There was no South League match for Southampton this weekend but other results confirmed Southampton in fourth position, Sunbury only drawing with Horsham. Their defence again proving resolute. We had a friendly with Guildford, who sported two former Southampton players, Sarah Jones and Caron Harrison (now Hughes). Good to see them both well. The scoring was opened within 20 seconds of starting when Jo Knight drove down the right before crossing to the far post where Bex Sharr confidently slotted the ball home. The second came when a long ball out of defence found Jo Edmondson. Her speed beat two defenders and she calmly hit the ball home passed the oncoming goalkeeper. The third came when Jo Knight, having moved to leave back, overlapped and hit her shot into the corner. Guildford grabbed one back, Linda Dunham made a penalty save and Sue Crowley looked to have earned a penalty late in the game. A good team performance, with a final result of 3 - 1. Juniors Brenda Kimber & Hollie Nutt contributing well.
The Seconds met with Salisbury first eleven and went one down from a short corner. Hollie Nutt restored the balance with a reverse stick lob. Salisbury again went ahead but Southampton struck back within a minute when a run by Nicky Le Bas's opened the Salisbury defence. Kay Whittingham neatly deflected her through ball into the net. Salisbury took the honours to make a final score of 2 - 3.
The Threes suffered a 2 - 6 reversal against Salisbury 2s. Annie Day and Kirsten (it was a corker) Cox scoring.
The Fifths were happy with a 2 - 2 away draw with Basingstoke 4's, which play in the league above. Normally a defender Sue Adams found herself with a chance to get on the score sheet and took it. Karina Christiansen getting the second.
The First team had a difficult away game to second in the table Wimborne Wayfarers and came home with a creditable 2 - 2 draw, although they outplayed their opposition for long periods of the game. After going 1 - 0 down Southampton pressurised the Wayfarers D for some time before Gary Watts slipped a pass to Kelvin Wyatt at the top of the D and Kelvin took his chance to make it 1 - 1. Chris Stokes had the simplest of chances to put Southampton ahead when he found a Wimborne defender trying to walk the ball across the goal line. Chris accepted the opportunity to steal the ball and score from 2 inches. Several chances went begging with reverse stick shots sailing over the Wayfarers Bar. Wayfarers worked their way back into the game to make it 2 - 2 and then missed a penalty stroke. Keeper Andy Rowe was awarded the man of the match after bring off two excellent saves. The first, a diving save from a rising ball and then a one to one at the top of the D in the last minute.
London Wayfarers showed why they are riding high at the top of the Second Eleven league with a sound performance in which they beat Southampton seconds 3 - 0.
The Thirds kept themselves in contention for promotion when they beat table topping Winchester 2 -1. See the report here.
The fourths shared a 15-goal thriller with Haslemere, losing 6 - 9. The first half belonged to Southampton as the moved into a 2 - 0 and then 3 - 1 lead but then it went horribly wrong as Haslemere surged ahead. Somehow the Southampton defence became sieve like leaking goals at a dramatic rate. A lot of the damage being done by an unorthodox left hander, who never moved the ball the way the Southampton defence expected. Colin Langridge opened the scoring with a neat near post deflection and Eric Holt got his second and the teams number six with a penalty stroke in the last seconds of the game. Other goals coming from James Wise (2) and Richard Jones.
The Fifths beat Trojans away 6-1. Scorers were Ali Pake (3), Andy Turner (1) and Simon Brownlie (2).
The Sixth eleven also maintained their push for glory, beating US Portsmouth 2 - 1.
The Otters went 2 - 0 down to Camberley but managed to draw level at 2 -2 and then go ahead 3 - 2 before it was Camberley's turn to equalise. Southampton again took the lead but were again pegged back for a final score of 4 - 4. James Fewtrell scoring a hat trick with Ollie Knight helping out. James Fewtrell was fouled and a penalty flick was awarded but not converted. Southampton's youngsters created lots of opportunities but could not convert where as Camberley's breakaway style proved fruitful as they converted four out of six chances.
The Vets continue their surge up the table and now have to give serious consideration to team selection, lest they get into a promotion slot. Keith Finch opened the scoring with numbers 1& 2, followed by Chris Jones for a half time score of 3 - 0. Ralph Turner made it four before Keith Finch got his hat trick and the team's 100th goal of the season to round off a fine 5 - 0 win over Basingstoke.
The Masters went down 6 - 3 at Guildford.
Having trailed 2 - 0 at half time we pulled back to 2 - 2 with a lot of
pressure in the first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half. We then let in a
third and as we chased the game a fourth. We pulled back to 4 - 3 only to
conceded 2 late goals as we tired towards the end.
Scorers; Barnfield, King and Harris (all deflected shots)
Relegation is now looming large!
The Girls Under 19 First team played some open flowing hockey against a young Winchester side. Winchester could not cover the fine running and pace of game set by Southampton going 7 - 0 down in the first half. However a good second half performance by the Winchester keeper kept out four certain goals but pressure told as Southampton went on to win 10 - 0. Scorers were Hollie Nutt (6), Brenda Kimber, Charlotte Leatham, Kirsten Cox and Kathryn Raw.
The Under 14 boys second team met with City of Portsmouth 1s and played well despite going down 1 - 4. Alistair Hunter getting the goal.
Roger Merry