Bemerton Heath Harlequins v Christchurch


Although players such as Adam Costello, Russell Cooke, Steve Linpow and Rory Anderson were all injured manager Graham Kemp still had a strong squad from which to select the following line up:

1 Jason Collins
2 Colin Dand
3 Chris Dillon
4 Dan Crutchley
5 Ross Wallis
6 Lloyd Jenvey (capt)
7 Andy Borthwick
8 Martin Lawrence
9 Zach Glasspool
10 Marc Burrows
11 James Burden

12 Paul Rideout
14 Dan Taylor
15 Les Wallace
16 Rudi Reis
17 Paul Manning


Eighteen year old Jason Collins replaced the injured Rory Anderson in goal and James Burden recently signed from Bashley made his debut on the left of the midfield. Brazilian newcomer Rudi Reis was on the bench.

Christchurch took a time to settle in this match and appeared to be at odds with the 3 – 5 – 2 formation that they played. Whilst the defence looked to be giving the Bemerton forwards too much room at times, when attacking Christchurch put together some exciting passing moves. And so it was when 12 minutes into the game a great move ended when Andy Borthwick fed the ball through to Zach Glasspool whose shot went just over the bar. Bemerton attacked down the left flank and a low cross deceived Jason Collins in the Christchurch goal to give the home side the early lead. The young keeper went on to make several good catches and saves during the first half. Christchurch got stronger as a unit and Glasspool hit the post with the Bemerton keeper well beaten. Martin Lawrence had a long shot well saved and then with 39 minutes gone a terrific series of passes saw Christchurch equalise. Andy Borthwick put skipper Lloyd Jenvey through in the left channel. Jenvey crossed low for Dan Crutchley to intelligently roll the ball back to James Burden who joyfully smashed home his debut goal to level the scores.

Half time: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 1 Christchurch 1

The second period started with a bang in the 2nd minute as Marc Burrows expertly lobbed the Bemerton keeper to give Christchurch the lead. For most of the half Christchurch passed the ball well and kept Bemerton under pressure. Glasspool, Burrows and Lawrence all went close to increasing Christchurch’s lead but the half ended when the ball was given away in midfield and Bemerton scored with a viscous cross shot to earn their share of the points. Christchurch were by far the better side for long periods of this game but they just couldn’t find the killer instinct to score the third goal and kill their opponents off.

Final score: Bemerton Heath Harlequins 2 Christchurch 2

The Bridgeman