SYDENHAMS (WESSEX) LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
SATURDAY 12TH JANUARY 2019
NEWPORT 1 VERWOOD TOWN 1

Sam Chilman Sam Joy Dan Fawcett Joe Kimber and Ollie Davies all had knocks to contend with but elected to play. A few positional shuffles had to be made because of absences but the quality was on show to give Newport a good game. Josh Hall came into mid field to make his bow for the Club.

The first few minutes were hectic as Newport came out of the traps at a fair lick. Gajic and Chilman were first to blunt Newport’s efforts with solid defending and Fawcett showed class with a superb tip over the bar after only 5 minutes had elapsed.

We countered on the flanks with Eaton and Davies giving their markers a testing time.

Newport’s moves through the middle of the park were contested by Heggan and Dyer. Dyer’s inspirational skipper’s style was matched by an all action Heggan.

Guthrie’s presence up front started to impact as we gained more control of play. 11 minutes gone and Guthrie chased a through ball. The centre half tried to block progress but determination and strength won the battle and a split second later the ball whipped past the keeper to put us in front. 1-0.

Newport’s rally gave our defence plenty to do but the team was solid in its work rate and although Newport had play in our third for a while the Eaton Davies and Kimber battling style was enough to curb threats on goal.

Hall was floored on the edge of Newport’s area with a couple of minute’s left of the half. Dyer’s free kick found Gajic but his powerful header went over the bar.

Half Time 1-0

We started slowly and suffered when on 51 minutes Newport strung together some good football to slip past our defence and slot the ball past Fawcett making it 1-1.

Inexplicably we went through a scrappy period of not playing on the deck and losing the ball in many instances. We gradually recovered and pushed forward.

Kimber almost had the ball in the net with a good footwork and shot from the edge of the box but the Newport keeper’s anticipation and handling kept the score board at 1-1.

Half way through the half Chilman and Heggan’s interplay went from defence to just outside the Newport area. Davies took over with a run along the edge of the box and a final touch to Guthrie allowed a shot. The keeper did well to palm the ball over the top.

Dyer’s corner dropped nicely for Gajic. A climb above defenders and Gajic agonized as the ball was cleared off the line. In came Davies to slam the ball low for the corner of the net. A defender kicked it off the line. The ball was high and dropped for a counter. A runner went for goal and we could have suffered going behind had it not been for a decisive Joy tackle. The block stopped the Newport team’s celebrations.

77 minutes and Davies’ hamstring pull meant Owen Nicholson coming on for a one for one.

Nicholson’s impact was instant. Linking with Kimber and Eaton, Nicholson made ground down the left. His deep cross found Dyer. A low shot from the edge of the box was hoofed clear.

81 minutes and a harsh penalty decision gave spring heeled Fawcett a chance to shine. The ball hit the bar and shot out of the area. Fawcett was disappointed in being denied a chance to prove his penalty stopping capabilities.

Hall was in the thick of it to win a tussle but he got two strides away from defenders and a flying tackle brought him down. Up stepped Dyer but this time the normally accurate delivery on goal was wayward.

Newport went for a grandstand finish but found the Chilman Nicholson link on the left absolutely rock solid and on the other flank Joy, Eaton and Heggan did enough to keep Newport out of the box.

A couple of attacks at both ends occupied the crowd in the closing couple of minutes but on 90+5 the whistle went for a point each.

Result 1-1