Dorset Premier League Cup

Gillingham is always a difficult place to go and try and win a football match, and this visit only emphasised the point. The Reserves struggled against a team that they were unlucky to lose to in the league at the County Ground earlier in the season. They could not really complain with the final 4-1 score line.
Hamworthy kicked up the slope in the first half and after just five minutes took the lead through a Gary Williams shot. Hamworthy passed the ball around well, but lacked penetration up front, and did not give the Gillingham keeper nearly enough work to do. They paid the penalty for it when shortly before half time the Home Side equalised with a goal that appeared well off side. The Referee overruled all protests and allowed the goal to stand leaving the match all square at the interval.
Worse was to come after the break when the Hammers struggled with the pitch. They found it difficult to cope with the long ball over the top which held up on the slope. Gillingham took full advantage of this and scored three further goals. This was despite various substitutions by the Hammers to get back into the game, but all to no avail. As this is a mini league (top team goes through) all is not lost, but it means United have to play really well to win the home leg.

Team: G. Smart, R. Flower (K.Killick), D. Watts, D. Frake, S. Leaton, J. Stickland, D. Orchard, K. Middleton (J. Johnson), L. Stone (B. Gerrard), G. Williams, M. Wynne  Unused Sub: M. Wynne

Dorset County Youth League (Sun 28-10-07)

From the first whistle to the last this was a match full of incident and quality, which could have gone either way, but with the visitors ending the day by far the happiest after their last minute winner.

The Hammers took the after just 20 seconds! The goal, the result of a swift move of high quality involving Joe Byrne, Luke Stone and Charlie Gajic, with the latter crossing for Mike Haskell to side foot home following an excellent run at pace into the six yard box.

The match then took on a pattern that remained for the majority of the game, Westlands having neat possession but unable to create clear openings, and the Hammers explosive on the break and always looking the more dangerous.

However, four key incidents in the second half were to result in the Hammers losing the match. Firstly, slack marking resulted in Westlands getting in behind the home side’s defence for the equaliser.

Then with ten minutes to go Luke Stone missed the chance of the game when he sliced wide from 10 yards out after another fast Hamworthy break.

And with the game seemly destined to end in a draw the Hammers gave away two consecutive, needless, free kicks that advanced Westlands up the field. The second free kick was floated into the box, the Hammers keeper came to claim it, missed the ball, and a Westlands player nodded in their last minute winner.

Even after this the home side had chances to equalise but it was not to be their day.

Team: Gillingham, Byrne, Cole, Watson, Pimm (Capt.), Chappell, Stone (Tunnicliffe), Holden, Haskell, Gajic, Basing (Dyer)

South West County Youth League, Saturday, 27th October 2007

Despite Forest Green Rovers’ lowly position in the SWCYL this was a competitive match where the work rate of the visitors, aided by a below par performance by the Hammers, made for a very even contest.

The Rovers started the match well with the Hammers giving away possession through being over keen to get the ball forward early.

However, the game started to even up and it was during this period that the young Hammers took the lead. A surging run down the left and cross-come-shot by Jimmy Crossin came off the back the post, from where Craig Barnett popped up in the six yard box to side foot home.

Chances came and went in the second half for the Hammers to double their lead, with their defence also holding firm and never really looking troubled.

Frustratingly, with approximately 10 minutes to go the Hamworthy youngsters paid for their missed chances! A high looping ball was misjudged by goalkeeper Shaun Lillington allowing a Rovers player to nip in with a stooping header that went just past the post.

However, the referee adjudged that the player was impeded and pointed to the penalty spot. Forest Green Rovers levelling with a twice taken spot kick.

Team: Lillington, Seal, Pimm, Byrne (Cole), MacDonald (Capt.), Chappell, Barnett (Haskell), Norris, Reavenall-Nuete, Macklin, Crossin (Basing)

United dominated for seventy five minutes of this game, but unfortunately came up against a keeper at the top of his form. The final score could so easily have been five nil to the Hammers, but for the series of great saves from Town keeper Dan Chapman to keep his side in the game.
Alresford took the game to the Hammers in the opening few minutes and it took the Home side a while into get into the match. There looked to be a few tired legs left over from Wednesday night’s long trip to Brading, and some players took a time to get going. Richard Jackson was put through one on one with the keeper, but shot narrowly wide. United brought on Mark Connett for his first Wessex League game when Richard Jackson had to go off still feeling the effects of a recent illness, and a very good debut it proved to be too. Chapman made the first of his many good saves when he flung himself across the goal to save a fiercely driven Micky Hubbard free kick that looked destined for the back of the net. Mark Connet and Warren Byerley combined well, but again the ball was hit just wide. Hamworthy were by now having the better of things, but the score remained 0-0 at the interval.
Hamworthy were even more dominant in the second half restricting Alresford to the odd breakaway with Martin Peters only having to do the occasional mopping up exercise. Chapman again kept his side in the game with two quick saves, the second a brave dive at the feet of Steve Legg to palm the ball away. The save of the match followed shortly when a fine effort from Mark Connet had goal written all over it until the Town Keeper dived at full stretch to tip the ball over again. Hamworthy were always in danger of getting caught on the break as they went all out for a winner, but the defence held fast. Many in the crowd thought Mark Connet had scored right at the end, beating  the keeper at long last, but the ball ended up in the side netting.
This was one of those frustrating games when if the Hammers had played all night they would not have scored. Hamworthy will play a lot worse than this and win, but at least Phil Simkin appears to have found a very good player in Mark Connet who can play in several positions.

