First XI v Whitchurch u14

Whitchurch U14 - 4
Bishops Waltham Dynamos U15B - 7
Hampshire Cup U15 2nd Round

This tie was drawn as a home fixture for BWD but changed due to congestion at Hoe Road. After what should have been a short trip up the A34 in the fog we eventually arrived and wandered off into the unknown in search of a football pitch. Luckily all was clear by the time the match was convened and a lovely bright morning appeared. Dynamos kicked off, Tim played the ball through to Rob R who powered past the defender and shot Dynamos into the lead with around ten seconds on the clock. Whitchurch were obviously a bit rattled by this but as the game continued showed excellent form especially up front. The pitch sloped quite dramatically diagonally from corner to corner, many of Dynamos through balls were going away from Rob and Aaron, but the contest was fairly even. Whitchurch's front two got in behind Dynamos on a number of occasionsin the first half, and leveled the score with a well executed move. It took a while for Dynamos to regain the upper hand in open play but confidence returned as Sam flighted a long free kick for Rob R to run onto and slot a shot past the keeper. An excellent attacking spell for Dynamos followed, Aaron made it three with a trademark sprint past everyone and slid the ball past the keeper as the pair collided. Rob P played Rob R through for his hat trick and soon after Ads played Rob R in again for yet another, now the game was Dynamos for the taking and Witchurch were well on the back foot. To their great credit they came back into it as Dynamos rather rested on their laurels a bit, the score became 2-5 when Dynamos reverted briefly to thier trait of not closing down attackers when clearing the ball from the danger area. This goal served Dynamos with a wake up call and although Witchurch made many chances Dynamos were equal to the threat, JT pulled off a brilliant save diving to his right to keep out an excellent header form a corner. Sam and Rob P both put in fine performances in defence. Near the end of the half Witchurch should really have scored again but firstly JT was exceptionally brave coming out to feet and actually saving the shot with his head, and secondly the rebound fell to another attacker who shot wide of the open net. The excellent referee decreed it to be halftime.
Whitchurch appeared to have a harder task this half playing down hill and into the sun. They attacked well but Jim and Ads were getting the upper hand in the middle and Dynamos back four were covering well for each other and holding Witchurch at bay, so JT was just having to tidy up the loose play. Dynamos now had width too as Luke and Tom L caused Witchurch problems on both flanks, this in turn gave Jim and Ads space to move, Ads fired a shot from long range forcing a save. Ben K had an excellent attacking header saved from a corner. Aaron once again sped round the keeper to restore the four goal lead, with most of the second half to play Dynamos already looked to have done enough to progress into the next round. Dynamos were putting together some passing moves now, Jim found Luke running through and his shot went just wide, Whitchurch still threatened, they won a corner, but another towering header by Ben K saw it off and the ball back in was headed out by Tom L. Back came Dynamos, a one-two by Rob R and Tom L saw Tom's shot palmed away by the keeper. Ads was finding some good form, using the space to slide through balls into all the channels, one resulting in Aaron clean through and brilliantly chipping the keeper - as all of us on the side were asking him to do ! Whtchurch did get a consolation goal after a one-on-one with JT but it was all over by then.
So, there we have it, another first for this team - a run in the Hampshire Cup ! Everyone played well today, Ben K being man of the match for his excellent second half battling performance.