SYDENHAMS (WESSEX) LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
SATURDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 2019
LAVERSTOCK & FORD 2 VERWOOD TOWN 1

It was an interesting first half with both teams looking defensively sound. Pepe Smith was nearest to an opening goal in 10 minutes when breaking through a tough midfield but only to be blocked by a solid wall of bodies.

L&F worked more ball down their flanks than centrally, so both Sam Danvers and Owen Nicolson were kept extremely busy.

Although a high percentage of spectators thought Sam Danvers tackle in the twelfth minute was a good clean one, the ref judged otherwise and awarded a penalty.

Dale Hind in his first game for the Club made a tremendous save keeping the scoreboard empty.

Driscoll worked hard down the left and half way through the half chased down the ball robbing a defender on the dead ball line. A cut back found Hunt. A low shot on target deserved a goal but the keeper made a great save on the line.

The mid field was the battleground. Dyer and Maddocks found their opposite numbers tigerish in the tackle resulting in a stalemate for possession.

A crossfield ball dropped into our box and Kelly’s anticipation was spot on taking the ball away from danger and coolly setting up Davies for a counter attack. A lunging tackle stopped progress. The rest of the half was very much the same … stalemate.

Half Time 0-0

For a change we started well with Driscoll racing down the right and chipping an excellent ball into the box. A big boot cleared the danger for L&F

Danvers Kelly Gajic and Nicolson rode a wave of attacks as the ball dipped more over midfield than through it. Josh Hall came on for Pepe Smith with 15 gone and was soon in the thick of things joining Dyer in mid field.

21 minutes gone and Kelly stopped a runner. Kelly’s threaded ball found Gajic. On to Hunt, a ball wide found Davies. Davies wriggled free of his shackles. A defender ran across to tackle but Davies outpaced him and whipped in a low cross. L&F were shuttling back in numbers. One of them facing goal tried to clear but slammed the ball past his keeper giving us the lead. 1-0.

The game see sawed but we dropped back deeper giving more space for L&F. On 33 minutes a runner drifted through and leveled the score. 1-1.

A minute later Maddocks made way for Brigden. 2 minutes later Will Lambert came on for Dan Hunt.

The game still looked tight but on 41 minutes we wilted and suffered by allowing a break to go unchecked. Result was 3 points for L&F.

Result 1-2