WESSEX LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY 2016
VERWOOD TOWN 0 TEAM SOLENT 2

The squad for this game had only Jack Swann and Joe Kimber missing. The line up…..

Lynch Evans Murray Dyer Donachy Phelps Brimson Gajic Wood Rutten Fisk Gathering splinters Atkinson Kelly Goddard

Brimson's left foot shot flew high and wide with 2 minutes gone. Fisk had carved an opening on the left and a low cross had landed nicely for Brimson to try his luck.

Team Solent hit back with a good move down their right. Murray judged the break inside well and blocked the move. Murray's line ball found Rutten but defenders stopped his run.

Solent's running off the ball was a feature but we matched effort and the game became a mid field event with little finding its way through into goal areas.

Donachy and Phelps tightened their grip as more long balls materialized. Lynch dealt very capably with anything that crept through.

We couldn't break into Solent's box. Moves intended to find gaps never came off. Solent's defence snuffed attempts so for both dugouts it became a frustrating half.

Evans blocked a run down his flank and taking the ball down the line floated an inch perfect ball for Wood to try a shot. Again a body flung itself across the line of flight and the ball merely rebounded to defenders feet.

Dyer almost broke free with run down the left but his cross was blocked giving us a corner. Heads went up but it was a Team Solent one that won the challenge.

Gajic worked hard to dent the opposition but to no avail. Equally our back four was solid and Solent's attacks were blanked.

3 minutes left and Fisk wriggled free to cut inside. A left foot shot was beaten out by the keeper. It was the only shot on target we had had.

45 minutes a cross from TS left flank was hit cleanly on the volley but Lynch was well placed to take the catch.

A few minutes of extra time elapsed without any heart flutters so the whistle went on clean score board.

Half Time 0-0

The second half kicked off with again both sides cancelling each others attacks. Murray and Evans were matching their opposite numbers whilst Phelps and Donachy continued their quality defensive partnership.

A counter attack sparked by Gajic petered out on the edge of the Solent box. A long clearance found a chink in our armor and a cross into the area was turned into the net. 0-1. The penalty we had to pay for a lapse in discipline.

60 minutes Alan Lay decided to forsake a defender for another attacker. Murray came off for Atkinson to have a run.

We pushed up. Fisk delivered a great cross but Wood was just short of getting in a shot. Atkinson then broke away but was whistled up offside. Team Solent kept their shape and noticeably was their work rate for each other.

The game once again became one of waiting for a team to penetrate tight marking. Wood tried to hit the net from 25 yards but his shot was blocked. Atkinson raised hopes with a characteristic run down the right but just before reaching the edge of the box slipped and lost the ball.

Frustration was creeping in. We couldn't find the finishing touch. Gajic and Dyer competed hard in the middle but couldn't make headway into Solent's third.

Lynch took a cross high under the bar but there wasn't much else for him to worry about. The Solent keeper looked as if he had just been laundered.

Brimson had soldiered on in an unfamiliar position playing up top on the left. He was instrumental in containing an overlapping back and managing to get in a couple of crosses but that were swept away from danger by the Solent central pairing.

Rutten beavered away just behind Wood. No opportunity presented itself for a shot because of tight marking.

82 minutes Brad Goddard came on for Jordan Fisk. Goddard's first ball was an attempt to lob the back four for Atkinson but good feet cleared the danger before the keeper had a need to crease his jersey.

The game meandered on and on 89 minutes Solent got a half shot away in the angle of the box. Lynch was stunned to see an object whistle past him into the bottom corner. 0-2.

Last throw of the dice for Alan Lay. Ben Kelly to come on immediately for Max Brimson. Kelly wet up alongside Wood.

The whistle went on a 3 pointer for Team Solent. Ben Kelly came off with the cleanest boots in the squad.

Result 0-2.