Wessex League Division One
Waterside Sports Club, Holbury
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 50
Match Rating: 3
I had originally booked a cheap coach ticket to Birmingham for today. However, after only getting home from a break in Suffolk yesterday evening, rail replacement bus services en route to London, adding an hour to the journey, made that unappealing, as well as potential FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round games at Saffron Walden and Burnham. And so I decided to head along the south coast for an always welcome visit to a Wessex League ground.
The Waterside Sports Ground is about an hour's bus ride from Southampton Central train station, and spectators walk past the large buildings of the Waterside Sports & Social Club, which closed down in 2016 and is now in a sad state with all windows boarded up. Spectators then walk alongside a cricket field to one side and tennis courts and bowling greens to other, before arriving at the football ground entrance behind the goal. After paying admission and being allowed through a small gate, there are various portakabins placed to the right, one housing a tea bar, the others providing changing rooms. Along one length, between the corner flag and half way line there is a stand covering four row of bench seating, and decent inclines between rows mean it is a good place to watch the action from. There is just hard standing along the rest of the length, whilst along the opposite length, there are a couple of stands covering flat standing areas either side of the dugouts. The area behind the remaining goal is inaccessible. The ground, which is only emclosed with see-through wire fencing, has a pleasantly quiet and rural feel to it, with several refinery chimneys providing an unusual background, facilities are perfectly adequate with no identikit furniture. After the very existence of the ground and even the football club was thrown into real doubt when the Waterside Social & Sports Club was forced to close in 2016 due to insurmountable debts, it is very pleasing that the Holbury Community Sports Association, with support from landlords Esso, have ensured that the sporting facilities have been maintained. The 24 page programme covered all of the important stats and introduced both clubs, although some editorial or other articles would have enhanced it.
Fawley have won one and drawn one of their opening five league games. After a couple of disastrous seasons, suffering two successive relegations after finishing bottom by a distance in both the Southern League Division One Central and then the Wessex League Premier Division, Petersfield have steadied the ship somewhat this season, winning two of their opening five league games.
On a mainly cloudy afternoon, this was a game of two halves, with Fawley having the better of the first half while the visitors were mainly in the ascendancy after the break. The home side took the lead with just two minutes on the clock. After the Petersfield keeper came out of his area and collided with a Fawley forward, conceding a free kick, the ball was crossed into the box and was poked home by Ben Bolton. After Fawley dominated possession and half chances, Petersfield equalised on 39 minutes following a run down the left, the ball was passed to Will Essai in a central position at the edge of the area, and he struck a well measured shot past the keeper and inside the post.
The scoreline remained level at the break and it would now be the visitors who would look the more threatening. They forced a great reflex save by the keeper on 57 minutes, and on the hour mark, Fawley had a player shown a straight red card for a two footed lunge. Petersfield would probably have been favourites to go on to win the match now, but struggled to create clear goalscoring chances, and were also denied by some superb tackles in the box. In the end, the points were shared which was a fair reflection on the game, and Fawley would probably be the happier with the point, having played with ten men for the final third of the game and were second best throughout the second half.
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