Lymington1 5Sholing

Scorers : Nick Magee 37  / Lee Wort 30 & 50, Dan Mason 45+1, Dan Miller 49, Alex Sawyer 59

Date : Saturday 14th January 2017 - 3pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue : The Sports Ground

Lymington Town : Ross Casey, Callum Davies, Pearce Farren, Jack Odam, Brad Strickland, Matt Page, Harry Hawkins, Nathan Hurst [c], Lewis Packham, Sam House, Nick Magee.  Subs: Ross Bottomley, Dudley Mason, Tom Man, Rhys Jones

Yellow Card:  ?

Sholing: Ryan Gosney, Corey Cherrett, Marv McLean, Luke Dempsey, Dan Miller, Micky Hubbard, Barry Mason [c], Zac Mouland (Jake Hoole 80), Lee Wort (Nick Yeomans 80), Alex Sawyer.  Subs not used: Pete Castle, Kev Brewster, Owen Roundell

Yellow Card:  Lee Wort

Attendance : 82 (25 Sholing fans)

Man of the Match : Lee Wort

Referee: Niall Clinton  Assistants: Craig Sandoe & Christopher Porter

The Boatmen demonstrated some clinical finishing to win big on the road at Lymington Town.  It has been an unhappy hunting ground in the past for us, but today everything went right.

Team News : Byron Mason was missing through illness, so Barry took the captain's armband. Jamie Bulpitt failed a fitness test, so Alex Sawyer returned in midfield.

A cold, but dry Lymington welcomed Sholing to the Sports Ground, which is currently undergoing rebuilding work to it's clubhouse.  As the old one is being demolished, the changing rooms, bar, toilets and hospitality are housed in converted shipping containers, but credit to Lymington, it seemed to work well.

The game got underway on quite a bobbly pitch with long grass, but it didn't hinder an attacking start by both teams.  Barry Mason fired in a couple of long shots early on, including a 40 yard chipped effort that had to be awkwardly claimed under his crossbar by the keeper.  On 8 minutes, Lymington broke beyond the Sholing back four, the striker went round Gosney, but seemed in two minds as what to do next and his ball into the middle was too deep for his teammate to control.   Lee Wort was looking lively and his run ended when his shot deflected off a Lymo defender and looped inches wide.

On 19 minutes, a glorious chance was missed by Dan Mason as Hubbard found him with a cross, but Dan directed his free header over the bar.  5 minutes later and Lymington once again broke free, but Gosney got a strong hand to the shot and Corey Cherrett was able to mop up. Sholing took the lead on the half hour.  Micky Hubbard sent in a freekick from the left into the box, it got flicked on and fell to the feet of LEE WORT 6 yards out and he prodded it past Ross Casey.

Lymington were soon level with a very well taken individual goal.  Nick Magee controlled a dropping ball on the edge of the area, made space for himself and fired in a well struck angled shot past Gosney.   Sholing went back on the offensive and in first half added time, got a crucial second to go into the break in front.  Lee Wort won possession outside the box, the home side appealed for a foul, but the ref waved play on. Wort fed the ball into the box for DAN MASON, who with his back to goal, swivelled and shot across the keeper into the far corner for his 31st goal of the season.  HT 1-2

Incredibly, early in the second half, Sholing scored three goals within 10 minutes of each other to put the game to bed by the 59th minute.  It all started on 49 minutes when another quality delivery from a freekick by Micky Hubbard saw Casey flap at the ball, miss it and DAN MILLER was arriving at the far post to nod over the line.

Only 60 seconds later and it was four for the Boatmen as a ball through the middle, found LEE WORT in the box, he held off the defender and lifted the ball over the diving Casey and it just had enough momentum to beat the backtracking defender over the line. 

It was game over on 59 minutes as Sholing scored an excellent goal.  Barry Mason charged down the right wing, used his strength to get past the fullback and crossed into the area for Lee Wort.  He set a the ball back for the arriving ALEX SAWYER who from the edge of the box, hit a first-time sidefooted effort inside the post.

Sawyer went close to grabbing another 10 minutes later, but his well struck shot from 20 yards was pushed wide by a full length save by Casey.  Lee Wort was hunting a hat-trick and almost got it when he attempted a left foot volley on the turn, but the ball just cleared the bar.   Lymington kept going to the end, having a couple of long range efforts go narrowly wide, but Sholing set themselves up for a big week of fixtures with an impressive win.  FT 1-5

Today's win was dedicated to Sholing supporter, Tony Court, who sadly passed away on Friday.  RIP Tony.

Dave Diaper said after the match : After a difficult and devastating couple of weeks for everyone involved with the Club where we have lost loved ones, we got back to football at Lymington. We always struggle to get a result at Lymo and don't let the score of 1-5 fool you, we had to dig in and really work hard to get that result. We scored the second goal at a crucial time on the stroke of half time. Good finishing and an assist from the ref for the 3rd goal proved decisive, but it never had the proper feeling of a 5-1er.

What impressed me more about our performance was the way we put a couple of Lymo players on the seat of their pants (within the rules of the game!) and it was good to see a Proper Game where the art of Tackling and Men being Men was allowed to happen. The Ref let the game flow, well done Niall Clinton.

It is a sad thing that the modern game has turned its back on the Art of Tackling where men were men and where you could "Give it Some" but also be prepared to "Take Some" because there was no better feeling in a match than winning a 50/50 or in some cases a 60/40. We now March on to Tuesday at Home to Winchester in the Hampshire Cup.

Next Home Game : Sholing v Winchester City (Hampshire Cup Quarter Final) - Tuesday 17th Jan 7:45pm

Photos by Ray Routledge (click an image to enlarge)