ALTON TOWN 2 HAMWORTY UNITED 2
Sydenhams Wessex Premier League (Saturday 07-03-09)
The Hammers started very lively in this league encounter, with Kenway and Byerley linking up early on to cause problems for the home defence. One of these surges from Kenway forced a corner, from which the first goal came. The corner was sent over, only for the goalkeeper to palm it out to Greg Horlock, who smashed a half volley into the top corner on 5 minutes. Another Kenway run down the right hand side found Max Crow in space just outside the opposition penalty box. With the home keeper out on the 6 yard line, Crow looked up, and cheekily chipped him to make it 2 - 0 in the ninth minute. Things were looking good for the Hammers at this time, and they were playing a lot of good passing football. It seemed that Alton had no answer to it, and even when they did force a corner, the Hammers broke so quickly on the counter with Crow. Unfortunately his pass found Byerley in an offside position. It was all Hamworthy, and another great Kenway run, and cross from the right hand side found Dancer unmarked in the box. His attempted first time effort however missed the target. As the half came to a close, the Alton midfield started to grab a bit more of the game, and forced a couple of corners. A long range shot from 30 yards went over. However with 5 minutes left before the break, a corner was not cleared out. This resulted in a shot being fired across the goal from 12 yards out that found the far corner of the net. Alton were now back in it, but did not really deserve it.
The late goal seemed to inspire the home team after the break. The Hammers were now made to hurry on the ball, and seemed unable to play the passing game they had shown in the first half. An early corner from Jackson almost turned to their advantage, when the home keeper dropped the cross, and the ball was kicked off the line. The Hammers were able to play some good counter-attacking football, and were awarded two free-kicks in central positions. The first, a shot from Cherrett went over, but the second from Byerley, just missed the upright. A fit again Max Crow picked up the ball in his own half, and ran deep into the Alton half. A wonderful one-two with Dancer just failed to deliver, and resulted in Alton being able to clear. Alton started to get frustrated with the amount of possession that the Hammers were having, and the Referee decided to employ the yellow card to calm things down a bit. The Referee only had to make one major decision in the game, and that fell in favour of the home tea. After a corner, Byerley was clearly upended in the box, but the Referee didn’t have a clear view of it through a crowd of players, and waved it away. The Hammers still had plenty of possession as the match reached its climax, but there was no clear cut chance to finish the game off. With time running out and the Hammers looking to hold on, an Alton Player was not closed down. This allowed him time to rasp an 18 yard shot into the top corner past Peters giving him no chance. The last couple of minutes couldn’t come quickly enough for the few Hammers fans, as Alton seemed determined that they could steal a third and win the game, but it remained 2-2
Manager Phil Simkin will look back on this as points lost, especially as they started so brightly. but if the lads want to progress into the Wessex League Cup semi-finals next Tuesday, they will have to close teams down better, and stop the run of goals being conceded.
Hamworthy Team : Peters, Kenway, Jackson, Cherrett, Horlock, White, Crow, Lockyer, Dancer, Byerley, Dovell