Alton Men’s 1XI 1 – Romsey Men’s 1XI 5
A nervous dressing room pre game, fresh in the minds of the Romsey gents was the pre season thumping dished out by Alton. The quiet calm had the opposite affect, Romsey starting much the brighter side. The first breakthrough came early in from smart work by M Robertson, winning the ball back high up the left wing, Morgan plays a pass in field to M Lumley, who moves it onward to L Birch in the opposition D. Birch swivels on the spot to hit the ball off the back foot into the far right corner. 1 up inside 5 mins, just the attacking start the coach, Stuart Robertson was hoping for.
Lumley involved once for, and not for the last time, for goal 2. A mazy dribble across the pitch and into the D, before a mishit ends up in the bottom left corner, who knows if this would have gone in with a sweeter strike?
Alton had begun to assert some dominance in the game at this point via through many penalty corners, one to be denied brilliantly by an in form, Jamie Miller who clears one off the line over the bar.
Another penalty corner….. to Romsey. Dan Miles steps up for his signature drag flick, a good save by the Alton keeper falls to the feet of Matt Lumley, who eventually, after much anti skill, plays a square pass to the waiting Birch, who fakes a turn to the right before pushing the ball between keeper and defender on the line.
3 up at half time, great stuff for the relatively unfamiliar squad of Romsey. Coach Robertson stresses the importance of managing the game, “hold the lead, lets not concede in this game”. Words clearly not expressed strongly enough for CB Tim Bailey, who 2 minutes after the break receives a pass from the RB, remains static, pocket picked by the Alton CF and proceeded to kick the ball away preventing the open goal. 3-1, as the Alton forward sends Romsey keeper Nick Welby the wrong way from the resulting penalty flick.
Alton on top, the game balance has changed, many penalty corners and decisions going Alton’s way, Keeper Welby keeps them out time and time again earning him a man of the match honour. Romsey show that they are able to manage a game when under pressure, as goal 4 for the away side comes from clever hold up play by captain Tom Wigley. The fast counter attack breakaway seems to be all but over, until Rob Williams takes it upon himself to drive into the D and win a corner. Time for Tim Bailey to make amends for his previous defensive catastrophe. Sure enough a drag flick into the bottom right corner, couldn’t have been any closer to the right hand post.
Where was the Alton post man?
Now into the final stages of the game, Romsey have managed this sensibly. A defence splitting pass from Rhys Badman, looks to be going straight the Alton keeper, not in the mind of youngster Josh Harwood, who shows ‘Bolt’ like pace to put the Alton keeper under pressure. This pressure ensures the keeper misses the ball after a swipe of his stick, outside of his D, and a simple walk into the net for Harwoods second goal of the season for the men’s 1XI.
Job done, Romsey look forward to greeting Bournemouth 3XI to Romsey School next Saturday and hope to maintain their position at the head Hants Div 2.
