Hit for Six! Div6: Chawton Athletic 6 Plough & Horses Res. 0.

Chawton Athletic were back in action this week, after a fortnight gap, taking on Plough & Horses Reserves.  The previous encounter between the two sides finished 5-3 in Athletic's favour, despite the disadvantage of not having a ref!

In the absence of manager Carl Waterfield, selection fell to captain Marc Taylor-Penfold.  Picking Skilton as the no1, behind a defence of Russell, Stevens, D.Nicholson, Taylor-Penfold.  Furey, Harvey, P.Nicholson, Vickers lined-up in midfield with Hodkin and Booth upfront.

After a hefty pitch inspection by referee Mike Gardner, the game got underway at the delayed time of 10.45... one of only six in the league to do so!

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A few minutes in and Athletic had a problem.  Right back James Russell departing play after pulling up with an injury.  Karl Teague coming on in a straight swap.  Not the start the Yellows had in mind.

Some crafty footwork soon followed from Paul Nicholson, and a testing shot by Ben Hodkin
forced a corner.  Nicholson's delivery was spot on and was headed in to the net by Andy Vickers for 1-0.

The Plough strikers were only on few occasions managing to find space behind the home side's back line.  The result was a couple of corners which didn't cause panic to Martin Skilton's goal.

Chawton were playing with confidence, putting together some good passing moves but at times were making it hard for themselves.  Another good run from Paul Nicholson created pace for Martin Booth who fed the ball to Ryan Furey, but the resulting effort was saved by the Plough keeper.

Half time came with the score still at 1-0 and the Binsted Rec side wondering if their profligacy would come back to haunt them.

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Athletic started the opening ten minutes of the second half more alert, playing with more freedom.  The away side were being overcome by the thawing pitch and the Yellows took full advantage.

The ball fell to James Harvey just outside the edge of the box.  He beat the Plough centre back and hitting a good left footed shot past the keeper; it seemed to trickle across the line to make it 2-0 and give Harvey his first goal for the club.

More good play and another goal followed as Booth's cross reached Hodkin.  His initial shot was parried by the Plough no.1 back into his path and he who buried it with his left.

It was soon four, as Hodkin passed the Plough defender and took a shot which was again blocked.  This time it landed at the feet of Furey for a tap in.  It could even have been five soon after but Vickers failed to score in an open net.

The game then took an aggressive turn as substitute Karl Teague's ball winning tackle on Plough's no.7 was seen as anything but fair by some Blues players.  This resulted in the away teams no.20, who didn't really need to be there, seeing red for retaliating and pushing Teague, who was also reprimanded by the ref for his initial challenge.

Hodkin was the provider again, playing the ball through to Booth who rounded the Plough keeper and scored with his right foot to make it 5-0.

Chawton made the last two of their allowed changes late on, with Furey off for Nathan Teague, and Ollie Williams on for Karl Teague, making way as a precaution to keep the 16 year old from being sent off or maimed by the opposition.

The final nail in Plough's coffin was soon hammered in, more good passing between Paul Nicholson and Hodkin on the left side, the ball being threaded through to Booth.  He turned, knocked the ball past the centre back and slotted it in off the far post.

Athletic tightened their defence for the last few minutes, with a shut out in sight.  Skilton kept command of his area with some positive saves while David Nicholson got stuck in, resulting in a telling off from the referee for bringing down the Plough no.10 near the half way line.  He was further reprimanded a couple of tackles on the edge of the box on no.15.

The referee finally blew the full time whistle, with the hosts running out 6-0 winners.

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This record-breaking win represented Chawton's first clean sheet of the season and their biggest ever victory!

Ben Hodkin gave a spirited display which ended with him getting two assists and a goal.  A late two goal salvo from Martin Booth carried on his recent good goalscoring form.  Man of the match, however, went to Paul Nicholson for a great attacking performance and a hand in four of the Chawton goals.

Lindford Match is Off.

Following today's pitch inspection, tomorrow's match at home to Lindford has been called off due to the inevitable frozen pitch.  The groundsman (well, Marc T-P) took one look at it and decided that there was no way the pitch would recover in time!

Hopefully the ground will warm up in time for next weekend's home match, but the forecast is for more freezing weather this coming week.  Updates will be put here as they emerge!

Reportage Has Begun, Ahead of Snowy Weekend.

Chawton Athletic now have further media coverage, with confirmation that match reports are now featuring in a number of local newspapers.

Confirmed so far are the Farnham Herald and the Alton Post Gazette.  The Herald will feature short match reports, but the Post Gazette this week featured the full report from Chawton's defeat at Rushmoor Celtic.  Neither has appeared on the publications' websites as of yet.

Hopefully, if the game goes ahead, the side can give the newspapers something positive to report!  Currently the match against Lindford at the Rec looks doubtful, with the pitch doubtless covered in snow.  But secretary Marc T-P is planning to clear it tomorrow to give it a chance of thawing for Sunday's match.  Much probably also depends on whether Binsted is readily accessible, given that is not a major road!