Despite a loss last week against high flying Fareham Town, the Hammers were in confident mood about this match after their recent good run of form. Brockenhurst sat just above the Hammers in the league, and with the pitch being very soft and easily cutting up, any home advantage was probably lost before the kick off.
The early exchanges saw both sides giving the ball away, but a long ball over the top caught the Hammers defence square, and only a timely intervention from Richard Jackson averted a very dangerous situation, preventing a strike at goal. With Max Frampton recently re-signing for the Hammers from Brock, he was obviously keen to keep a clean sheet. Richard Jackson, a much improved player these days was soon to show off his attacking skills, when a sharp run down the left gave him the chance to drive the ball across but the ball was beaten out. The left hand side was proving fruitful for the Hammers. Nice inter-play between Jackson and Diaper laid on an opportunity for Max Crow, but his rasping left footed shot was wide. Good pressure was now being asserted by the Hammers, playing in their change strip of orange and black. A Jamie Barron corner was met by Dancer but his header was high. Although Brockenhurst showed that they could still look dangerous with a long ball out, Hamworthy looked by far the better side and passed the ball around with confidence. After 21 minutes the first Hamworthy goal came. Some good linking play after a throw-in down the left hand side between Jackson and Dancer, allowed Toghill to cross. The ball was not cleared and rolled out to Barron, who surprisingly scuffed his shot, but it went to Jack Swann who knocked it in. 1 - 0 Hammers. A second goal almost came straight away when Swann forced a low down save from the home keeper, but on 29 minutes, Brockenhurst almost equalised. Max Frampton was forced to parry a great effort, and it was only the intervention from Toghill that prevented the forward from tapping in the rebound. The Badgers were still showing enough to make us realise that this game was far from over. Although the surface was difficult to play on, there was absolutely no excuse for the Brock number 6 to take out Max Crow from behind, ball gone, sending Crow up in the air and crashing to the soggy ground beneath. For anyone that watches football regularly, it looked a straight forward ‘Red’ card, although the Referee didn’t think so. Amazing ! Fortunately Crow didn’t suffer any serious injury. Just before the break, Swann had the ball in the net following a smart turn but was alleged to have ‘turned’ his man.
Half time 1 - 0.
The Hammers started the second period in the same vein, and a second goal always threatened. The home keeper was called upon to make a couple of good saves, and then after good play between Crow, Barron, Joe Toghill’s shot hit a post. The second goal came almost straight after, when a deep Barron cross was not cleared resulting in Mark Dancer scrambling the ball in. 2 - 0 Hammers.They couldn’t rest on their laurels, as Brock struck back almost straight away when Llewellyn gave away a penalty, after dangerous play inside the box. Only moments bwfore, Greg Horlock had headed a golden chance wide. Frampton failed to keep the shot out, so at 2 -1, Brock fancied their chances. For a 5 minute spell, the Hammers looked a little on edge, but kept their composure to score a match winning third goal, put away by Jack Swann, after great work on the right from Antrobus. Final score 3 - 1.
Team : Frampton, Antrobus, Jackson, Horlock, Llewellyn, Crow, Diaper (Seal), Barron, Swann, Dancer, Toghill. Unused subs. Cherrett, Browne

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