Christchurch 2 v 3 Hamble Club

Saturday 13th October 2018
Wessex League Premier Division
Hurn Bridge Sports Ground, Hurn
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 75
Match Rating: 3

For Non-League Day 2018, there were no clubs that I had not previously visited offering reduced admission today, much of that was to do with FA Vase and Trophy fixtures being played today, for which admission offers are almost impossible. Ideally, I would have taken in a FA Vase game today, but the one I did fancy, at Little Oakley, would have been tricky with diverted trains en route taking much longer than usual. And so I decided to head along the south coast, with no engineering works en route today, to visit a ground with a long walk from the nearest train station, which would make a visit by train unappealing once the clock go back.

Hurn Bridge Sports Ground is not a great venue to get to without a car, located over three miles north of Christchurch train station, and with buses only going about a third of the way. It is an easy enough walk though, in daylight at least, straight but along a busy road throughout. The ground is in the tiny village of Hurn, and is part of a complex which is shared with Christchurch Cricket Club, and is also host to the Dorset Cricket Centre. Fortunately, the football and cricket facilities exist side by side, without any overlapping. Spectators enter the football ground through a brick turnstile building immediately behind one of the goals. To the left, there is a wooden refreshments hut, with some bird feeders and a bird table, as well as some movable chairs and a table. To the right of the entrance, three rows of covered seating is built into the wall of the changing rooms, with toilets and a hospitality room beyond the seating up to the corner flag. Starddling the half way line on one side is quite a large and smart all seater stand, with a press room included. An electronic scoreboard is positioned above the press room, but was not working today, instead a manual scoreboard was used on the opposite side. Around the rest of the pitch there is just hard standing. With the complex cut into a forest, there is a really pleasant, rural and quite secluded feel to the place, with usual friendly and welcoming atmosphere that is common throughout the Wessex League. The programme was good enough, covering the important stats and had a welcome message and introductions to both clubs although bizarrely six pages were left completely blank. A nice touch was the issuing of game and day specific tickets, although generally it was surprising that no mention or effort at all was made for Non-League Day in the programme or around the ground, which may have been a missed opportunity to promote the club and non league football in general.

After being promoted as champions from Division One last season. Christchurch are finding life a little difficult in the Premier Division, in 17th place in the 20 team division, having won two and drawn two of their ten games so far. Hamble were in 13th place, having won three and drawn two of their nine league games.

In a total contrast to last Saturday's wet and cold conditions, there was a warm and slightly muggy feel to the weather today, with temperatures in the 20's. Hamble had the better of the opening half hour, doing all of the attacking, so it was a surprise when Christchurch took the lead on 35 minutes, when Ben Satterley dribbled through midfield before unleashing a powerful shot past the keeper from the edge of the area. They almost doubled their lead within a minute, but a low shot was just gathered by the keeper. But 1-0 was how it remained at the break, and Hamble would be wondering how on earth they were behind.

They were not for much longer though, as on 48 minutes, as a cross from the right was headed into his own net by a Christchurch defender. But the home side restored their lead on 65 minutes, following a free kick which was headed sideway from the back post for Kieran Douglas to tap the ball past the keeper. Hamble equalised on 75 minutes, again they were gifted the goal following a poor back pass which Doug Rowe ran into and his shot took a big deflection off the keeper, the ball looping up and into the net. But on 87 minutes came the game changing moment. Christchurch saw a free kick only narrowly go wide with the keeper beaten, but Hamble went straight up the other end and a cross from the right found Marlon Mason with all the time and space in the world in a central position, and although he took an age to get the ball under control and it looked like the chance had gone with defenders having made up ground to cover, his shot went into the bottom right corner with the keeper flat footed. Christchurch came agonisingly close to grabbing an equaliser in the second minute of added on time, when a header from a corner hit the underside of the bar, and immediately had a big shout for a penalty turned down.

Overall, Hamble probably deserved the win as they showed the more attacking intent, but Christchurch will be bitterly disappointed to not get anything from a game they led twice, but gifted goals to the opposition.