Winchester III v Havant IV W 4 - 0

This weekend Winchester 3’s welcomed Havant 4’s to the Winchester Stadium, in the first half of the season this match proved a challenging encounter for the 3’s in a closely fought 2-1 victory, with that captain Ollie Britt re-enforced the need for a fast paced, vocal start from the home side. The 3’s were slightly light this week with Sam Francis organising a Spa weekend in the Alps, resulting in the absence of John Francis, Eric Woodward, Hugh Landsone and Timothy Loescher.

Most games start with a team huddle, clattering of sticks and a shout out for your home town, however most of the team were displaying new pristine bats from Christmas so we discussed tactics and lined up to start. Game underway and the 3’s had all the possession, with the back line of Hallett, Hadfield, Phillips and Bryan transferring the ball with ease, working to tire an enthusiastic Havant team. With Winchester asserting their dominance in all areas of the pitch, Will Gabb returned to the centre of midfield after a 3 week break from his aeronautical taxi driving services and was dealing well with the pace of the game, selfishly distributing the ball to enable Winchester to move forwards. A swift break down the right flank saw the ball pulled back to First Officer Gabb who sent a pile driver into the D, a deft deflection from Oscar Moores saw the ball nestle in the back of the net 1-0 Winchester. 15 minutes in and the recently married Foyle popped up in the circle getting on the end of a Strongman cross and after the 3rd attempt it was 2-0 Winchester. It was one way traffic and 90% possession for the 3’s, which led to a nicely weighted through ball to Britt receiving on the top of the D, who turned and passed it around the on rushing Havant goalkeeper to Strongman who saw his reverse strike hitting a defenders foot on the line, penalty flick! Which he coolly stepped up and slotted home 3-0 Winchester.

Half time arrived, team talk completed, second half was playing into the wind Gabb noted the temperature had dropped and it was getting quite nippy so more of the same needed from the home side. Havant had different ideas and proved why they were such a challenge in the first half of the season, putting a high press on the Winchester backline, compressing the play resulting in a couple of short corners to the away side. Johnstone in goal who had been a mere bystander in the first half was called into action pulling off a string of fine saves and keeping Havant at bay. With Havant’s change in tactics the game became very fragmented and stop start, with the away side pushing hard up the pitch a quick break involving Hallett, Ryall, Strongman and Britt saw the latter pick up his second assist of the day placing a pin point through ball to Moores to pick up his second goal of the day. 4-0 Winchester. A slight dampener on the game was Bryan taking a ball to the knee which resulted in him warming the dugout and receiving lots of sympathy from the rest of the team.

The result see’s Winchester taking second place in the Hants Div 2, 3 points behind the league leaders Poole and looking forward to taking a similar performance to Hamble next week less Ryall who has joined the Royal Navy and will be away until Easter, the team wish him all the best in his new venture.

Reporter Richard Backshall-Round