The first team had a physical battle with second in the table, Wimbledon. Southampton looked the stronger for most of the first half and penetrated the Wimbledon defence on several occasions. However the elusive goal was not forthcoming. Thirteen minutes into the second half Wimbledon scored from a dubious short corner. Southampton continued to pressurise but the experienced Wimbledon defence held.
The second eleven travelled to be Farnborough, normally a team high in their
division, and took a 2 - 0 lead at half time. However a revitalised
Farnborough came back into the game in the second half to wipe out the
Southampton lead.
Final result 2 - 2. Scorers for Southampton were Liz Walker and Kay
Whittington.
The third eleven were without several regular players in the match with Hamble. It was therefore an opportunity to look at new players. One of these, Sarah Deighton, showed her goal scoring ability by grabbing three to give Southampton the win by 3 - 0.
The Fourth eleven maintained their position at the top of division 4 with a good win over Ryde. Di Childs getting a pair with Mary Aitken helping Karina Christiansen's shot. Without Skipper Deidre Lehan-Matthews the defence was reorganised and soon settled down to its task of keeping the young Ryde players at bay.
The Fifths were awarded a walkover following a Gregarians late withdrawal.
The first team continued their good a series of results when they overcame Ryde first team. Southampton were forced to draft in new players with the unavailability of a goalkeeper, Max Goulden and injuries to Paul Eastwood and Bryn Webber. Replacement goalkeeper, Mike Loveless, made early saves to steady his nerves. Southampton started well when Kelvin Wyatt received the ball on the edge of the D and hit the perfect shot to beat the goalkeeper. Chris Ellis added the second from a short corner. Ryde were awarded a penalty, which they converted to make the score 2 - 1 at half time. Two quick goals in the second half from Chris Ellis and Ben Fitch, both from short corners, saw Southampton regain their dominance. However a second penalty saw Ryde back in the game. A final goal was added by Steve Perkins when he finished off a excellent passing moved, which saw a high ball out of defence from Ben Fitch to Kelvin Wyatt, whose run opened the defence before he slipped the ball to Perkins to push home from 10 yards, scoring his first goal for the club.
The seconds took a verbal kick-start from skipper Paul Howarth at half time to get them back into their scoring move. With the score at 0 - 0 at half-time Howarth's words of wisdom moved the forwards into action. A short corner goal from Peter Graham early in the second half-sent the message and Eric Holt quickly added a second. Chris Stokes calmly converted his opportunity from a penalty stroke before Danny Roche finished off the Southampton scoring. Aldershot came back late in the game to gain their goal. A final result of the 4 - 1.
The Thirds, without normal goal keeper, Mike Loveless took a quick lead over Winchester with a goal from Steve Quinn but were then given a demonstration of attacking hockey as Winchester rattled in six. Final score 1 - 6.
The Fourths had teenager Sam Gibbs to thank for their equalising goal but a late goal from Trojans' third team saw the points disappear. Final result 1 - 2.
An exciting battle with Woking saw the Fifths come back from 'dead' when Woking's two-goal lead was twice wiped out by the determination on the Southampton side. A partnership between Chris Jones and Will Ferguson saw them take it in turns to score Southampton's goals to earn a 4 - 4 draw. Southampton equaliser coming from the last hit of the game.
The otters came from behind to overcome Ewshott 2 - 1. Ali Brown scoring from open play and Henry Swzinto from a short corner.
The Vets moved into a 3 - 0 lead at half time in their game with City of Oxford with goals coming from Rob Gibbs and Pete Terry. Oxford grabbed one back before Terry added his third. Oxford added their second late in the game for a final score of 4 - 2.
Masters game off.
On Sunday Southampton ladies travelled to Chelmsford m in the national cup. Chelmsford are fourth in the national premier league and the game was always going to be difficult. Chelmsford got off to a good start when a defender was adjudge to have run across the line of the ball to stop a goal. The resultant penalty, taken by former s' player, Jo Green was parried by keeper Linda Dunham but its power carried it into the net. Although a second was added before half time the game was still in contention with Southampton working hard to deny scoring opportunities. However a purple patch saw Chelmsford score three in four minutes to seal the game. A final goal was added minutes from time as torrential rain covered the pitch. Although credit must go to the whole team special mention should go to a trio of under 18s, Charlotte Gallagher, Sarah Batchelor and Hollie Nutt who worked hard in different roles and gained valuable experience in their hockey development.
Also on Sunday Southampton held its annual MINI tournament at Southampton Sports Centre. Fifteen under eight and eighteen under ten teams took part in the largest tournament of it type on the south coast. These teams represented some 270 boys and girls and was visited by His Worship, the Southampton Mayor (Peter Wakeford), who spent one and half-hours walking and talking to participants and organisers. Teams included Andover, Basingstoke, City of Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport, Portsmouth & Southsea, Reading, Romsey, Salisbury, Southampton, Trojans, Winchester. Helping with the tournament were many of Southampton's junior players taking the first steps of umpiring. We thank them for all their help.
The Boys U16 team continued their dismal run of results with a 4-0 loss against Portsmouth on Sunday. On the positive side the team showed more spirit than in recent games and bolstered by the strength of Rhobet Williams were on a par with the Portsmouth side for much of the game. Lack of a strong goalscorer thwarted attacking efforts although Sam Gibbs hit a shot against a post after a strong run and several good chances went begging. The team is getting better we just need that first win to boost the confidence.