By TONY HINCHLIFFE (Amesbury Town)at the Waterside Sports & Social Club

The rain was falling steadily by the time of kick off and continued for all of the afternoon as both teams looked unable to string two passes together in the opening spell. A mistake by Neil Sole let in Fawley’s Brendan McElevey but his shot was wide. The Blues then took the lead when a neat interchange of passes between Jason Bates and Danny Western set up Tom WESTERN who placed his 20 yard low shot wide of Dan Gilroy into the bottom corner of the net. The goal seemed to wake up the hosts and only a good save from Tommy Allatt denied Ian Moore from grabbing the equaliser. The Blues then broke quickly and the Western brothers combined to put Danny Finnigan through on goal but Gilroy came out of his goal bravely to gather the ball at the Blues strikers’ feet. Unfortunately the Fawley custodian was injured in the process and there was a lengthy delay whilst he received treatment. Just before the half hour mark Fawley grabbed an equaliser when Matt Redman ran in from the right where Allatt managed to block his shot but the ball broke to Brendon McELEVEY who netted with ease. The home side were now gaining the upper hand and McElevey tried to chip Allatt but the effort lacked pace and the Blues keeper saved easily. With the game drifting towards the interval and with both sides probably looking forward to some respite from the wet conditions the game erupted in the final five minutes before the break. Danny Western lost the ball in his own half and the ball was played in hard and low from the right where Blues skipper Neil SOLE could only watch in horror as his attempted clearance sped into the back of his own net. If that wasn’t bad enough for Amesbury things soon turned worse. The Blues won a free kick on the half way line and, foolishly, Danny Western pushed a Fawley player and received a straight red card. Brother Tom then made a silly remark to the referee and received a yellow card, his 5th of the campaign meaning a one match ban in three weeks time. Thinking about it, the Blues had actually won the free kick but ended up receiving a red and a yellow card – no comment is really necessary is it ! The second half started with Fawley pushing forward and the Blues still in the dressing room as the game threatened to see a glut of goals from the home side. However a catalogue of glaring misses by the Oilers left the score line the same. James Fry miss kicked in the area with the goal at his mercy and Redman set up Shane Renyard who managed to shoot over an empty goal. Redman then broke free but his powerful drive was deflected on to the cross bar by an instinctive save from Allatt. The ten man Blues somehow managed to claw their way back into the game after this opening salvo from Fawley and began to spray the ball around but Finnigan, now playing in a lone strikers role, looked a forlorn figure up front. Craig Wheeler managed to get his head to a left sided corner but the ball went wide of the Oilers’ goal. With time running out for an unlikely equaliser Fawley made the game safe with a third goal as a free kick from the right saw Allatt and McELEVEY collide in the area but the Fawley striker regained his feet and managed to slide the ball home as Gavin Richards valiantly tried to divert the ball wide. In the closing minutes Finnigan forced a chance on the right but his shot from an angled went wide of the far post.

WHITCHURCH EXTEND UNBEATEN RUN
28/03/09 20:03


Whirchurch extended their unbeaten run to 12 games with a hard fought draw against a Fawley that was looking to rebound from a last minute defeat to Verwood in their last game.

Fawley had the first chance as Ben Murphy's shot was blocked by Whitchurch keeper Kash Kabamba who was forced into a brave follow up save to keep his goal intact.

At the other end Dan Palmer headed over but on 11 minutes Fawley took the lead. TOM GATES got on the end of an Alex Bracher cross and scored from close range.

Two minutes later Fawley had a lucky escape as the Division's leading scorer, Ian Davies, was felled by a tackle which even had the home fans shouting for a penalty. The referee disagreed and gave a corner.
Chances came at either end as Fawley's Dave Downie hit the top of the cross bar then Ian Davies shot into the side netting as he was fed through by Paul Coventry.

Whitchurch were having a good share of possession but their use of the ball was wasteful when well positioned. For Fawley Ben Murphy was twice off target as the half drew to a close.

Just before the half time whistle Coventry forced a good save from Fawley keeper Danny Gilroy at the expense of a corner. Mike Wheeler headed the resulting kick wide.

Half time: Fawley 1 Whitchurch United 0

Whitchurch opened the second half on the front foot as Ian Davies shot over when well positioned. Fawley's first chance came as Tom Hardiman slipped through Ian Moore but Kabamba pulled off a point black save as the remainder of the Whitchurch defence stood claiming offside.

Moore then hit a post from a narrow angle and Whitchurch went close when a powerful shot by Dauda Fofanna which skimmed the bar.

On 71 minutes Whitchurch drew level as the ball bobbled around the Fawley penalty area. After two blocked shots JOHN RIMMER pounced on the loose ball and scored from close range.
Five minutes later Fawley retook the lead. There seemed little danger as IAN MOORE picked up the ball on the right touchline. Only he will know whether he intended to cross or shoot but Kabamba completely misjudged the ball which dropped over his head into the far corner of the net.

With 8 minutes to go IAN DAVIES scored the best goal of the game. There was a lot to do as the ball reached him 20 yards out with his back to goal but he managed to swivel and score with a waist high half volley which gave Gilroy no chance.

An equaliser was no more than Whitchurch deserved an before the end they had a chance to win the game as Paul Coventry hit the top of the cross bar and a follow-up shot was cleared from the Fawley goal line.

