Paulsgrove 1 v 1 Moneyfields Reserves

Bank Holiday Monday 28th August 2023, Kick-off 15.00
Hampshire Premier League Senior Division
Marsden Road, Paulsgrove

Admission: Free
Programme: £1.00
Attendance: 100 (rough headcount)

Following my morning game at Bosham, I hopped back on the train and continued my journey westwards, and following a change at Havant, alighted at Cosham, from which Marsden Road was about a half hour walk.

It is fair to say that I was not expecting much with the facilities at Marsden Road - hence why I decided to visit as part of a double - and I was proved right in all honesty. Situated in not the most salubrious of areas, the ground is accessed inside metal gates, with no indication a football ground being located here, and after a short walk across grass, passing the buildings housing the changing rooms and a tea bar, the ground stretches out in front. It is just railed off, although does have hard standing around all four sides, and has some permanent dugout in place which have seen better days. The ground is enclosed by the fencing of the adjoining school grounds along one length, trees along the other, and a see through fence dividing this from further sports fields behind the end opposite to the entrance. There are some points of interest in the visible surroundings - the chalk ridge of Portsdown Hill behind one end, the Spinaker tower and other elements of Portsmouth’s suburban sprawl behind the other. It is hardly a peaceful location though, with a busy trainline passing closely behind the trees along one length, and incessant road noise coming from the M27 just beyond. As expected, and common in the Hampshire Premier League, no programme was issued for this game, but more surprisingly in this division, no team line-ups board was posted.

Both clubs had fairly average seasons last season, with Paulsgrove finishing in ninth place, whilst Moneyfields Reserves finished in 13th place. Paulsgrove have started this season two wins and two defeats, while Moneyfields Reserves have won one and drawn two of their league games so far.

On a mostly overcast afternoon, this was a game of two halves, with Moneyfields having much the better of the first half, while Paulsgrove had some great chances in the second half. The visitors opened the scoring on 16 minutes, when a low diagonal ball towards the edge of the box found the run of Will Porter, and one-on-one with the keeper, Porter cooly slotted the ball home. On 22 minutes, a Paulsgrove shot from outside of the penalty area was diverted by the keeper's fingertips onto the bar.

In the second half, although the visitors saw a shot come back off the far post, and the rebound was struck wide, after that it was Paulsgrove who did most of the attacking, but were mostly denied by an excellent display by the visiting goalkeeper. Paulsgrove found an equaliser on 77 minutes, when Callum Duah-Boateng dribbled across the edge of the penalty area before firing the ball into the top left corner. Their standout opportunity to equalise came on 88 minutes, when a Paulsgrove shot hit the bar, as did the follow up shot, and another follow up shot was blocked. But despite numerous chances created in the second half, Paulsgrove just could not score more than the one goal, to ensure that the points were shared.