Sydenhams Wessex League

Winchester City 3 Christchurch 1

It was a hard fought three points earned by Winchester City on Saturday. In an ever-increasing physical contest, City held out to be victors claiming their seventh consecutive victory under the guidance of manager Steve Tate.

The game itself was overshadowed by a poor refereeing performance that saw both sides reduced to ten men and both teams infuriated by several decisions given by the officials. The opening ten minutes offered optimism for a good match the closes that a side came to scoring was Ian Mancey’s header from a Shaun Dyke cross that went just wide.

The tone of the game turned after twenty-one minutes, a nasty collision between City’s Jamie Musselwhite and Christchurch defender Lee Hodder saw both players fall to the ground in uncompromising positions, Hodders flailing foot catching Musselwhite in the face. A skirmish happened on the edge of the box between several players. Once all had settled down referee Mr M Walsh after discussion with his assistant dismissed with straight red cards Hodder and City’s Mancey, much to the astonishment of both sets of players.

From the free kick that had been awarded from the original confusion Christer Warren saw his effort strike the upright with Christchurch goalkeeper Gareth Barfoot beaten. The game turned rather scrappy after the incident with neither side troubling either goalkeeper until three minutes before the interval. A succession of City corners from both sides of the park swung in with the assistance of the wind by Dyke and Liam Green saw the best effort come from a rising Mark Jones header that was pushed away by Barfoot.

The second half started brightly, within thirty seconds of the restart Christchurch’s Matt Czastka broke though but fired his shot wide of the post. City broke and Tommy McCormick missed his shot completely in front of goal and Dyke had an effort saved by Barfoot.

Eight minutes into the half City took the lead. Matthew Bicknell’s ball into the area saw McCormick hustle his way to the ball and force it over the line and despite protests from the Christchurch defence for a handball decision the goal was allowed.

The visitors almost grabbed an immediate equaliser. It took a tremendous stop from Dave Hook to deny Dave Midgley within seconds of City having scored. A shot from point blank range looked a certain goal until Hook used his body to great effect to produce arguably the save of the season.

The events spurred City on. A second goal eventually arrived after sixty-eight minutes. Having had one effort blocked by the Christchurch defence in the six yard area, Musselwhite still seated on the ground manager to get his foot out from under himself and bury the ball home. City were now on their way to victory. A set piece free kick involving Dyke and Warren saw the latters shot saved by Barfoot and City substitute Stewart Lang was also denied by the Christchurch keeper.

With the game in the fifth minute of stoppage time Warren ran diagonally across the face of the area from right to left before lifting a left foot cross to the far post where Musselwhite arrived to power home a header for his fourth goal in two games.

The match was a further two minutes on when Lang was penalised for an infringement in the area, a penalty taken by Dave Roberts crept over the line after a valiant attempt by Hook to try and keep his goal in tact but it was no more than a consolation for the visitors.

Winchester : Hook, Wakefield, Bicknell, Mark Jones, Davies, Warren, Dyke, McCormick, Mancey, Musselwhite,

L Green (Lang 58) Unused subs Thomson, Lilley, Kneller, Zawadski

Christchurch : Barfoot, Wells (Moors 55), Elliott, Hodder, Hughes, Lawrence, Czastka, Crutchley, Soutoudeh (D Roberts 45), Midgley (Puckett 79), J Atkins Unused subs Till, S Atkins