Stronstad Utd vs Lord Chichester (Portsmouth Dvision 2)
Big Match Facts:-
· Stronstad are currently 5th while Lord Chichester are 3rd with 23 points from 9 games
· A big win for Stronstad United and defeat for Prince of Wales could see Stronstad move up to 4th while defeat for Stronstad and a win for Icomm FC and a big win for White House could see them drop to 7th
· Stronstad’s last league game saw them beat AC Copnor while Lord Chichester beat Prince of Wales 3-2
Other Matches
· Drayton FC (10th) vs Cowplain Xi’s (2nd)
· J.T.C Rovers (1st) vs AC Copnor (8th)
· White House (7th) vs Prince of Wales (4th)
First Half Action for Farlington
After last week’s battling victory against AC Copnor, Stronstad went out to take on a Lord Chichester side that were unbeaten in the league hoping to be the first side to inflict defeat on them. After a pitch inspection from today’s referee Tom Adam the game was given the go ahead and both teams entered the field of play.
From the opening minutes of the game Lord Chichester we passing the ball around with confidences but without making any serious inroads into the Stronstad penalty area as a well marshalled defence lead again by captain Gareth Spicer and the returning Jeff Needham snuffed out any attack but on 10 minutes they could do nothing as Lord Chichester went into the lead. A long ball forward only found Gary Cowell in the Stronstad right back position but his touch was poor and this allowed the Lord Chichester player to nick the ball off him before coolly slotting past Ian Privett to make the score 1-0.
Stronstad tried to battle back into the match but they could not open the Lord Chichester defence but when they did break clear they could not test the Lord Chichester keeper with Luke Roystone firing over from outside the box. The referee Tom Adam was about to start to have a busy day and it started with the Lord Chichester goalkeeper getting booked for a comment made to the referee and he was swiftly followed by a Lord Chichester defender. The second yellow card came as a result of a through ball that released Robert Pearson who got past the Lord Chichester defender who then took Robert Pearson out from behind. An angry Robert Pearson went to confront the culprit and after the dust had settled both players was booked. Then from the resulting free kick the player who had just been booked broke free from the wall and charged down Dave George’s free kick but the referee kept his cards in his pocket. From the re-take Dave George’s free went wide of the mark.
Lord Chichester had chances to extend the lead but first Ian Privett bravely blocked a Lord Chichester shot then a cross from Stronstad’s right was headed over as Ian Privett slipped as he came out to get the ball but Lord Chichester player headed over an open goal.
Half Time:- Stronstad Utd 0 Lord Chichester 1
In the second half it became a bit of a farce as 5 Lord Chichester players were booked with one of them being sent off for a lunge on Mark Gear as he skipped through the Lord Chichester midfield.
Stronstad had their chances to score but an out of sort Robert Pearson missed two excellent chances (Also he is LOW on confidence) when put through on goal. Stronstad were battling hard with Nick Crocker putting in some excellent effort to stop the Lord Chichester team. With manager Andy Stamp bring Ian Privett out on pitch and the out of sort Robert Pearson going in between the sticks, Stronstad continued to cause Lord Chichester problems but at the other end Lord Chichester had their chances with the first being brilliantly blocked by Jon Way who threw himself in front of the shot when it looked like it was going. Somehow Jon Way seems to be in the right place at the right time because he always gets important blocks in when the striker is odds on favourite to score. Then it was backs against the wall as Lord Chichester won a corner but some heroic defending cleared the danger on a few occasions. At the other end Stronstad had a penalty appeal waved away as the ball strike a Lord Chichester players arm in the box but the appeals were waved away.
By the end of the match Lord Chichester had 6 players booked with 1 red card while Stronstad had 1 yellow card.
Full Time:- Stronstad Utd 0 Lord Chichester 1
