Midweek Wessex League football: Wins for Bashley and Blackfield & Langley, while Hythe & Dibden, Christchurch and Ringwood lose
FIVE local sides completed midweek fixtures, with Blackfield & Langley defeating Christchurch and Bashley sealing a late win over Portland United in the Wessex League Premier.
On the other side of the coin, Hythe & Dibden’s shocking run stretched to 14 defeats in a row with a 6-0 loss to Moneyfields, while Ringwood Town exited the Russell Cotes Cup after Stoneham fired four unanswered goals.
In the local derby against Blackfield & Langley, Christchurch put in an improved performance after Graham Kemp took temporary charge after previously managing the club for six seasons. However, after taking a 1-1 scoreline into the break, Blackfield pulled away with four second-half strikes.
Lymington Town’s on-loan midfielder Sam Shearer put Christchurch into the lead with a tidy finish in the 21st minute.
Blackfield then renewed their siege as Christchurch defended resolutely. Finally, however, after 38 minutes, Harvey-Joe Bertrand pulled the Watersiders level.
The parity remained until six minutes after the break when Sami Makhloufi converted from 12 yards after George Redford awarded a penalty.
The hosts’ resistance collapsed somewhat, and further goals from Wayne Robinson and a Dom Panesar-Dower brace gave the Watersiders a deserved win against a spirited Christchurch.
Bashley won a hard-fought home match against Portland United after battling back from an early strike to score a late-winner and clinch their third straight win.
Ryan McKechnie gave the visitors the lead after 24 minutes as Bashley struggled to find their typical rhythm. However, on the stroke of half-time, River Smith, who recently joined the club from Christchurch, equalised with a deserved goal.
Lewis Aimson appeared to have scored the winner with a spectacular effort. However, the referee ruled it out for offside, much to the dismay of the majority of the 147 in attendance.
With just six minutes left, player-of-the-match Aimson headed in from a corner to ensure Bashley picked up all three points and continued their good run of form.
It was a miserable night for Hythe & Dibden as they hosted an inspired Moneyfields who capitalised on every opportunity to win 6-0.
After an even opening, Hythe undid all their good work when James Franklyn seized a defender’s poor pass to round Joe Hunt before tapping into an empty net.
A well-worked corner then allowed Robert Evans to add his name to the scoresheet before Franklyn intercepted a pass out from the keeper and dispatching his effort into the far corner.
Hythe played well after the break, but midway through the half, Josh Bailey scored, seconds after coming on before quickly adding another to make it 5-0.
To add insult to injury, Franklyn scored his third goal after magical play from Jordan Pile, who picked up the ball 25 yards into his half before pirouetting past two players and playing a defence-splitting pass to the hat-trick man.
Ringwood Town knew they had a challenge on their hands in the Russell Cotes Cup against Stoneham, who sit seventh in the league above, and so it proved with the visitors running out four-goal winners.
Stoneham dominated the early exchanges, and only a mixture of fine saves from Sam Reilly and poor finishing maintained the deadlock until the break.
Richard Morse’s men kept their shape well and managed to stay in the game until the hour mark when two quickfire goals from Issac Evans and Jake Thomson left the hosts with a lot to do.
Far from crumbling, Ringwood stuck to their tasks until 80th and 90th-minute strikes from Scott Hills and Cian Cleary gifted Stoneham with a flattering scoreline.
