First XI v South Newton & Wishford

South Newton + Wishford U15 - 6
Bishops Waltham Dynamos U15B - 1
Testway League Div 2

Our U15 season began with the longest away trip of the season over to South Newton, conditions were warm and bright but pretty wet underfoot, not helped by the rather long grass, and is probably a really nice place to sit and watch some sport. The match had a bit of a low key start as both teams took a while to get the season underway. South Newton (SN) were first to show and reminded us all of their very fast and potent forward line, luckily they were still a bit rusty and were found offside. JT in goal for Dynamos was the busier of the two keepers, especially making one great save diving low to his left. Unfortunately this SN threat reaped its first reward with the first goal tapped in at close range after a swift attack down the right flank. This wake up call jolted Dynamos into action and they began to play much better, holding the SN attack at bay with great effect and started to put some good moves together down each flank, however, most of the play went down the middle where SN were much stronger on the day. JT pulled off another brilliant save from a SN long range shot, and lifted Dynamos into producing some attacking football of their own, it was actually a weak SN goal kick which Jack intercepted and returned with interest which drew Dynamos level, a much deserved equaliser. SN came back strongly, won themselves a corner, the ball bobbed around in the area before being smashed goal-bound but JT was equal to it with a fine reflex save, the ball however, was still goal-bound until being hooked off the line acrobatically by Jim. A break down the right by Jack produced a chance for Tom B but at full stretch he was unable to steer it past the keeper. SN regained the lead with a trademark ball over the top and the centre forward was able to lob the advancing JT. For the rest of the half, Dynamos continued to visibly frustrate the SN attack and midfield who clearly thought leading by one was nowhere near enough.
The second half was barely a minute old when a reshuffled SN were awarded a hotly contested penalty, handball against a defender with his back to the ball, so hardly intentional then ! So 3-1 and probably the turning point of this contest, much of Dynamos confidence from their first half battling seemed to evaporate - except in Rob at centre back - Dynamos began to defend too deep and allowed SN too much room to play and press home their rather gifted advantage. Soon after it was 4-1, the forward seemed to gather the ball with his hand - although the referee refused to make the call - to get into the area and slot a shot past JT. Dynamos were now aware that it was 12 against 11 and had enough character to battle some more, a dazzling run by Aaron had SN beaten but his shot went just over. Another great save by JT after Dynamos failed to clear a corner prevented the gap increasing. SN still seemed unhappy with their lot and a few dangerous tackles began to fly in - all apparently unseen by the referee - After one such tackle the referee explained that he couldn't give the decision because the up-ended Rob had appealed for a free kick and in doing so had lost any right to one ! Dynamos didn't rise to the physical and verbal abuse coming their way and continued to play the game. However, fifth goal was conceded as Dynamos failed to clear and a close range shot beat JT. One great through ball from an otherwise rather quiet Ads let Jack run through and smash a shot just over the bar. Back came SN with a long corner to the far post where the attacker tapped in un-opposed. Luke also produced a great through ball for Jack to pounce upon, this time the shot just outside the far post. Dynamos defended well to the end of the game with Rob the star at the back today, up front Tom L was totally up-ended inside the SN penalty area but it seems that rugby tackles are allowed in these parts as the weak referee continued to blatantly favour the team whose name was printed on the back of his jacket. I rather feel that this result could easily have been a lot worse for us, there was a big home advantage with a whistle being utilised here today and it's impossible to play against that as well. Two Dynamos stars today, James T in goal and Rob P at centre back.