Team: M. Peters,R. Middleton, R. Jackson (M. Connet) G. Horlock, N. Walker,M. Dean, S. Legg, M. Hubbard,C. Mutch, W. Byerley, R. Dovell. Unused Subs: B. Williams, J. Swann, J. Byrne.

South West Counties Youth League, Sat. 20-10-07
This was a match of high quality, played at a fast pace, and a credit to the standard of the SWCYL.
The Hammers had the better of the early exchanges, but as Eastleigh got their passing game going it was the home side that took the lead, the Hamworthy defence failing to deal with a high ball into the box which dropped in the 6 yard area and was gratefully dispatched.
However, the Hammers equalised shortly afterwards with an excellent drive by Dean Macklin from the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, parity did not last long, with Eastleigh producing arguably the move of game that resulted in a header being guided into the top corner out of the reach of the Hammers keeper.
Then, possibly, the turning point of the game occurred. With the Hammers beginning to dominate possession and looking the most likely to score, Eastleigh broke clear on the right with their player clearly handling the ball. All bar the officials spotted the handball incident, but the player was able to cross for his team-mate at the far post to make it 3-1 just before halftime.
The Hammers started the second period with renewed commitment and scored a second goal, again from Dean Macklin, who placed the ball in the top corner following good link up play with his strike partner Josh Reavenall-Nuete.

This period of the game saw Hamworthy completely dominate possession and look highly likely to equalise. However, late on, Eastleigh finally settled the game with perhaps their only shot at goal in the second period, when the Hammers failed to deal properly with a quick free-kick.

Team: Lillington, Seal, Cole, Byrne, MacDonald (Capt.), Chappell (Pimm), Stone (Watson), Norris, Reavenall-Nuete, Macklin, Crossin (Cooper-Blayney)

South West Counties Youth League, Sat. 20-10-07
This was a match of high quality, played at a fast pace, and a credit to the standard of the SWCYL.
The Hammers had the better of the early exchanges, but as Eastleigh got their passing game going it was the home side that took the lead, the Hamworthy defence failing to deal with a high ball into the box which dropped in the 6 yard area and was gratefully dispatched.
However, the Hammers equalised shortly afterwards with an excellent drive by Dean Macklin from the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, parity did not last long, with Eastleigh producing arguably the move of game that resulted in a header being guided into the top corner out of the reach of the Hammers keeper.
Then, possibly, the turning point of the game occurred. With the Hammers beginning to dominate possession and looking the most likely to score, Eastleigh broke clear on the right with their player clearly handling the ball. All bar the officials spotted the handball incident, but the player was able to cross for his team-mate at the far post to make it 3-1 just before halftime.
The Hammers started the second period with renewed commitment and scored a second goal, again from Dean Macklin, who placed the ball in the top corner following good link up play with his strike partner Josh Reavenall-Nuete.

This period of the game saw Hamworthy completely dominate possession and look highly likely to equalise. However, late on, Eastleigh finally settled the game with perhaps their only shot at goal in the second period, when the Hammers failed to deal properly with a quick free-kick.

Team: Lillington, Seal, Cole, Byrne, MacDonald (Capt.), Chappell (Pimm), Stone (Watson), Norris, Reavenall-Nuete, Macklin, Crossin (Cooper-Blayney)

Dorset County Youth League(21-10-07)

The Hammers went top on goal difference and with a game in hand after this result, with their nearest rivals Westlands and Chickerell playing out a one all draw.
This Blandford team had originally been in the second division, but were unfortunately promoted when their top division side folded. Nevertheless, they played some neat passing football at times, but were outplayed and outpaced by a team that should challenge for the league title this season.
A first half hatrick from James Tunnicliffe and another goal from Luke Stone saw the Hammers go in at halftime 4-0 up.
After the break James Dyer, who had played the first half in goal, added a fifth before Richie Norris came out of the goal for the last 15 minutes to notch himself two late goals and give the Hamworthy youngsters a convincing 7-0 win.

