CHRISTCHURCH V BRADING TOWN

SYDENHAMS WESSEX PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH RESULT: 2 - 2

GOAL SCORERS: TOM PRICE, MARK SMITH

1. STEWART KEARN
2. ADAM COSTELLO
3. DAN TAYLOR
4. DAN CRUTCHLEY
5. STEVE LINPOW
6. MARTIN HARRIS
7. MARK SMITH
8. MARC FAIRBROTHER
9. BEN OSBORNE
10. TOM PRICE
11. JAMES BURDEN

SUBS USED:

PAUL RIDEOUT
STEVE GREEN

It was a day when the many faces of Christchurch FC were on show as after a poor show in the first 45 minutes when they were lucky to be level to a 20 minute spell in the second half when they dominated and scored 2 excellent goals to a final 15 minutes when the visitors took over and very nearly took 3 points back to the Island.

The visitors started confidentially passing the ball well in midfield and came close to opening the scoring on both 8 and 15 minutes when shots from just outside the penalty area cleared the home crossbar. The home side were grateful that custodian Stewart Kearn was in good form as his handling throughout the game was superb and the only time Church threatened in the first half was on 35 minutes when a Mark Smith corner was met by Tom Price, who looked lively for the whole game, whose shot hit the post.

The second half nearly had a disastrous start for the home side when a short back pass from Martin Harris was intercepted and only a last ditch tackle from Adam Costello saved a certain goal. This seemed to wake Church up and on 51 minutes a long pass out of defence by Steve Linpow to Tom Price on the left wing set the young striker off on a dazzling run beating 3 or 4 defenders and finishing superbly from an acute angle. This set the tone for the next 20 minutes with Mark Smith dominating the midfield and it was Smith who increased the lead on 58 minutes when after neat inter play with Ben Osborne his left foot shot from 8 yards took a slight deflection and ended up in the net. At this point it really did look as if it was how many goals Church would end up scoring but this all changed on 75 minutes when the home side failed to clear a corner and a shot from 15 yards reduced the lead. Brading then took control of the game attacking in numbers and levelled on 84 minutes with an unfortunate own goal and it was then a case of Church hanging on for a point as the visitors forced a number of corners going for all 3 points.

Whilst Church will have been disappointed not to have won the game the visitors will also feel the same as over the 90 minutes they did have the majority of the play and overall a draw was perhaps a fair result.

Donners