Harlequins No Joke For Purps

​This Sunday BotP headed south for on e of the few remaining Southern Region games being played on grass. The weather had beaten the majority of games again but, after a venue switch, Bemerton Heath Harlequins v AFC Stoneham was still on. This had been top of my list all week, so I was very pleased that the game had survived, even if I didn't get to visit Shrewton, the original location. The switch to the Barry Jackman Sport Pavilion meant that, although this was a home game for Bemmy, the ground was actually closer to Stoneham.
This was going to be the first league meeting between third-placed fourth placed Stoneham, although they had already met earlier in the FA Cup. In the league, Harlequins had that one place advantage and were a point ahead of their visitors. However, Stoneham came into the game with three games in hand. They also had the psychological advantage of that 3-1 FA Cup win. On that day Lucy Bicknell scored twice and Chloe Marshall once for the Purps. Amy Sanger scored for Harlequins.
Stoneham were also in the better form recently, despite being a place lower. They had won their last three outings whereas Bemerton had won one, drawn one and lost one in their last three games.
Unfortunately, I didn't get sight of the team sheets, so one or two names are missing. I will edit whenever possible.

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Stoneham defend a Quins free-kick

This looked like a close game on paper, and it became clear early on, that it would be a close game on the pitch. Having seen Stoneham a number of times before, I knew that he were very capable of paying excellent football and, what's more, they could mix it with anyone. It soon transpired that Bemerton are very much in the same mould. A very good footballing team who are also happy to put a tackle in.
It was Harlequins who were first to show when Charlotte Eastman tried her luck from way out in the fifth minute. A decent effort but not enough to trouble Emma Stait. A few minutes later Eastman fired a free-kick just over, as the home side looked to establish an early lead.
Stoneham then engineered a chance of their own when Abbie Awdas sent Mis Flood racing clear. However, the home defence responded sharply to force Flood wide and eventually into a shot that went over the var. Minutes later Stoneham broke again sending 21 through on goal. However, Daisy Burnfield made a very good block before Chloe Marshall sent the loose ball just over. Bemerton responded again through Eastman, but once again her effort was narrowly off target.
Just before the half hour mark Stoneham did have the ball in the net after Burnfield had once again raced off her line to make a good stop. When the loose ball was turned in past a player on the line a Stoneham player had strayed beyond the stranded keeper and into an offside position.
Chloe Marshall then had two chanced inside a couple of minutes. The first, a speculative effort from way out on the right, was dealt with comfortably by Burnfield. The second was gifted to her when Burnfield inadvertently gave her the ball on the edge of the box. her strike beat the keeper but, unfortunately for Stoneham, came back off the foot of the post. Almost immediately Stait made  similar gift at the other end, giving Leanne Harvey a sight of goal, only for the ball to be sent back into the body of the grateful keeper.
With the game rapidly heading towards the half-time whistle, Stoneham almost took the lead following a left-wing corner that caused carnage inside the home 6-yard box. Somehow the ball was scrambled clear when it looked odds on to be forced home and, as it happened, the referee blew for a foul anyway.

HT Bemerton Heath Harlequins 0 AFC Stoneham 0. A hotly contested half of football. No quarter given on either side. Both teams had chances to go in front, neither managed to take their opportunities. A great watch from a neutral perspective.

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A corner from the left finally broke Stoneham

Within two minutes of the second half starting, Bemerton launched an attack down their left and, when the ball was delivered dangerously across the face of goal, Tiegan Stevens came close to lashing the ball past her own keeper when trying to clear. The response from Stoneham was to attack up their right flank. Mia Flood burst clear of her marker and then saw her miscued attempt at a cross beat Burnfield before crashing back off the bar. A few minutes later Burnfield was tested again, this time having to make a sharp stop from Chloe Marshall's stinging drive.
Bemerton's Leanne Harvey was next to go close, using her pace to break down the left and sending a shot, from a tight angle, into the side-netting.
There was no let-up in the intensity of the game. Tackles were still flying in and one or two battles were beginning to get a little more heated as the game wore on. There were times when this match had more the feel of an Auld Firm derby. Credit to the players on both sides though. There was no play-acting or histrionics, just solid tackles. The match-up of Chloe Marshall and Harlequins captain Caitlin Lower was particularly interesting until Lower was moved onto the opposite flank following a substitution.
Stoneham's 21 tested Burnfield again but, once more, the home keeper was up to the challenge. Burnfield had already made a series of good saves in this game but she saved the best for the 80 the minute, flying off her line to make a brilliant and very brave one-handed block at close range from 21.
Leanne Harvey's pace then generated another half-chance for the winger, but she couldn't find the finish and, with time beginning to run out, it looked like we were heading for a goalless draw, especially when Quins number 7 put a good chance over the bar after being fed by Imogen Brady.
Into added time and, in the third minute, Bemerton won a corner on the left. The ball was delivered into the 6-yard box by Caitlin Lower, causing chaos, much like the Stoneham chance in the final few minutes of the first-half. However, this time the outcome was different as substitute Rachel Adkin poked the ball over the line. 1-0. There was barely time to restart the game before the referee brought proceedings to an end.

FT Bemerton Heath Harlequins 1 AFC Stoneham 0. What and ending to a superb game of football. As a neutral, I had to feel the Stoneham pain. In a tight game, they had generated more chances than their opponents, but came up against an inspired goalkeeping performance from Daisy Burnfield. There was certainly no lack of effort or commitment from either team.
The result sees Harlequins move up to second, following Wimborne's defeat to Havant & Waterlooville, who leapfrog Stoneham into fourth spot. Coming up next weekend. Harlequins are at home again as AFC Varsity come to visit. The reverse fixture ended in a 0-0 back in October. Meanwhile, Stoneham entertain Bursledon at Stoneham Lane. The first meeting between the teams this season.

Bemerton Heath Harlequins: Brown, Burnfield, Clarke, Frier, Harvey, Keating, Kidd, Lang, Lower(c), Brady, Eastman. Subs: Adkin, Cummings, Hayward, Sanger

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The Barry Jackman Sports Ground

The Ground
This game was moved from the original location (Shrewton United's ground) to the Barry Jackman Sport Pavilion, a community hub situated in Whitchurch, Hampshire. The facility is directly behind Whitchurch United's ground, but is accessed via a road that runs through a new housing development. There's a moderately sized car park with additional parking on the service road leading into the ground. The pavilion itself is next to the car park and has four changing rooms as well as two officials changing rooms. The pitches themselves, of which there are three, are a short walk away up a small slope. These are community facilities open to the public, so there's no spectator cover or dugouts, although there are several benches around the site. The pitch that this game was played on looked to be in good condition, flat and well drained considering the amount of rain we've had recently.

Ground Number: 477
Att: 
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A