2 goals by Danny King, 1 in each half, guaranteed Winchester the points in a match that went only part of the way towards wiping out the memory of the last disasterous match against United Services. (there's no match report for that 4 - 2 defeat - luckily we were in Scotland and no one else could think of anything good to write!)
Anyway back to today's gme...
If Winchester needed any additional incentive today was the last game in charge for Les (who is having to step down due to pressure of work). After many successful years managing Eastleigh Rangers and working with many of the current Winchester squad it wasn't surprising that most of the starting line up were Eastleigh old boys but it was important to everyone (old and new) that Les could go out on a Win.
Winchester, playing into a strong wind in the first half, failed to dominate an average Colden Common team. Oli and Connor looked strong at the back and were rarely troubled but despite some hard work in midfield and strong running by Jack upfront Winchester just couldn't find the compsure to bring the ball down and play football and it was to take something special to break the deadlock. Good link play between John and Danny down the left created the space that Danny needed to beat the full back and crack an unstopale shot into the top corner to make it 1 - 0.
Despite taking the lead Winchester managed to continue to miss a number of easy chances to extend their lead and the Colden Common keeper pulled off 2 spectacular saves from long range shots by Connor and Gareth so at half time the score remained 1 - 0.
The second half started as the first finished - scrappy and fiesty and things got worse when Ben's pass found Danny and he bustled his way through to make it 2 - 0. It sparked a tirade of abuse that resulted in the Colden Common keeper being sent to the dresing room and their central defender going in the book. Within a minute Winchester had the ball in the net again when Jack netted from a cross from Mike but this time it was Winchester feeling abused when it was ruled offside!
With Colden Common down to 10 men Winchester would never have a better opportunity to take control, but substitutions, Peter for Billy and Josh for Jack, failed to change the shape of the team or the game. As the game continued, temperatures continued to rise and more players went in the book. It took the introduction of Zak for Ashley (a midfielder for a back) to insert a little life into the final minutes but Colden Common continued to fight hard and the final score stayed 2 - 0.
City: Chris Brewer, Ashley Elliott (Zaccarius 75), Connor McCarthy, Oli Vines, John Krentz, Billy Cooper (Peter Walker 60), Gareth Snelling, Ben Rowlett, Danny King, Mike Glanville, Jack Norman (Josh Fernandez 65). Unused subs - Laim Richardson,Tyler Wyeth.
