SYDENHAMS (WESSEX) LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
WEDNESDAY 28TH DECEMBER 2011
VERWOOD TOWN 3 RINGWOOD TOWN 0

A mouth watering festive local derby with Ringwood Town brought a crowd of 161 to Potterne Park, quite possibly the biggest ever attendance for a league match. It was the home team who settled quickest and in the first minute a long throw from Evans found a defender's head who could only flick it to Satterly whose first time shot from the penalty spot mark flew over the bar. 5 minutes later Evans again turned provider with a deep cross which Homer headed wide. After 11 minutes there was a scare for Verwood when goalkeeper Lynch's clearance was charged down by a forward but the ball bounced to safety when it could easily have flown into the unguarded net.

13 minutes gone and Verwood were enjoying the best moments of the game, Haskell held the ball up to allow Dyer to join the attack and his 25 yard shot brought a good save from the keeper low down. Two minutes later a defender's slip let in Satterly but his fierce shot was well saved. On 20 minutes a superb ball from Haskell put Satterley through on goal but his clever lob cleared the bar as well as the goalie. Immediately after Gajic had a left foot shot from just inside the box which was fired straight at the keeper. Despite a couple of half chances for the visitors Verwood were making the best opportunities and the pressure paid off on 24 minutes when Gajic teed up Homer and from 15 yards his low shot found the corner of the net. 1-0

On 25 minutes Ringwood forced the first corner of the game but this was safely cleared, three minutes later Verwood forced their first corner when the keeper palmed a deep cross over the bar but this too came to nothing. 32 minutes gone and Ringwood were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal which looked threatening but the shot was well over the bar. 36 minutes gone and a visiting midfielder hit a first time shot from 30 yards which appeared to be on target until it swerved and ended up a yard wide. On 41 minutes Lynch attempted to stop a Martin Smith header from crossing the line for a corner but in a flash the forward had wrestled the ball from him but Kelly was quick to clear the danger and Verwood were to take a deserved lead into the half-time break.

HALF-TIME 1-0.

Ringwood came out for the second half in determined fashion and forced the first corner of the half on 48 minutes which Lynch claimed with safe hands. For the opening 15 minutes of the half the visitors put Verwood under some pressure which included a string of corners . Despite their early domination of the half the home defence stood firm and clear cut opportunities for the visitors were hard to find. The biggest scare was when a through ball was only half cleared by Lynch to a midfielder who from 35 yards had a pop at the empty net but his shot was wide of the target.

58 minutes gone and Verwood created their first real chance of the second half when Gajic cleverly jinked past a couple of defenders and slid the ball wide to Satterly who must have been tempted to shoot from his wide position in the penalty area, instead he cleverly chipped across goal and the in-rushing Haskell planted his header from 8 yards into the net. 2-0

63 minutes and Ringwood were continuing their efforts to claw their way back in to the game and a couple of half chances were safely cleared by Kelly and Smith respectively, they were allowing the visiting strikers few real chances. Their best to chance to pull one back was a flick from 10 yards which Lynch did superbly to rush out and block with his chest. 70 minutes gone and a couple of flicked headers suddenly found Webb through one on one with the keeper. His first effort was well saved but Webb was quickest to the rebound and from an almost impossible angle his shot hit the post. On 76 minutes the tall Ringwood striker was given a great opportunity but his shot from the edge of the box was beaten away by Lynch and you started to get the feeling it wasn't going to be their night. They didn't give up but the more they pushed the more chances they were giving us. On 82 minutes Satterley's excellent cross was brilliantly chested back to the keeper by the defender with Haskell waiting to pounce on any mistake. With just a few minutes left on the clock a fantastic pass from Homer found Haskell clear on goal and the linesman's flag stayed down. Haskell found himself with only the keeper to beat and he made no mistake and slotted the ball home and the points were in the bag. 3-0

Immediately after Haskell left the field to be replaced by substitute Barnet and clearly enjoyed the well deserved adulation as he returned to the bench. There was no further action of any major significance and the ref blew the whistle for the final time on a massive three points for Verwood which sees them enter 2012 with a five point lead at the top of the table.

FINAL SCORE 3-0

Report submitted by Steve Jefferis