WESSEX LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
SATURDAY 17TH OCTOBER 2015
LYMINGTON TOWN 1 VERWOOD TOWN 1

Kelly, Donachy and Gajic were all away for this fixture so positional and squad shuffles were necessary for a tough game.

Multi positional Max Brimson slotted in to a central pairing with Zacc Phelps and Brad Goddard joined Russ Dyer in the middle.

We had a good start for a change and an early high ball into our box was headed clear by Brimson. Dyer picked up and spread play with a raking pass to Fisk. Fisk moved inside his marker and a cut back found Goddard. A delightful chip for Wood gave space for Wood to try a shot but instead laid it back for Rutten to blast into the keeper's hands.

It was bright and we continued to push forward. Swann and Wood moved play down the right and finished with a Swann angled shot that whistled wide.

Retaliation came with a central high ball clearing Phelps, but Lynch had seen the danger and was out quickly to take a catch.

Swann broke through with 10 minutes gone but was floored by a strong tackle earning a free kick 25 yards out. Rutten took it but hit the cross bar instead of the back of the net.

Rutten almost made amends with a good run and shot but it was the keeper this time keeping him off the score sheet.

Good progressive football from Lymington was halted by an Evans interception. Evans line ball gave Swann space but again Swann nose dived following a sliding tackle.

A move down Lymington's left finished with a great shot on target but Lynch made an exceptional save in the angle of bar and post.

Tighter marking from both sides had play contained in the middle of the park for a while but the odd break had both keeper's showing great abilities.

Almost on the whistle Fisk and Goddard linked up to send Swann free. A cross from the bye line was headed clear and suddenly we had two on two. A terrific shot was well watched by Lynch and good hands kept the score at 0-0.

Half Time 0-0

We are notorious for slow starts but after a confidence boosting team talk we were out of the traps quickly.

Murray got under a high ball from the kick off and sent a header down the line. Fisk broke clear to try a shot but a no nonsense boot cleared the area for front runners. Goddard measured the drop and good feet took the ball away from a mid fielder. An excellent ball dropped neatly for Wood to break into the box and unleash an unstoppable shot past the keeper into the top corner. 1-0.

We had the upper edge for a while and another attack was joined by Brimson who broke into the Lymington box only to fire a cross shot across the face of goal but out into touch.

There was no resting on laurels though. A series of Lymington breaks followed and our back four was pushed to the limit. Evans broke up a move on his flank and then Phelps rose high to head a dangerous cross away for a corner. The in swinger was punched out by Lynch but the rebound fell nicely for a crack at goal. Lynch again did well to block the shot but it was Evans boot that finally got rid of the ball out of the area.

Brimson cleared a corner with a header and we got ourselves back into the game with a good passing spell sparked by Dyer and Goddard. A result of one move was a Swann shot from the edge of the box just over the bar.

A long ball from Lymington's backs found a runner. It looked as if scores would be levelled but Lynch saved a point blank shot, palming it wide. The rebound fell nicely for a Lymington forward but this time the ball hit the foot of the post and skidded across the face of goal. Phelps did the business with good control and then sending the ball wide for Murray. Murray clipped the ball on to Wood and we almost had the ball in the net as Wood's volley was half blocked by a defender but fell nicely for the keeper to gather at the foot of the post.

It was a good game for spectators as play moved end to end.

Another high ball into our third was watched by Brimson but his challenge and header was judged to be too robust resulting in a free kick. Lynch caught a high ball under pressure.

Lymington's attacks increased. Goddard back tracked into defence and was joined by the industrious Dyer.

Fisk came off for Atkinson to have a run after 68 minutes and a couple of minutes later Joe Kimber came on for Jack Swann.

We fell foul of a lapse in concentration with 72 minutes gone when a low cross was allowed to skip across the box and a long leg tapped it in to make it 1-1.

A scent of 3 points pushed Lymington's energy levels up a couple of notches but we were equal to anything they had to throw into the game and should have claimed the prize when Atkinson broke away from his marker and hit a tremendous shot rattling the underside of the cross bar and bouncing out.

That settled activities and the refs whistle took us in sharing a point each.

Result 1-1.