Team: Dyer (Norris), Barnett, Basing (Haskell), Watson, Smith, Pimm, O’Reilly, Holden, Stone, Cooper-Blayney, Tunnicliffe

Wessex Premier League Wed. 24-10-07

Things did not start well for the Hammers having already been forced to make changes through injuries, and unavailability. Bret Williams was forced to withdraw after the warm up with a foot problem. Due to the ferry leaving late and following a long trek across the Island the team arrived with only enough time for a short warm up. The journey to Brading had taken three and a half hours about the same time as it did to reach Bishops Cleeve in the Midlands in the recent cup replay. Phil Simpkin and his support team were therefore highly delighted with the display that followed, and the 1-0 result at the end that sent everybody home happy.
Hamworthy kicked up the considerable slope in the first half, and very soon established their control of the game which they held for most of the ninety minutes.
The ability of Warren Byerley and Kieth Middleton to hold the ball up until help arrived ensured that the Brading defence were always kept pinned well back in their own half. The Islanders resorted to punting long hopeful balls forward which were ably dealt with by the Hammer’s back four. Nathan Walker and his defenders were dominant winning everything in the air. United deservedly took the lead in the twenty sixth minute, once again from a Micky Hubbard free kick that was headed home powerfully by Nathan Walker from the edge of the six yard box. Hamworthy continued to have much the better of things for the rest of the half, and always looked the more dangerous of the two teams especially from set pieces.
The second half saw the Hammers if anything get even more on top than the first. w Dave Greening who caused so many problems last year, was not in the game and got more frustrated as time went by. United probably should have increased their lead when both Keith, and Ryan Middleton went close, and a Micky Hubbard shot just grazed the crossbar. Martin Peters must have been glad to have had a very quiet night only having to perform routine saves, and never looked like being beaten.
This was an excellent team performance with everybody giving one hundred percent including those players that had stepped in at the last moment. Brading could not have complained if it had finished 0-3 such was United’s dominance throughout.

Team: M. Peters,M. Hubbard, S. Gilbert, G. Horlock, N. Walker,M. Dean, S. Legg, R. Middleton, K, Middleton ( J. Mores), W. Byerley (J. Kittle), R. Dovell. Unused Subs: S. Griffiths, B. Williams.

I would like to congratulate the Hamworthy Utd Sunday side, on beating Lakeside Athletic 4-3 in the F.A. Carlsberg Sunday Cup after extra time, it was a fantastic, and well deserved victory.

Lakeside who play in the Plymouth and West Devon Combination Sunday Division 1 League brought a very strong squad for the game, and were full of confidence after winning their preliminary round 1-0 against the Black Dog FC from Weymouth.

An early goal for the Hammers from Lee Thomas set the lads up for a battle which they were in no mood to lose.The lead changed hands during the 90 minutes with other goals from Micky Hubbard and Darrell Williams.It was a fantastic game to watch for both sets of supporters, and the final result could have gone either way.

From the start of extra time the lads got stronger and were clearly the better side looking to take the lead, and with 8 minutes to go in the second quarter up popped Lee Thomas to slide in his second goal and the all important match winner.

It was a superb team performance with every player giving 100% throughout the entire 120 minutes. My Assistant Paul Young and i  would like to thank every player in the squad for what turned out to be enjoyable afternoon not just for us but also for everyone watching the game.
I would also like to thank everybody at the club for their help in putting this game on and a huge thank you for the supporters who made themselves be heard, it was much needed.
 
Neil Fletcher
(Team Manager)                               

The Reserves returned to league business against a team positioned one place above them after an enforced week off last week. Playing every other week as has been happening to Keith Middleton’s Team over the past few weeks does not help in maintaining some sort of consistency in the team. A result today was vital as teams below them have started picking up points.
United started the stronger of the two teams taking the game to their north county visitors. Barry Gerrard went close in the first few minutes forcing the keeper to make a good save following a jinxing run into the box. Keith Middleton should have scored when he rose unchallenged to head a cross wide of the post. Sturminster gradually got into the game, but their attacks were ably dealt with by the Hammers youthful back line, and keeper Gary Smart. With six minutes remaining player Manager Keith  Middleton made up for his earlier miss with a top class finish to break the deadlock. He showed all his experience when he collected the ball and shot in one movement giving the experienced Newton Keeper no chance as the ball found the net just inside the post. The visitors should have replied straight away as a corner found the far post, and dropped at the feet of an attacker a yard off the line with the goal at his mercy. He hesitated and somehow Hamworthy managed to scramble the ball away to keep the lead at half time.
The second period continued much the same as the first with Hamworthy just having the edge of play and looking the more likely of the two teams to score. They should have done that when they were awarded a penalty but the normally reliable Joe Kittle on for Gary Williams sent the ball over the bar. The Hammers were never in any real danger and thoroughly deserved their win they now go forward to next weeks Cup game away to Gillingham in good heart.
This result lifts the Reserves to sixth place in the league.

Team: G. Smart, R. Flower ( S. Leaton), D. Watts, D. Frake, S. Griffiths, J. Crossin, K. Middleton, D. Orchard, J. Stickland, G. Williams (J. Kittle), B. Gerrard (M. Wynne) Unused Sub: K. Killick