PIDDLEHINTON RES 4

VERWOOD ALL STAR DEV 1

PIDDLEHINTON Reserves claimed outright leadership of Dorset Division Four with a convincing 4-1 victory against fellow high-fliers Verwood All Star Development.

During the warm up, there were serious doubts on whether the game would go ahead due to the treacherous conditions, but after a thorough inspection, the referee deemed the pitch playable.

Piddlehinton started strongly, utilising the damp surface to move the ball around with pace and conviction. Both full-backs were attacking down the channels regularly, with Will Herron proving to be a real handful for his opposite number.

On 10 minutes, the first real chance of the game fell to Liam Gosney, who cleverly turned his man in midfield to create space for the shot.

The finish unfortunately was not so clever, with the shot resulting in a Verwood throw-in.

Throughout this season Piddlehinton have frequently threatened from set pieces, and this was to be the source of the breakthrough goal.

Midfield maestro George Wilson showed great innovation to originally win the corner, which he then took himself to deliver a curling ball towards the back post.

The quality of the delivery left the Verwood defender on the post with no option but to turn the ball into his own net.

In the second half, Verwood came out fighting and instantly got themselves level, as a well-directed through ball found its way to Akanni Yussef, who set up a tap-in for his strike partner Alex Ogle.

The following stages of the match continued to see Piddlehinton on the back foot, as a bombardment of long balls and crosses were delivered into the box by Verwood in their quest for a second.

Matt Baker, who was playing in the heart of the Piddle defence replacing suspended skipper Lewis Gray, had other ideas however, dealing with everything that was thrown at him with class and composure, duly earning the man-of-the-match award.

With 10 minutes to go Adam Wash, on his return from a career-threatening injury, rolled back the years with an audacious pass to Josh Pashon, who made no mistake in rounding the keeper to give Piddle the lead.

In the final stages, some quick counter-attacking play from the away side secured the win, with talisman Adam Barrett scoring a quick-fire brace, bringing up his 19th and 20th goals for the season in all competitions.

At the halfway point in season, Piddlehinton reserves find themselves top of division four, three points ahead of closest rivals Verwood with a further three games in hand.

n Piddlehinton would like to thank Hearn Roofing for their ongoing support.