HAMWORTHY UNITED 1 POOLE TOWN 2
F.A. VASE ROUND 2
The Hammers went out of the F.A. Vase following a very hard fought match with near neighbours, and league Leaders Poole Town. United could have few complaints with the result at the end as Poole were on top for large parts of the game. The Hammers would have had to have been at their very best to stand any chance of winning this game, but unfortunately recent illnesses and injuries made this was almost impossible. You could not fault United’s effort, but it was not quite good enough to win the game. Hamworthy did however have the man of the match Martin Peters who was outstanding in goal, making numerous good saves, and keeping the Hammers in the game right to the end.
It took Poole only five minutes to take the lead when veteran Taffy Richards sent a dangerous cross into the Hammers box. The ball hit Nathan Walker, and as in the recent Senior Cup match between the two sides Martin Peters was beaten by a deflected goal that gave him no chance to save. The Hammers attacked the other end direct from the restart, and many thought that Warren Byerley had equalised with a diving header that finished in the side netting. The player soon made amends when he took full advantage of a good cross, and some confusion in the Dolphins six yard box to head home and level for Hamworthy after ten minutes. Poole had the better of the exchanges for the rest of the half with the very tricky Trefor Smith giving the United defenders plenty to think about. To their credit Peters and his defenders did well to keep it at 1-1 at the break.
The second half continued much in the same way as the first with the Hammers doing most of the defending, and being restricted to the odd breakaway. They did however always look dangerous at set pieces and were always in with a chance of snatching something right until the end. They should have taken the lead after sixty two minutes when Carl Mutch found himself in on goal, but he blasted his shot over the bar. Hamworthy paid dearly for the miss four minutes later when the ever dangerous Tony Funnel cut in from the left and unleashed an unstoppable twenty five yard shot into the top corner for a very worthy winner. Hamworthy pushed up in the latter part of the game, but were unable to find an equaliser before the final whistle.
Team: M. Peters, S. Gilbert, M. Grimason, G. Horlock. N. Walker, R.Dovell, S. Legg, M. Hubbard, C.Mutch (J. Swann), W. Byerley R. Jackson. Unused Subs: M.Dean, R. Middleton, R.Webb