Lymington and New Milton 1- Winchester City O a.e.t.

CUP EXIT ON 1 NOVEMBER

by John Moody

City departed the Errea Southern League Cup by the narrowest of margins at Fawcett Field, New Milton, on the coldest night of the year so far, but nevetheless put up a heart-warming performace for their fans.

Manager Steve Moss decided to give new signing Clint Davis his debut in goal and after a shaky start he made a series of good saves which bodes well for the future. City also fielded probably their strongest midfield of Wes O'Conner, Melvin Rogers, Lloyd Webber and Neil Champion ably backed by Mark Jones, Pete Smith and Fran Dolan at the back and on the overlap. It took Winchester a time to settle, however, and Lymington and New Milton could have been three up in the first ten minutes. An early shot hit the side netting and Davis made a diving save from a header and then flicked the ball over the bar from another shot.

Winchesters first chance fell to Smith whose shot curled away from the keeper but also past the post. Lymington created another chance on the break when a long shot was deflected on the way in and Davis did well to dive and concede a corner.

Although both Ian Mancey and Jamie Musselwhite managed to get in shots they were well policed by the Lymington defence and the half revolved around a battle of attrition in midfield with both sides denied many goalscoring chances.

The second half belonged to Winchester however. Mark Gamble replaced Wes O?Conner at half time and his pace upfront added punch to the attack. The Lymington defence stayed firm and again the chances were few and far between and after an hour Ton Vavrecka replaced Musselwhite in an attempt to open the door and the ploy nearly worked when he headed on a cross in the box and Gamble forced the keeper into a good save from his header.

Gamble looked to have won the game when Webber jinxed his way into the box to lay on the perfect ball which he hit with venom but the Lymington keeper made a spectacular point-blanck save. Mancey was replaced by Dan Wakefield with about twenty minutes to go and his pace unsettled the Linetts for a time but City could not find the opening they needed.

With neither side able to grab the winner the game went to extra time and unfortunately a mistimed clearance by Rogers saw Davis too far off his line
in an attempt to back up and Danny Gibson lobbed into the empty net from 25 years out (99th minute) to give Lymington the winner.

Although City had plenty of time to get back into the game, their efforts were thwarted and despite a good performance no more progress can be made in the League Cup this season.

City: Clint Davis, Francis Dolan, Peter Smith, Mark Jones, David Goss, Melvin Rogers, Lloyd Webber, Neil Champion, Ian Mancey, Jamie Musselwhite, Wes O'Conner, Substitutes: Dan Wakefield (70th), Tom Vavreka (60th), Mark Gamble (46) and David Hook.