Scorers : Mike Byrne 74  /  Lee Wort 8

Date : Friday 23 December 2017 7:45pm - Sydenhams Wessex Premier

Venue : Hamble Community Facility

Hamble Club : Rory Anderson, Dawid Tagba, Danny Cox, Charlie Wagstaffe, Mike Byrne, PJ McLean, Nick Watts (Riccardo Andrady), Liam Crook [c], Nathan Lynch (Jack McCarthy), River Smith, Coby Wilson.  Subs not used : Alex Blake, Matt Troon, Brad Magookin

Yellow Card :  Charlie Wagstaffe, Mike Byrne, Liam Crook, Nathan Lynch

Sholing : Ryan Gosney, Owen Roundell, Marv McLean, Pete Castle, Dan Miller, Jamie Bulpitt, TJ Cuthbertson, Byron Mason [c], Dan Mason (Marlon Mason), Lee Wort (Barry Mason), Alex Sawyer.  Subs not used : Kevin Brewster, Owen Royl, Duncan Brown

Yellow Card : TJ Cuthbertson, Pete Castle, Dan Mason

Red Card : Byron Mason, Marv McLean

Attendance : 127

Man of the Match : Lee Wort

Referee : Lee Nowacki  Assistants : Robert Linter & Gary Cash

Nine man Sholing earned a point in the local derby at Hamble Club, in a game where the Referee took centre stage.  2 Red Cards & 7 Yellow cards would suggest to anyone who wasn't there that it was a warzone of a match.  In reality, there was barely one bad foul during the entire 98 minutes.

Despite a lot of personal history between the clubs (in a good way, as many Hamble players used to play at Sholing and there were both good friends and even brothers across both teams), this was the first ever game between "The Monks" and "The Boatmen" at the Hamble Community Facility.  Things did not get off to a good start, when as the players walked onto the pitch, the floodlights failed.  It took almost 15 minutes to get them working again.

Game kicked off with Sholing on the front foot and it wasn't long until the Boatmen took the lead.  Some nice build up play saw LEE WORT put clear in the right channel, he advanced into the penalty area and hit an angled shot that skidded through both the keeper's hands and through the legs of a defender near the line.

It was almost a second for Sholing a couple of minutes later, but Byron Mason's shot from the edge of the area, was kicked away by Byrne near the goal line.  Hamble had the ball in the back of the net after Gosney was bundled into as he caught a cross, but it was rightly ruled out for the foul.  Dan Mason chested a ball into the path of Byron, but his volley flew over. 

Sholing were opening up the home team when passing and running at pace and Lee Wort left his marker on his backside as he turned in the box, but his shot was well saved by Anderson.  Another chance for the Boatmen, probably should have been snapped up as triangles around the home team saw Jamie Bulpitt put in behind, but he blazed his shot over the angle of bar & post.  HT 0-1

Dan Mason broke away down the right straight from the restart, doing well to put over a cross on the run, it found Marv at the far post, but his header was into the keepers arms. 

in the 47th minute, Sholing were breaking forward again, but a ball from the right wing into midfield hit the referee and fell into the path of a Hamble player, with Byron Mason slipping over and flat on his back, he brought Lynch down, in what looked like nothing more than a clumsy tackle or tangle of legs.  To everyone's amazement, the Referee pulled out a Red Card and then proceeded to make repeated "stamping" gestures with his foot.

From that point onwards, the actual game was a sideshow.  More yellow cards followed for both teams, not sure many of them would have been awarded on another night.  Dan Mason got a caution despite not touching the left back, an incident that took place a yard in front of the linesman, who indicated no foul, but the out of position referee said it was.  And so it went on, Dan Mason burst through two tackles, using his strength before being brought down and picking up an injury.  The look on Dan's face as he got to his feet after treatment to realise a foul had been given against him, said it all.

On 74 minutes in a rare moment of football, Hamble grabbed an equaliser. Mike Byrne was able to turn in the box and prod his shot into the bottom corner.  The home side pushed for a winner against 10 men, which then became 9 when in the 89th minute, Marv was given a Red Card. The ball went out for what looked like a Sholing throw, but the linesman gave it Hamble's way, only increasing the frustration and as the home side were about to take it, the linesman called over the Ref for something Marv had said to him and the player was already taking off his shirt and walking off before the official could get his card out.

Despite having a two man advantage, the home team couldn't create a clear chance in the 8 minutes of added time and the game ended even, points wise. FT 1-1

After the game, Dave Diaper had only a single word to sum up his feelings... "Speechless"

 * Happy Christmas to all our supporters, volunteers, players and management *

Next Game : Sholing v Petersfield Town - Saturday 30 Dec 3pm - Wessex Prem