Chawton Athletic changed the side round a little after last weeks 3-5 defeat to Rushmoor Celtic in Aldershot and District Sunday Football League Division 6.
Martin Skilton remained in goal, Karl Teague, Marc Taylor-Penfold and Matt "Wonka" Stevens and debutant David Nicholson in defence. Paul Nicholson, captain Martin Booth, Nathan Ingram and Andy Vickers across the midfield. Ben Hodkin and Nathan Teague in attack.
Substitutes were Olly Williams, Jake Channon and Si Horner, back in the squad for his first game of the 2010/11 season.
A very impressive start by Chawton as they attacked from the off with some good passing all over the pitch which kept Black Horse on their toes for the opening exchanges.
The first fifteen minutes of pressure was rewarded when Ingram won a free kick twenty yards from goal which he himself took the responsibility of taking. A well struck shot to the right of the Black Horse goal was only parried by the keeper into the path of Hodkin, who tapped in over the goalies legs to make it 1-0 to Chawton.
Paul Nicholson's fancy footwork on the left wing and the aerial ability of Booth and Ingram in the middle eventually led to Chawton leading 2-0, when a treaded pass got to the feet of Hodkin, who hit the back of the net with a well struck left footed shot that was just out of reach of the Black Horse keeper's full stretched arm.
The Yellows were playing with real class now, hardly giving the opposition any chances on the ball. On the rare occasions Black Horse managed to build an attack, they were quickly quelled by the strong and tight backline and Skilton in goal.
Chawton nearly went three up when Ingram picked up the ball in the final third, moved round two opposition defenders, before hitting an excellent shot across goal which rattled the far post.
That ended the half, with Chawton leading 2-0 at half time.
The Black Horse manager clearly gave his team a proper grilling at half time, as the away team came out a different team; more confident as quickly established themselves in the opening ten minutes of the second half. But Chawton were up for it too and held strong.
Then, as has happened in the previous two matches, Athletic suffered from poor play. The home side seemed to switch off... Black Horse bombarded the home team with long throws and some skilful attack and won a corner. The delivery in was poor by Black Horse's Michael Mason, but it still found the back of the net when it should have been cleared by Karl Teague on the front post, perhaps showing some inexperience. This left Skilton with no chance as the ball hit his hand and into the goal, 2-1.
Nathan Teague picked up a slight knock which made way for substitute Si Horner to come on for his first appearance of the season, with Booth moving in the vacated position upfront and Horner slipping into his usual place in central midfield.
Chawton were under pressure now from the away team but with some last ditch tackles from Taylor-Penfold and Stevens in the heart of defence saving them on occasion. One tackle gave Black Horse another corner, with a better delivery this time from the their winger, but it was another very slackly defended set piece as the Chawton defence allowed the opposition space by not tracking their runs and gifted Black Horse's Mark Buddery an easy tap-in to make it 2-2.
Another substitute, a straight swap at left back as Olly Williams came on in place of Karl Teague, who had a very good game up to his error. It seemed to have rocked the 16-year-old's confidence and started the Black Horse come back.
Chawton fought hard to get the lead back with Hodkin, Vickers and even defender Stevens going close but to no avail. In the last ten minutes player/manager Taylor-Penfold was lucky to remain on the pitch after electing to give Black Horse's Alix Kirk a loving kick, as he was on his way to goal but luckily the referee kept his cards in his pocket on this occasion. It was a sign that there was clear frustration creeping in to the whole team at losing their hard earned lead.
The manager made his final substitution, moving Booth again - this time to right back - for the departing Nicholson, who was feeling the effects of the game (plus the birthday boy's massive drinking session on Friday night) with five minutes remaining. Jake Channon took to the field upfront to use his pace in search of a much deserved winning goal. But, alas, it did not come.
The match ended 2-2.
Man of the Match was Ben Hodkin, with a tireless display by the striker, bagging two goals in the process.
Chawton can take a lot of positives out of this, such as some great passing moves throughout the game and very committed performances from all. The club just needs to work on that spell of lack of concentration before we take on Imperial 2010 Reserves next Sunday.
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