SYDENHAMS (WESSSEX) LEAGUE - PREMIER DIVISION
WEDNESDAY 27TH MARCH 2013
VERWOOD TOWN 5 HAYLING UNITED 0

On another bitterly cold evening at Potterne Park, Verwood welcomed Hayling Utd after three previous attempts to stage the match had been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. Changes were required for Verwood as Satterley and Thoroughgood were unavailable from the team that played in the thriller at Christchurch. Kris Anderton returned to the side for the first time in 2013 with Ben Kelly shifting to the middle of defence and Ryan Long in his first match for over a month replaced Satterley. Chris Lynch was also back in goal after returning from holiday.

After a quiet opening 10 minutes Haskell and Long playing together up front for the first time were starting to become a handful. Long’s pace and movement and Haskell’s strength and aerial power were already suggesting it was going to be a difficult evening for the Hayling defence. The first example was on 12 minutes when Haskell flicked on Lynch’s long clearance and Long’s speed took him beyond the defender and he fired home from the edge of the box. 1-0

Target man Haskell was bringing players into play on frequent occasions, on 15 minutes he cleverly set up Gajic who shot at goal from wide rather than crossing, the ball flew over and off trotted vice-chairman Nev to retrieve another ball staking his early claim to the man of the match award. 23 minutes and Evans finding a lot of space down the right put in a great cross and Long’s far post diving header went wide. Shortly after with wave after wave of attacks from Verwood a great move involving Webb and Haskell ended with Long’s shot well blocked. Hill having changed flanks found some of the space that Evans had been enjoying, cut inside the full back and unleashed a shot which was just wide. On the half hour Dyer took his turn to have a go at goal after another good move but his shot was comfortably saved.

38 minutes and Gajic was fouled 25 yards out and took the kick himself but his goalbound effort was deflected for a corner. Hill’s whipped in corner kicks were too much for the visiting defence and this one saw Haskell’s bullet header almost break the crossbar. Another one just after and Oldring had an effort fly just wide. With the half drawing to a close Hayling had just one attempt of any note and had it been a boxing match the ref would have called a halt. A 1-0 scoreline had not reflected the balance of play, Haskell put that right just before the whistle. A ball over the top of the Hayling defence, Haskell was quickest on to it and unleashed an unstoppable shot from 20 yards.

H-T 2-0.

To their credit Hayling came out in the second half and looked a lot better. They forced their first corner on 50 minutes but no danger came from it. Haskell had his first shot of the half blocked but Long picked up the loose ball and curled it just wide with his left foot. Evans was off down the flank again on 56 minutes running 60+ yards without challenge but his cross was cleared by a desperate defence. Hayling were coming back into the game and forced three corners in five minutes. They really should have scored on 62 minutes when a ball in to our box landed at the feet of a striker on the penalty spot but he shot over. We had lost our flowing football from the first half for a while but found it again after 20 minutes of the half had gone. Another well worked move saw Kelly’s effort on goal blocked but the loose ball was picked up and squared to Long who beautifully planted his shot in the top right corner 3-0.

It was now comfortable and time for Adi Arnold to make a substitution. Long appeared to have picked up a knock and was replaced on 70 minutes by Murray. Hill switched to a central role alongside Haskell and looked happy there. 78 minutes and Hall replaced Gajic. 78 minutes and another dangerous ball in from Evans was headed out but only as far as Murray but he couldn’t find the shot he was looking for and the chance had gone. We won the ball back straight away and a cross found Haskell’s head but his effort deflected off a defender for a corner, referee gave a goal kick though. With 7 minutes left Lynch having been very quiet produced the save of the match when blocking a shot from point blank range to keep a clean sheet.

O’Sullivan came on for Anderton who had enjoyed a solid game and his accuracy of passing was outstanding. With the game petering out one man (Haskelldinho) hadn’t finished yet. 85 minutes saw a great pass by Hill set Hall free down the line and his cut back was met by Haskell and after seeing his initial attempt blocked reacted quickest to bundle the ball over the line 4-0. There was still time for Haskell to clinch his second successive hat-trick at home. Sure enough after a fantastic pass from Dyer to find Haskell in the box his shot with the outside of his foot nestled in the corner of the net 5-0. A great performance from the home team and a perfect tonic to help manager Adi Arnold recover from a bout of man flu. With many candidates for the supporters matchman award it was Dyer’s continual prompting and probing from midfield that got him the nod after Munson’s contribution faded out in the second half!!

Final Score 5-0

Report submitted by Steve Jefferis