Saturday 15th July
Winchester City 0 Farnborough 2
Friendly
Winchester City entertained their second Conference South side within four days, losing to Farnborough Town by the same scoreline as against Eastleigh on a scorching hot afternoon at the Denplan City Ground. An unchanged City side competed well and were never outplayed by their visitors, despite the two-league gap in status.
Farnborough had the better of the early play, with Warren McBean shooting past the left post from the edge of the area, following Matt Pattison’s right wing cross. After a quarter of an hour, the visitors again went close when Tyron Smith blasted a free kick from just outside the area which bounced back off the post.
City came more into the game as the first half progressed. Pete Smith was having a fine game at left back, defending well and causing concern in the Boro defence with his mazy left side runs. However, it was the visitors who took the lead five minutes from half time, when a near-perfect Liam Pestel cross from the right was headed into the far corner by Tyron Smith. The home side’s best chance of the half came just before the break when Christer Warren put a free kick just the wrong side of the post.
Farnborough fielded a completely different XI after the break and, for a while, their fresh legs were able to run the show as City’s tired players began to wilt under the hot sun. Steve Lever put the visitors 2-0 up after 50 minutes with a fine individual goal, beating several defenders before placing the ball past David Hook into the far corner.
After a few substitutions of their own, the home side came back into the game. In a neat City move after 70 minutes, Liam Green put Tom Vavrecka clear down the right. Vavrecka’s cross was knocked back by James Davis into the path of Jamie Musselwhite, but the striker could not quite find the finish that the move deserved. A minute later, James Eyles delivered the ball from the right into the path of Richard Mealey, who arrived just too late to bundle the ball home.
City switched to a 3-5-2 formation, with Lloyd Webber dropping back to make a rare appearance at the centre of the defence. The men in red and black were now getting plenty of the ball, and Jamie Musselwhite lifted a lob over the visting keeper with ten minutes to go, which only just cleared the bar. Perhaps City’s best chance of the game came in the final minutes, when a Liam Green cross from deep on the left found Eyles, who put his header just wide of the post. In the final action of the day, Davis capped a useful second half performance with a fine saving tackle after the visiting striker had been put clean through.
Winchester City: Hook, Wyeth, Smith, Mark Jones, Mat Jones, Vavrecka, Webber, Warren, Musselwhite, Mealey, Green. Subs: Davis, Eyles, M Rogers, S Lewis, New
Friendly
Winchester City entertained their second Conference South side within four days, losing to Farnborough Town by the same scoreline as against Eastleigh on a scorching hot afternoon at the Denplan City Ground. An unchanged City side competed well and were never outplayed by their visitors, despite the two-league gap in status.
Farnborough had the better of the early play, with Warren McBean shooting past the left post from the edge of the area, following Matt Pattison’s right wing cross. After a quarter of an hour, the visitors again went close when Tyron Smith blasted a free kick from just outside the area which bounced back off the post.
City came more into the game as the first half progressed. Pete Smith was having a fine game at left back, defending well and causing concern in the Boro defence with his mazy left side runs. However, it was the visitors who took the lead five minutes from half time, when a near-perfect Liam Pestel cross from the right was headed into the far corner by Tyron Smith. The home side’s best chance of the half came just before the break when Christer Warren put a free kick just the wrong side of the post.
Farnborough fielded a completely different XI after the break and, for a while, their fresh legs were able to run the show as City’s tired players began to wilt under the hot sun. Steve Lever put the visitors 2-0 up after 50 minutes with a fine individual goal, beating several defenders before placing the ball past David Hook into the far corner.
After a few substitutions of their own, the home side came back into the game. In a neat City move after 70 minutes, Liam Green put Tom Vavrecka clear down the right. Vavrecka’s cross was knocked back by James Davis into the path of Jamie Musselwhite, but the striker could not quite find the finish that the move deserved. A minute later, James Eyles delivered the ball from the right into the path of Richard Mealey, who arrived just too late to bundle the ball home.
City switched to a 3-5-2 formation, with Lloyd Webber dropping back to make a rare appearance at the centre of the defence. The men in red and black were now getting plenty of the ball, and Jamie Musselwhite lifted a lob over the visting keeper with ten minutes to go, which only just cleared the bar. Perhaps City’s best chance of the game came in the final minutes, when a Liam Green cross from deep on the left found Eyles, who put his header just wide of the post. In the final action of the day, Davis capped a useful second half performance with a fine saving tackle after the visiting striker had been put clean through.
Winchester City: Hook, Wyeth, Smith, Mark Jones, Mat Jones, Vavrecka, Webber, Warren, Musselwhite, Mealey, Green. Subs: Davis, Eyles, M Rogers, S Lewis, New
Document last updated: 08/06/2007
