WESSEX LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
SATURDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2022
ROMSEY TOWN 3 VERWOOD TOWN 0

Romsey at home always presents a challenge. We expected a tough fixture and got one.

Romsey attacked from the whistle moving quickly down their left. A low cross into the box was won by Smith who cleared upfield. It came back quicker than the clearance. This time Davis had an early touch bring Mason into the game on our left. A good ball down the line found Fishlock but Romney’s defence was a solid wall preventing any chance of a goal.

The game continued with Romsey having most possession. Space was allowed to Romsey’s back four to hit accurate balls into the channels. We failed to close down.

Mitchell made a couple of good saves and both Broad and Mason were busy containing flank runs.

We were stretched. Our attacks floundered as Romsey pushed on. Stock did well to win a midfield tussle but was floored by a sliding tackle that earned a Referee caution to the offender.

We got better but Romsey were stronger and curbed what efforts we made in their third.

Fishlock tried a volley from the edge of the box but put the ball into the keeper’s hands. A long clearance and a 27 minutes counter gave enough of a chance for Romsey to go in front 0-1.

Carswell prompted and probed on 30 minutes and Haynes benefitted from a Carswell line ball but cutting inside was blocked from goal.

We had a flourish and McWilliams went close with a shot from the edge of the box but yet again a counter caught us short in defence. Smith and Davis did enough to divert the runners and ball into a corner. We got caught on the far post and a strong header made it 0-2.

Half Time 0-2

Elliot Rossiter took over Josh Haynes’ spot up front after 2 minutes.

Mitchell was busy again with several balls landing in the area, and was thankful when a corner was headed over the bar. A minute later a shot hit the side netting bringing another sigh of relief.

Tackles were flying in and a yellow was a reward to a Romsey forward who floored Stock preventing a middle of the park run.

Storey put the free kick over the bar, 5 minutes gone. A minute later 0-3, when we gave the ball away in the middle of the park. Our exposure at the back let in a runner to increase Romsey’s score line.

Davis fired wide with a free kick awarded for a foul on Mason and a McMonagle volley skimmed the bar as we tried to get back into the game.

McHale came on for Storey after 12 minutes and on 20 minutes McMonagle came on for Stock. Work rate towards the last 15 minutes dipped a bit but no heads dropped as we fought back. Our efforts weren’t enough, and as we couldn’t provide a cutting edge in the box suffered a loss of points.

The whistle blew on a 0-3 defeat.

Result 0-3