Verwood (1 - 5 ) Winchester City
Verwood Town 1 Winchester City 5
City survived a scrappy first half at Potterne Park on Saturday 15th Novemer 2014 when they conceded a goal, failed to break down Verwood's massed defence and were frustrated by the home side's tactics of hoofing the ball out out of play with the maximum effort to waste time as a new ball was brought into play.
Verwood mounted two attacks in the first half and got the ball in the net twice. One was ruled out for offside but the other was a fine goal from Jordon Fitch in the 32nd minute, catching out the City defence who were slow to get back after supporting an attack.
City mounted about 15 attacks and failed to score. Taz Roberts and Mike Enery worked hard on the flanks but most of their crosses were cleared by a six or seven man defence. City's strike force of Warren Bentley and Zach Glasspool were pushed , pulled and clattered without any protection from the Referee and when they did get a shot in the ball invariably hit a defender.
The only clean shot of the half came from Chris Mason but his long range effort was wide.
The second half started in the same manner with City doing all the attacking but not making much headway. McEnery came close when he hit the underside of the bar and Glasspool had a header saved but the City supporters behind the goal were getting jittery at the lack of goals. Clash was well into his third cigarette before the game began to change. Gemma had no news to text to her sister and Ian had resorted to rallying spirits with a quiz, 'can you name a professional footballer with a Christian name of Grant?' No one could including himself, so the question is now put to a wider audience!
All this was forgotten when Manager Paul Masters made a change in the 61st minute. Geoff Dunn replaced McEnery and he soon found the room on the wing to put in crosses. This seemed to inspire Roberts on the other flank and he too began to add to the firepower.
The break came in the 65th minute when Stuart Green slipped the ball to Bentley and he twisted and turned in the penalty box until he had no idea in which direction he was facing. A Verwood defender soon solved his problem by dumping on the floor and the Referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Bentley gratefully took the present for City to draw level.
City nosed ahead in the 70th minute when a neat back-heel from Bentley found Glasspool and he shot across the 'keeper and tucked the ball away near the bottom of the post in the far corner.
Winchester were home and dry in the 75th minute when Scott Sampson rose above the defence to head home a corner.
A couple of minutes later City went further ahead when Verwood had a player straight red carded on the edge of the penalty area and Glasspool converted the free kick with a delightful curling ball just out of reach of the leaping 'keeper.
Bentley had a chance to add another goal in a one to one confrontation with the 'keeper and although he chipped the ball over him the custodian managed to pull off a great finger-tip save.
The fifth gaol came in the 92nd minute and was the best of the game. Roberts worked his way up the flank and hit a dipping shot from twenty metres into the top corner of the net. The 'keeper did not make a move, probably thinking it was going over the bar.
City: Gareth Barfoot, Adam Tomasso, Dominic Cole, Stuart Green, Scott Sampson, Luke Dempsey, Mike McEnery, Chris Mason, Zach Glasspool, Warren Bentley, Adam Roberts, Ryan Holloway, Liam Robinson, Chris Manning, Geoff Dunn, Ross Casey.