HARD FOUGHT DRAW
18/03/09 23:16


Downton continued their fight to move out of the relegation zone which has seen them lose only one in the last seven games. They earned a point from seventh placed Fawley in a hard fought contest.

Fawley started the quicker and had early chances to take the lead. Howevber the best early chance fell to Ben Smith, the Downton defender, who put a header wide when well placed.

Most of Fawley's chances fell to Shane Renyard but these fell wide of the target or were saved by Colin Hopkins the Robins keeper. Fawley did get the ball in the net on the half hour but some shirt pulling was spotted by the ref and the goal was disallowed.

As the game moved into stoppage time at the end of the first half, Fawley took the lead when BEN MURPHY was able to steer the ball across goal and in off the far post.

Downton came out for the second half determined to take the game to Fawley and came close to scoring when a Ben Smith header was scrambled over the bar by Dan Parker in the Fawley goal.

Finally Downton's pressure told on the hour as they were awarded a free kick wide on the right. It was taken by Liam Hanlon and found BEN SMITH, his defensive partner, who headed into the corner of the goal.

Both teams tried to land the killer blow but as tiredness set in both teams became mistake prone on a firm surface.

In the end both teams had to settle for a draw which did little to satisfy their ambitions at either end of the league table.

Author: Roger Allen

FAWLEY/PETERSFIELD PRODUCE EXCITING DRAW

This was a full blooded encounter between two sides in the top 6 of the division which ended in a high scoring draw. The football was end to end with Petersfield's passing game contrasting with Fawley's more direct style.

Petersfield nearly took the lead in the 2nd minute when Luke Bishop provided a cross for Scott Hounslow to fire over. Minutes later young wingman, Martin Randell, for Fawley was just wide with a snap shot.

Petersfield had a lucky escape after 17 minutes when their keeper, Lloyd Patilla, was guilty of a wild challenge on Ian Moore and was lucky just to receive a yellow card. The resulting penalty by Kieran Earl struck the outside of a post and rebounded to safety.

Both sides had chances to take the lead and it was Fawley who eventually struck on 34 minutes. The ball broke to SHANE RENYARD 35 yards out and his powerful shot went over Patilla into the net.

Seconds later Patilla made a good save from Matt Plank and just before the half time whistle Ian Moore provided a good cross for Kieran Earl to head just wide.

Half time: Fawley 1 Petersfield Town 0

Petersfield had the first chance of the second half as Ian Heather's free kick was headed over by Nick Tayler who was well placed.

Fawley had brought on substitute Aaron Jennings at half time but his contribution was brief as he was shown a straight red card on 52 minutes for bringing a Petersfield player as he advanced on goal. Worse was to follow for Fawley as, from the resulting free kick, IAN HEATHER found the net to equalise.

Fawley made light of their man disadvantage as, on the hour mark, MATT PLANK intercepted a weak clearance and was able to hold off the defender's challenge before beating Patilla.

Seven minutes later they made it 3-1 as substitute BEN MURPHY saw Patilla way off his line and chipped the keeper from fully 40 yards.

Finally Petersfield made their numerical advantage pay as they put together the best move of the night on 71 minutes which finished with AARON FENNIMORE sliding the ball past Dan Parker into the corner of the net.

Petersfield now asserted themselves with some good flowing moves but Fawley held out until the 90th minute when Parker failed to deal with a cross and SCOTT HOUNSLOW bundled the ball home.

There was stiil time for Paul Baker to hit the outside of a post with a free kick for Petersfield and Lloyd Patilla to make two good saves to deny Fawley's Murphy and Randell.

Final score: Fawley 3 Petersfield Town 3

Teams:
Fawley: Dan Parker, Elliott Earl, Jim Dickens, Ryan Matthews, Wayne Harvey, Kieran Earl, Shane Renyard, Dave Downie, Natt Plank, Ian Moore, Martin Randell. Subs: Aaron Jennings, Ben Murphy, Brendan, McElevey
Petersfield Town: Lloyd Patilla, Nick Clark, Sam Game, Calvin Swan, Richard Warwick, Nick Tayler, Aaron Fennimore, Ian Heather, Steve Warwick, Luke Bishop, Scott Hounslow. Subs: Paul Baker, Leighton James, Danny Mackley
Referee: Mark Lucie Assistants: Barry Underdown & Paul Oakley


Written by: Roger Allen
Last Changed By: Roger Allen WED 04 MAR 2009 23:32

SPOILS SHARED AT STOCKBRIDGE

With Stockbridge and Fawley being locked together in the League this was always likely to be a close contest and so it proved. Stockbridge started the game with real purpose and in the first seven minutes they forced two corners, Mike Barker hit the post and Steve Witt had a good shot saved. Stockbridge dominated for the rest of the half and took a deserved lead on 20 minutes when Mike Barker broke clear and slid the ball under the Fawley keeper. All Stockbridge?s good work was undone in injury time when they gave away a penalty which the visitors duly dispatched (Kieran Earl)to level the scores. The second half saw the visitors starting the better and they took the lead after 7 minutes (Matt Plank). Stockbridge battled back and Nick Coates saw an effort fly just wide of the post before leading scorer Witt struck to make it 2-2. The rest of the half was like a cup match with the tackles flying in as both team battled for the three points to push them up the table, but in the end they had to share the points which was was probably a fair result.
Wednesday Stockbridge are at home to Amesbury and on Saturday they play hosts to Ringwood.

Written by: Stockbridge website