Lyndhurst 3 v 2 Sway

Saturday 24th April 2021, Kick-off 15.00
Hampshire Premier League Supplementary Cup
Wellands Road, Lyndhurst
Admission and Programme: None
Attendance: 25 (approximate)

With a beautiful sunny day forecast today, I originally planned to head out to the Isle of Wight for a visit to Ventnor. With some homebound train connections not very convenient, and a gut feeling that Ventnor may not be able to field a team today, struggling as they are at the foot of the table and on the receiving end of a few hidings of late, I decided against it at the last minute, and just as well, as my gut served me well as Ventnor failed to put out a team. Instead. I decided to head down to the heart of the New Forest and combine some walking with a visit to a scenic ground.

Having caught the train to Ashurst, I then embarked on a four mile walk across the New Forest, predictably passing by plenty of roaming ponies and cattle en route, and on my approach to Lyndhurst, the wonderfully picturesque cricket ground of Lyndhurst & Ashurst Cricket Club, complete with its thatched roofed pavilion and situated at the foot of Bolton's Bench, a yew capped hillock. Wellands Road is located a couple of minutes walk from the pretty village centre, behind a Ferrari showroom, and entrance is gained in one corner of the ground. The pitch is railed virtually all the way around, although there is no hard standing, and the only pitchside furniture are decent sized green painted wooden dugouts. A couple of large wooden buildings are located behind the corner closest to the entrance, one housing the changing rooms, with the usual Hampshire League team whiteboard and club sign posted on the exterior wall, the other houses a tea bar. In front of these buildings, there are several picnic wooden tables scattered on the grass, and behind this corner, the village's church spire can be seen in the close background. As would be expected, the location is very peaceful and rural, with a rustic charm about the place, mostly surrounded by trees but with fields stretching out behind one end.

It is fair to say that this "season" has been a struggle for both clubs, who occupied the bottom two spots in the Hampshire Premier League Senior Division when it was curtailed. In fact, Lyndhurst lost every one of their 13 league games, conceding over five goals a game and with a goal difference of minus 54. They did manage a draw their first game in this Supplementary competition, away at QK Southampton, before losing their next three games. On paper, today's game represented a good chance for Lyndhurst to achieve another positive result. Sway had won won and drew one of their eleven regular season fixtures, but actually conceded more goals than Lyndhurst, 68, so averaging more than six goals a game. And they conceded double figures in each of their last three games of their regular season. So, the enforced break probably came at a good time for Sway, at least. Of their four games in this competition, Sway have lost three, but did win 1-0 against today's opponents Lyndhurst a fortnight ago, and in the opening game of the regular season last September, Sway won at Lyndhurst 0-2.

On a pleasantly warm and sunny afternoon, this New Forest derby turned out to be a highly entertaining and lively game, a game which had pretty much everything. It's fair to say that Lyndhurst were down to the bare bones today, their dugout was vacant throughout, with no substitutes and they were not even able to provide anyone to run the line, with the visitors covering both. That didn't stop Lyndhurst starting really positively, and they should have opened the scoring on three minutes, when the ball was lobbed over the defence, allowing  the striker to run on before striking the ball wide of the target. But they did score on eight minutes, following a long punt downfield by the keeper, the defenders couldn't deal with it, with a Lyndhurst player gaining possession in the penalty area before passing through to his team mate, who stroked the ball across the keeper and into the far corner. Another long punt downfield three minutes later again caused the Sway defenders problems and a low cross from the right was clipped goalwards, but the Sway keeper made a fantastic reflex save, deflecting the ball up and onto the top of the bar and over. The long high balls launched downfield by Lyndhurst continued to cause real problems for the Sway defence, blinded by the the bright sunshine as the ball dropped towards them. On 19 minutes, Lyndhurst saw the ball stabbed just wide at the far post following a corner. Sway had barely threatened before they were awarded a penalty on 21 minutes for a rather rash lunge, and it was duly converted into the bottom right corner. And four minutes later, the turnaround was complete as the visitors scored their second with a lovely goal. The ball was pumped forward and the Sway player took a deft touch before lashing the ball past the keeper. The game then settled down for the remainder of the half, as the visitors started to control the game, and the only notable chance came on 33 minutes, when a Sway free kick forced a decent save to the keeper's right.

The action really hotted up in the second half, in all senses, and two minutes after the interval, Lyndhurst had a goal ruled out for offside, and on 53 minutes they were awarded a penalty as their player was pushed over chasing a ball dropping over his shoulder. But the Sway keeper managed to get his fingertips to divert the ball onto his left hand post and away. But Lyndhurst did equalise on 73 minutes, when a corner was met with a glancing header, and the ball gently looped off the far post and bounced over the line. And three minutes later, they were awarded their second and the game's third penalty for a rash lunging tackle as the Lyndhurst player approached the byline. This time the penalty was converted to put Lyndhurst into the lead. A flashpoint came on 79 minutes when the Lyndhurst keeper tried to waste time in not picking up the ball, until the Sway player went in quite strongly to try to nick the ball, probably catching the keeper, who reacted badly, who stormed after the Sway player, pushing him in the head. Both players were shown red cards for their involvement, with the Lyndhurst number 10, who had seemed to be carrying an injury for most of the game, donned the gloves. He wasn't tested in the remaining minutes though as Sway seemed to run out of steam and ideas, and Lyndhurst saw the game out quite comfortably to claim their first win of the season, a win they deserved today, all the more so as the odds seemed stacked against them in terms of numbers at least and then having an outfield player in goal for the last ten minutes. Straight after the final whistle, I swiftly made my way back to Ashurst station along the busy A35, not such a pleasant walk as my outbound one, but necessary to catch a train within an hour to ensure getting home at a reasonable time. 

This really was a fabulous day out which pretty much had it all - sunshine, warm but not hot, a beautiful part of the world to explore, a charming ground to visit, and a highly entertaining game. A real tonic to lift the spirits after a very difficult and confined few months.