an excellent effort.

Delaney at centre half in the absence of Lynch and Smith was kept busy trying to calm the Cowes centre forward. We went through a torrid ten minutes in which the back four worked harder than of late.

30 minutes and Cowes broke through to slot the equaliser. 1-1.

We stepped up pace and Dyer linking with Haskell split the defensive cover for Haskell to finish off the move with a great shot that the keeper did well to scramble away.

Back came Cowes and this time we had to rely on Fawcett to keep the ball out of the net.

King and Kelly worked the ball down the line and Kelly finished off the move with a low cross that was hoofed out of the area to relieve our pressure.

Back we came again. Elysee spun inside the full back, moved slightly left and hammered a left foot shot that whistled wide. It was a brief spell of good football taking us to the whistle.

At half Time 1-1

Cowes led the way with a neat move on the right, the cross testing Fawcett. Fawcett's throw sparked a retaliatory strike but Haskell's shot hit the side netting.

King by this time had settled into a position just behind Haskell. Dyer's movement off the ball created space for King's passes and it looked as though we could grab another goal.

Webb cut inside the full back and a chip into the centre gave Kelly a chance to test his heading capability. The effort deserved a goal but the keeper had other thoughts and the score remained 1-1.

Dear performed a rescue act with a solid tackle and Delaney stepped in to move the ball on to Webb. A quick cross ball to Kelly and we split the Cowes defence for Haskell to try a shot from outside the box that unfortunately went wide.

The game opened out for a spell of attacking football and both sides went close.

Fawcett was a hero diving into a fray and coming out with the ball clutched to his chest. A throw to King a quick ball to Dyer and a shot from Webb saw a well worked move capably cleared by a header off the line.

Cowes then went into overdrive. Lanahan caught the eye with a strong tackle and through ball to King. A ball to the outside of the area had Cowes stretched but the centre was headed clear.

Cowes hit back and Murray cut out the attack with a fine tackle. Lanahan again got between an attacker and a shot, stopping danger to Fawcett's goal.

Dear / Delaney/Elysee combination put us on the attack. Haskell went wide and chipping the ball into the box was frustrated to see it cleared with a hefty boot before reaching King.

The game gave both sides a point and was probably a reasonable reflection on the play. 1-1