Div6: Chawton Athletic 1 Dynamo Cove Reserves 8.

Chawton suffered their heaviest defeat of the season, on the heaviest pitch of the season, the Sunday before last.

 

The game started brightly for the home side who controlled the opening quarter of an hour.  Martin Booth opened the scoring with a tap-in from Ryan Furey's shot across goal.  Ben Hodkin almost caught the keeper napping but failed to capitalise on an open goal.

 

From then on in, it was Dynamo Cove Reserves firmly in control as their long-ball game came to fruition time and again.  The Yellows failed to hold the ball when attacking, putting pressure on a defence that didn't deal with the constant long balls over their heads, on such a heavy pitch.

 

The second half saw Athletic struggle to get out of their own half.  A spectacular back-heeled clearance off the line from player-manager Carl Waterfield thwarted one attack, and some good saves from the debutant Jamie Oakley in goal prevented the scoreline being worse for Athletic.

There was no man-of-the-match awarded.  There must be improvements before the next game on Sunday!

Match Off on Sunday.

Sunday's match at Waterloo has been postponed.  The next match is the following week's home fixture against recently improved TNCP.

Div6: Lindford 5 Chawton Athletic 2.

Chawton Athletic took on Lindford for the second game in a row with a trip to Broxhead Common but failed to return with any of the points, as they met a distinctly different side from the game before.

The pre-match preparation was disrupted following late injuries to keeper Skilts and defender David Nicholson.  Due to an admin error, new signing Jamie Oakley was not available to play, so outfield player Ryan Furey took the gloves.

The first half performance from the Yellows was unrecognisable as gaps appeared all over the pitch and let the home side move into an easy 3-0 lead early on.  Chawton's chances were limited to breaks and the home glovesman keep the Athletic strike force of Martin Booth and Ben Hodkin under control.

The game began to get a little too competitive at time, with a number of players lucky not to see a card.  Lindford were guilty were guilty of some rash tackles, including a scything down of Paul Nicholson as he juggled the ball on his HEAD, and some pushing that was unseen by the referee.  That said, Chawton were also getting stuck in and Nicholson himself was talked to by the ref.

Half time gave the team time to compose themselves and start afresh, but this was turned upside down when Lindford added a fourth within five minutes of the restart.

A managerial shuffle of the pack saw Jake Channon pushed further forward and another reshuffling of the defence due to another injury, with player-manager Carl Waterfield replacing the hamstrung James Russel at right back.  It did have the desired effect though, and Chawton gradually came into the game with Channon proving a real handful.  Channon got his reward by chipping the keeper to pull a goal back with half an hour to play.  Ollie Williams then cleared a ball off the Chawton line with the stand-in goalkeeper beaten.

Paul Nicholson then brought the Yellows back into the match with a screamer of a goal that left the keeper with no chance.  His constant marauding of the midfield helped the away side keep the ball a little more.

But it was Lindford who ended the match on a high by knocking in a fifth to seal the win and exact some measure of revenge for the previous reverse at Binsted Rec.  The match ended 2-5.

The first half performance was not a good one and there needs to be a significant improvement in the next match.  A lack of teamwork was the cause of most of the goals and something that can easily be resolved with hard work.  A better second half meant there were a few positives to take out of the match.  Jake Channon again proved he can play anywhere on the pitch with a good performance at the back and on both wings and was fully deserving of his goal.  This week's players' man of the match was Paul Nicholson for his continuous running and commitment to the tackle.  As well as that thunderbolt of a goal!  Amazing, considering he was battered by a rogue van earlier in the week!

Transfer Window Went Crazy... Even for Chawton!

Chawton Athletic joined in the transfer window fun by breaking their own transfer record.

Chawton's new transfer record?!

Just as Chelsea and Liverpool were making tsunami-size waves in the Premiership, Athletic paid a fee for a player for the first time ever.  The fee is undisclosed, as is the nature of transfers these days, and saw Castle City striker Justin Swales join the side with the transfer just beating the deadline.

And it wasn't the only foray into the player "market", as no less than three other players joined the Club in January.  Will Rietzler and Pete Goodall joined a few weeks back and have both already made their full debuts.  Jamie Oakley also signed on deadline day, on a free, and is initially seen as an understudy to current glovesman Skilts but who is also expected to have a big future at the Club.

The total amount spent on transfers by the Yellows in the last month outweighs that of Premiership high flyers Arsenal.