Wessex League Premier Division
Cockrams, Shaftesbury
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 43
Match Rating: 4
During yet another weekend of rail engineering works preventing direct trains to London, I decided to head back down to the Salisbury area for the second consecutive Saturday today. Although a visit to Warminster Town of the Western League was tempting and would have been easier, as it would involved staying simply on the same train for an extra 20 minutes, I instead opted to visit a Wessex League Premier Division ground as I near its completion.
Shaftesbury is about a one hour bus ride from Salisbury, a seemingly never-ending roller coaster ride along tight country lanes, with Cockrams about a five minute walk north eastwards from the town centre. Plenty of attractive club signage greets visitors to the ground, and after passing through the car park and the modern clubhouse, spectators enter the ground behind one goal, paying admission and obtaining a programme at a window of a brick building which stretches to the corner flag. The building also houses a tea bar window pitchside, with the changing rooms located inside. Overhang allows for slightly elevated covered standing along the front, and team line-ups are posted on the wall next to the tea bar window. Along one length, there is quite a long stand covering three rows of seating, whilst on the opposite side there is a small stand covering a couple of steps, although it is virtually pointless, as tall dugouts are located immediately in front of it, almost completely obscuring the view of the pitch. There is just hard standing around the rest of the ground, which is enclosed with tall cage like metal fencing, but at least leylandii has been planted in front, so the perimeter is not too much of an eyesore. Well done to Shaftesbury for a very reasonable entry fee for step 5 football, and the 16 page programme contained all of the important information, without having a lot to read.
On paper, this would be a game between two closely matched teams, coming into this game level on points, both winning four and drawing three of their league games so far, although Shaftesbury had played a game more, having played 13 league games. After back to back promotions from the Dorset Premier League, Shaftesbury are in only their second season at this level, having finished in 12th position last season. Fareham Town have been in the top flight of the Wessex League since the late nineties.
On a very overcast, windy and slightly chilly afternoon, Shaftesbury took the lead on 9 minutes when Nick Hewlett headed home a corner. They forced a smart save low down by the keeper three minutes later, but the visitors equalised on 18 minutes when Curt Robbins chipped the keeper from outside of the area. Things got even better for them on 27 minutes when the ball was headed back by a defender into the path of Gary Austin running towards goal, and as the keeper raced out to meet him, he tapped the ball to one side before slotting the ball calmly into the empty net. The home side came close to equalising on 32 minutes when a free kick was fumbled by the keeper over his head but the ball was hacked away, and on 39 minutes, Greg Peel headed home a delicious cross from the left, but the goal was ruled out for offside to deny the hosts an equaliser, but the reprieve was to only last for four minutes when Peel curled a lovely free kick low into the bottom left corner. Things were starting to go badly wrong for the visitors now, as their full back Garry Moody was shown a straight red card five minutes into added on time for a stamp, and there was still time for Shaftesbury to take the lead in the seventh minute of added on time. The ball was curled into the box, a defender couldn't deal with it and it landed at the feet of Peel, who took a touch before tapping the ball home, to put his team in a great position with the visitors down to ten men for the second half.
At half time, I wondering if I would have a similar outcome to the exhilarating 5-4 game I had the pleasure of watching at nearby Amesbury last Saturday. It wasn't going to turn out to be such an exciting second half though. The next goal was clearly going to be crucial, and both teams had decent chances, but it was Shaftesbury who got it on 76 minutes, when Hewlett headed home a corner at the back post. The result was put beyond all doubt on 84 minutes when the ball was crossed low into the box and Alexandru Staffie seemed to take too long to control the ball and think what to do, but then he judged a perfect delicate chip over the keeper and into the far side of the net. They really should have scored a sixth on 89 minutes when a low cross found Staffie completely unmarked and in front of goal, but he ballooned the ball first time high and wide. But it mattered little as his team claimed what, in the end, was a comfortable win, but it was the events of first half injury time that decisively swung the game in their favour.
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