Saturday January 25th SYDENHAMS FOOTBALL LEAGUE (WESSEX) Premier Division
COWES SPORTS 1(0) AFC STONEHAM 5(2)
played at Westwood Park Attendance – 87
Referee:- ALEX RUSH-FEAR Assistants – Aaron Tree + Ben Orton
LATE COLLAPSE AS YACHTSMEN SUFFER NINTH HOME LEAGUE DEFEAT
Cowes Sports entertained high flying AFC Stoneham in their latest League fixture confident they could get a result having only lost to a last minute goal back in September and recent away performances had been very good although results were not.
Once again changes were forced upon the Management team as Dominic Sexton(injured),Gareth Bricknell(suspended), Ewan Cranwell and Fin Phillips(back at Uni) were all unavailable for this game. In came Joe White, George Carter-Knight and Morgan Perrin whilst Ji Nash and Ben Snow joined Tom Dye on the bench.
Team:-
Edward Hatt, Conor White, Mitchell Ricketts, Aidan Bryan, Joseph White, Ashley Brett(c), Morgan Perrin, George Carter-Knight, Jared Wetherick, James Wykes, Michael McEnery
Subs:- Ji Nash, Ben Snow, Tom Dye
With the visitors in second place in the table this game was never going to be easy and so it proved. it was Stoneham who started brightly seeing a lot of the ball in the early stages without troubling Ed Hatt in the Cowes goal. However it was the home side that had the first effort at goal when a free kick into the box was only headed out to the edge of the box where Jared Wetherick volleyed the ball straight at Tom Parker-Trott in the visitors goal. Shortly after Stoneham created their first chance when Callum Laycock failed to control a ball into the box, the loose ball was pounced upon by Nathan Clements whose shot was deflected over the bar for a corner, from which Matt Bainbridge headed over the bar. Just before the half hour mark and Cowes skipper Ashley Brett was booked for a foul committed near the half way line. Thirty three minutes in and the inevitable, Stoneham take the lead when SCOTT HILLS rode his luck as he raced into the Cowes area before firing across the goal into the right corner of the Cowes net. Five minutes later and they doubled their advantage when Scott Hills squared the ball to EDU JIMENEZ, his first effort was superbly kept out by Cowes stopper Ed Hatt, but the rebound hit the Stoneham player and went in. Cowes responded and Michael McEnery saw his shot pushed over the bar by the visiting keeper before Jared Wetherick became the second Cowes player to be booked, again near the half way line. So at half time Stoneham were two goals to the good with the Yachtsmen creating little.
An early second half shot from Nathan Clements ended up in the gardens behind Ed Hatt’s goal before Matt Palmer headed the ball goalwards only to see Jared Wetherick clear the ball off the line. Tom Dye then replaced Morgan Perrin. On the hour Cowes were given a lifeline when James Wykes ran into the right corner of their box only to be pushed over by Matt Palmer, result , penalty to Cowes which MICHAEL MCENERY duly dispatched into the Stoneham goal and give the home crowd something to cheer about. Ji Nash replaced Mitch Ricketts but it was Stoneham that nearly added a third goal on 69 minutes when Alex Welch beat Ed Hatt but his shot hit the post. Skipper Ashley Brett then was gifted the opportunity to level the scores when he latched onto a short back pass with only the keeper to beat, but instead of taking the ball around the keeper, he tried to tuck it under him, the keeper managed to block and keep his side ahead which was to prove vital. Stoneham’s Matt Palmer was then sin binned for having too much to say, but it did not affect his side as they broke twice in five minutes with SCOTT HILLS and substitute MARCEL LAPTAS both netted to secure the three points. Worse to come for the home side as two minutes from time ALEX WELCH added a fifth goal for the visitors to complete the scoring and another miserable home display for the Yachtsmen, their ninth home defeat in eleven home league games so far this season.