CHRISTCHURCH V POOLE TOWN

SYDENHAMS WESSEX PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH RESULT: 4 - 4

GOAL SCORERS: ADAM COSTELLO, PAUL RIDEOUT (2), TOM JEFFES

1. STEWART KEARN
2. ADAM COSTELLO
3. DAN TAYLOR
4. COLIN DAND
5. BEN LUCAS
6. MARTIN HARRIS
7. MARK SMITH
8. SCOTT SANDERSON
9. BEN OSBORNE
10. TOM JEFFES
11. PAUL RIDEOUT

SUBS USED:

JAMES BURDEN
BEN DICKENSON
DAVID LEGG


Under normal circumstances I would restrict my comments to purely the match report but in this case I feel I must start by passing comment on the totally bias report on the Poole own website Tatnum Talk Unofficial Report which states NOTHING MUCH HAPPENED IN THE FIRST 15 MINUTES!!. Well if you cannot mention the most significant point of the whole 90 minutes in that after 4 minutes the home keeper Stewart Kearn was the victim of a blatant foul resulting in him being a hobbling passenger for the rest of the half and eventually being replaced in goal for the second half by central defender Colin Dand then I doubt if the person providing the report was even at Hurn Bridge (a proper football ground) or perhaps they were blinded by the sun!!

The home side came close to opening the scoring on 2 minutes when Scott Sanderson hit the bar with the Poole keeper beaten and then as previously mentioned there was a long delay when Kearn was given treatment which restricted his mobility for the rest of the half. Kearn even being injured made a superb save on 13 minutes but was beaten in the next minute when a cross from the right was deflected into the net but maybe a fully fit keeper would have saved it. Matters got worse for Church on 24 minutes when a poor clearance led to the ball being returned into the penalty area where a foul was committed resulting in a penalty which was easily converted.

There were thoughts then of a similar score to that of the cup game but Church are made of stern stuff and on 28 minutes Adam Costello scored his first league goal for the club with a header from a Mark Smith corner. For the remainder of the half Poole on a number of occasions came close to increasing their lead being denied by bad luck and a crippled goal keeper.

At the start of the second half central defender Colin Dand replaced Kearn in goal and in addition goal scorer Costello was injured and two substitutes James Burden and David Legg were brought into the fray. It came as some surprise in the circumstances when Church equalised after 52 minutes when a Burden cross was not cleared and Paul Rideout finished emphatically from 15 yards. It came as an even greater surprise when the home side took the lead 10 minutes later when a fierce shot was in the referees opinion handled in the penalty area resulting in both a penalty and a sending off. Paul Rideout netted from the spot making it 35 successful kicks out of 35. The lead did not last long as within 5 minutes the scores were level when a high ball into the box was not cleared (Poole put a lot of high balls into the box and I would hope this was to test the substitute keeper as they did not pass the ball a lot!) and a shot from 12 yards ended up in the net. Matters got worse for Church in the next minute when James Burden rashly got 2 bookings inside a minute resulting in both teams being reduced to 10 men. It looked as if the game had been decided in Poole’s favour on 85 minutes when a speculative long shot was missed by Dand which was his only mistake and resulted in the visitors taking the lead. However straight from the kick off Tom Jeffes equalised from an acute angle asking the question who had an outfield player in goal. The remainder of the game was end to end with probably the best chance falling to Poole but somehow Mark Smith cleared off the line.

A valuable point for Church in their attempt to move up the table, with the Totton game on Thursday now very important. Well done to Poole for being champions and I think I speak for a lot of clubs in the league when I say that it’s a shame they are not being promoted as they would not be missed one bit!!

Man of the Match: Ben Lucas