Match report: Lymington Town FC suffer 6-1 Wessex League Premier Division beating at the hands of prmotion-chasing Hamworthy United FC
After a mid-season surge, Lymington Town have endured a brutal run since the turn of the year, made worse by a comprehensive 6-1 beating at the hands of Hamworthy United on Saturday.
After a slow start, Lymington rocketed up the league. However, since the New Year, the south coast side has won only one match in the last nine games, so the last thing they needed was to visit promotion-chasing Hamworthy.
The Hammers were rampant with goals from Jack Hughes, Josh Malpas, Jack Delves, George Deem and a double from Josh Taylor before Alex Morris grabbed a late consolation strike.
“A very frustrating day at the office”, said Lymington Town manager Ash Buckland. “When we look back and reflect, we made four mistakes, and at this level, against a team of Hamworthy’s quality, you will get punished and credit to them.
“We played some good football in stages, even though the scoreline doesn’t reflect that. We just need to cut out the mistakes and be more clinical, and more consistent for longer periods in the game.
“Now, we have to dust ourselves off, regroup, and give everything to turn performances around and pick up points in our final seven games as we push towards the end of the season.”
Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, Lymington started the match well. After a decent move, Morris’s shot flew just wide before Callum Taylor’s effort from just out of the box was saved well by Hammers’ keeper, Will Butler.
The opening goal came after an unfortunate deflection in the area fell to Hughes, who fired past keeper Nico Trojanowski from close range with 22 minutes played.
second quickly followed, with Malpas rounding off a brilliant team goal that culminated in a delightful one-two and a simple tap-in after a cut-back.
Lymington almost pulled the game back to 2-1 when a looping shot that had Butler well-beaten crashed off the top of the crossbar went behind, but an unmarked Taylor made it 3-0 just before the break.
Any slim hopes of a comeback were dashed within a minute of the report. A delightful ball into Taylor allowed the striker to sweep home the fourth with his weaker left foot before substitute Jack Delves scored the best of the bunch, slotting home a free-kick from 35 yards that took everyone by surprise as his strike flew past Trojanowski.
Former New Milton Town player George Deem wrapped up the scoring for the Hammers after drifting inside to finish low back across the keeper.
Despite being six goals down, Lymington stuck to their task. First, fashioning a good opportunity that deserved a better final shot before Butler produced a brilliant save to deny a 74th-minute header that looked destined for the back of the net.
Finally, with the match already in added time, a rash challenge inside the area from Tom Lanham left the referee with no option but to point at the spot. Lymington’s Morris stood up and ensured Butler would not walk away with a clean sheet, converting from 12 yards.
Lymington’s next match, away against Romsey Town on Saturday, should be a thrilling contest, with the travelling side able to move level on points with their hosts.
Lymington Town: N. Trojanowski, J. Higdon, N. Bullen, J. Defries, S. Barron, A. Morris, W. Johnson, B. Morris, C. Taylor, A. Christie, C. Lopez. Subs: C. Zikmund, A. Roberts, T. Butt, E. Duell-Merritt, R. Sesay.
