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)

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