Hampshire Premier League Challenge Cup Round of 16
Headley Playing Fields, Headley
Admission & Programme: None
Attendance: 25 (approximate)
Today's destination choice was mainly narrowed down based on the weather forecast, which showed heavy rain clearing northwards from the south coast at around lunchtime, but not until closer to 3pm around London and northwards. And with that in mind, and opting to drive, I chose this game, at probably the most aesthetically pleasing venue on offer today that I had not previously visited within a reasonable driving distance, for my fourth visit to a Hampshire League club since the most recent lockdown.
Headley Playing Fields is located on the western edge of the village of Headley, and is quite a spacious complex of various sporting facilities. From the entrance, a cricket field occupies the left half of the complex, with a bowling green and a couple of tennis courts situated beyond the complex's pavilion, with parking spaces available between the entrance and the pavilion. Separated by a tall hedge and its own longer car park, the football facilities occupy the right half of the complex. The main football pitch, which has dugouts and is fully railed but has no hard standing, is located in one corner, closely lined by a row of trees along one length, a couple of small sized pitches behind the length towards the main pitch and the parking area and pavilion, a full sized pitch behind the end closest to the passing main road and farmland behind the remaining length. It is a peaceful and pleasantly rural location to watch football at.
Considering the respective league status of both clubs, Headley United would be the underdogs today, playing in a division below today’s visitors. And they were having a very average time of it in the regular season before it was curtailed, picking up three wins and a point from their ten league games. Winchester Castle play in the Premier Division, but were not having a great season themselves, picking up two wins and two draws from eleven league games. In the group stages of this Champions League style competition, although most groups were formed of four clubs, both Headley United and Winchester Castle only had to contend with two other clubs in their groups. Headley United finished second in their group, with a home draw and an away victory against Premier Division outfit Liss Athletic, along with an away win at another Premier Division club in Liphook United, sufficient to seal their progress. Winchester Castle's two group opponents both hailed from Division One, winning both games against Kingsmere, along with their away fixture at South Wonston Swifts, but they lost their final group game at home against the same opposition, although they had already done enough to comfortably win the group. As a result, Winchester Castle had earned the right to host this tie, but with their ground now unavailable, the tie was switched to Headley.
On a dry, overcast but very blustery afternoon (although the trees provided some very welcome refuge along that length), Headley took the lead with 8 minutes on the clock following a good run through the middle, and after an initial shot was parried by the keeper, Dylan Bonner tapped the rebound home. And shortly after a shot from outside the area was parried over the bar by the visiting keeper, Headley doubled their lead on 12 minutes when, following a corner, the ball was gently curled past the keeper and high into the net by Richard Dane. The game settled back down after that, with Headley looking very comfortable in their lead as the visitors just couldn't seem to get going.
This theme continued into the second half, with Headley even more dominant and creating plenty of chances, and that they didn't put the game to bed owed much to a string of fine saves by the Winchester keeper. But on 84 minutes, a Headley player ran clear down the left from the half way line and was eventually fouled as he tried to take the ball around the advancing keeper in the area, earning his side a penalty and the keeper a yellow card. Jack Grover converted, striking the ball into the bottom left with the keeper going the wrong way, to seemingly seal Headley's progress into the quarter-finals. As the clock ticked past 90 minutes, Winchester grabbed what looked like a mere consolation goal following a long rhrow in, the ball was laid off and was then tapped home from a central position. And within a minute, the visitors had remarkably scored again after a free kick was dinked into the box and the ball was headed in from close range at the far post, brushing through the keeper’s hands en route. Suddenly, Headley's players looked nervous as Winchester chased a most unlikely equaliser, but the closest they came was in the fourth minute of added on time, after the Winchester keeper floated a free kick to the back post, the ball was headed across goal, but then headed just over the bar.
So the final score was perhaps tighter than it should have been, although that matters not one jot in a knock-out cup format, as they now progress to a quarter final tie away at fellow Division One outfit Silchester next Saturday, whilst Winchester Castle can now start their summer holidays.
No comments:
Post a Comment