Hampshire Premier League Senior Division
Lederle Lane, Gosport
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Attendance: 70 (estimate)
Today's choice of destination for a new ground was quite restricted due to my not fancying journeys involving rail replacement buses nor a tube journey across London under the current, apparently worsening COVID-19 conditions, postponements caused by Covid, and fixtures generally not falling my way today. And so I settled on taking in a game in the Hampshire Premier League - no hardship, as it one of the better Step 7 leagues in many respects on and off the pitch. A visit to Sway was very tempting, but ultimately I chose what looked, on paper at least, to be the better game, and to visit a club that, from what I could make out, was an above average Step 7 set-up . I was not to be disappointed.
Lederle Lane is about a 40 minute walk southwards from Fareham train station, passing Fareham Town's home ground Cams Alders on the way, and just beyond the boundary separating Fareham and Gosport. Some endearing old-fashioned signage welcomes visitors at the entrance gate in one corner of the ground, with a NHS Track and Trace QR code available for scanning, as well as pen and paper. The ground is certainly one of the better at this level within Hampshire, both in terms of facilities and its aesthetics. The pitch is railed on all four sides, with hard standing along one length, along which there are proper dugouts, and either side there are similar looking stands containing benches and chairs inside, all brick constructions and painted in black and white. From this side, there are scenic views looking down to a creek, along with numerous numerous yachts, and with Portsdown Hill chalk ridge beyond. The length opposite the stands is mostly lined with a hedge, just beyond which is a helipad, on the site of what used to be DARA Fleetlands. Trees form the background behind one end, which is inaccessible to spectators, whilst set behind the other, closest to the entrance, is the white and black clubhouse building, from where refreshments and bottles of beer were available, and with the changing rooms housed in attached buildings behind. No programmes are currently produced by Fleetlands, and although the Hampshire League team line-ups whiteboard is attached to the exterior wall of the clubhouse, it was not updated today. Floodlights have fairly recently been installed, acquired from AFC Stoneham's former ground at Chestnut Avenue, and to the untrained eye, Lederle Lane does appear to be pretty close to being sufficient to host Step 6 football.
Both clubs have made solid if unspectacular starts to this season. Fleetlands, who do have ambitions for promotion to the Wessex League in the near future, have won three and drawn three of their seven league games so far, whilst Hayling United have won four and drawn two of their nine league games. They were certainly bang in form in front of goal, scoring 21 goals in their last three league games, winning 5-1 at home to Liss Athletic, 2-9 away at Sway, and most recently 7-3 at home to Chamberlayne Athletic.
On a fairly mild and occasionally sunny afternoon, this game had an explosive opening, with Fleetlands taking the lead with barely a minute on the clock. The ball was headed across goal and although it looked like the best chance to score would have been a first time shot, instead the ball bounced up and an overhead kick sent the ball past the keeper despite the desperate attempt of a covering defender, who could only divert the ball into the roof of the net. On 10 minutes Fleetlands had a good chance to double their lead when the ball was worked across from right to left, and the eventual powerful shot hit the outside of the stanchion. But they did score a second on 14 minutes, when a low ball across the pitch between Hayling defenders was intercepted, and the Fleetlands player moved forward before smashing the ball into the roof of the net. Fleetlands went on to dominate the rest of the half, and it was surprising that Hayling were only two behind at the break, given that they did have a bad habit of giving the ball away in dangerous positions, but it meant they were still very much in the game.
After an eight minute half time break, with both teams staying out on the pitch for their team talks, clearly the next goal would be crucial, and just three minutes into the second half, it was Fleetlands who grabbed it to all but seal the three points. A Fleetlands striker ran onto a long ball pumped down the middle, just managing to get beyond the defender and run through on goal, eventually guiding the ball past the keeper. The home side had several great chances to further extend their lead, although Hayling also threatened to grab a consolation, but the margin stayed at four. I was certainly not expecting such a one sided scoreline, but it was a reasonable reflection of a very decent, dominant performance by the home side, helped on their way by some pretty average play at the back by the visitors.
No comments:
Post a Comment