Horndean 2 Alresford Town 0 Going a goal behind after only a minute of play on Bank Holiday Monday certainly wasnt what was hoped for by the visitors as they visited a team also at the foot of the table. A misplaced pass in midfield surrendered possession and Callum Laycock broke through onto the loose ball and beat Chapman easily in the visitors goal with a shot into the corner of the goal from the edge of the box. Two minutes later and a header from Findlay went wide of the post as Alresford pressed for the equaliser.Green had a shot just wide and then in the 7th minute Findlay found himself through with only the keeper to beat but his attempted lob over the keeper was too high and wide. Further efforts by Green (blocked) and Nougerede (saved by Ballard) continued to frustrate the visitors. As the half drew to a close it appeared that Alresfords current problem of not being able to finish the chances they created would be their downfall. The 2nd half continued as the first had finished with chances not being taken by the visitors and the ever increasing possibility that the home side would add to their lead. Alresfords Pascual failed to connect cleanly from 6yds and dragged his shot wide. Gilbert had a shot from 30yds turned round the post by the home keeper and Wilkinson shot wide from the edge of the box. A golden chance for the equaliser fell to Findlay in the centre of the goal and only 2yds out but he failed to force the ball over and the home defence cleared their lines.Play went straight down the other end and Chapman had to push Druce's header against the bar and Curtis cleared the rebounding ball to safety. Druce found himself in the area with only the keeper to beat a few mins later and after rounding him he managed to blast his shot against the bar and the rebound was cleared to safety. As Alresford switched to 3 in defence spaces became frequent and in the 86th min Druce finally got Horndeans second after a cross from the left was only partially saved by Chapman and he was able to find the net from 6 yds. The defeat leaves Alresford firmly entrenched on the bottom of the table and with their next game away to VT FC next Saturday(30 th) and their current inability to score goals the future looks bleak.

Team
Chapman, Curtis, Davis, Lewis, Edwards, Rogers(e), Gilbert, Nougerede, Findlay, Wilkinson, Green
Subs
Young, Pascual, Diaper, , 

Goal Scorers

Cowes Sports 1 Alresford Town 0 Alresford suffered another frustrating afternoon with their visit to Cowes on Saturday. Bank Holiday cross Solent traffic delaying their arrival necessitated a 3.15 kick off but the visitors matched the home side for the first 35 mins. Chances were even but the deadlock was broken when a through ball found Mark Augustus in what would appeared to be an offside position. The expected flag did not appear however and Augustus ran through, rounded the advancing Chapman and put the home side ahead. Despite creating numerous chances Alresford failed to convert any of them with the Home side determined to keep the three points. Chapman had to save from Augustus late in the second half during one of Cowes sporadic attacks as Alresford continued to pressurise in search of the equaliser. In the last minute of the match leading goalscorer Martin Rogers was stretchered off with a knee injury which looks likely to keep him out of action for at least two weeks - just what the visitors could have done without bearing in mind their current inability to convert the chances they are creating.

Team
Chapman, Nougerede, Davis, Lewis, Edwards, Rogers(e), Gilbert, Stillwell, Findlay, Rogers(a), Bentley
Subs
Wilkinson, Green, Bird, , 

Goal Scorers

It looks like a long, hard season of struggle for Alresford if Tuesday night’s showing at New Milton is anything to go by.

Still reeling from their FA Cup exit at Harrow Hill last Saturday, the Magpies failed to look convincing in any department at Fawcett’s Field and took a pasting at the hands of a side that few expect to be amongst the leading group.

Warren Bentley and Melvin Rogers made their Alresford SWL Premier debuts, while young goalkeeper Liam Smith stepped up in place of Dan Chapman (work commitments). But none of them will want to remember the occasion for long.

New Milton pieced together a slick move right from the start, and Callum Burt soon bundled the opener from close range after Alresford had failed to clear, giving Mark Sampays the opportunity for a pull-back.

After 25 minutes home keeper Rory Anderson was lucky to escape a red card for handling outside of his area under pressure from Stu Findlay. But at the time that didn’t seem to matter too much as Martin Rogers curled the resulting free-kick around the wall for the equaliser.

Two goals just before the break effectively decided the contest. The first was a power drive from Rob Woolner that rocketed past Smith, the second an angled cross-cum-shot from Ashley Booker that exploited the Alresford keeper’s lack of height.

In the second half New Milton really went to town. Dave Ewen nipped in to convert Lee Wood’s 56th-minute cross as a defender slipped, and Sampays gravbbed the fifth after Smith had spilt Woolner’s shot.

Midway through the second half New Milton made it six, Sampays getting a slight touch to guide Ryan Long’s shot home, and ex-Alresford striker Dean Cole made it 7-1 shortly afterwards from the edge of the box.

The final nail in Alresford’s coffin came on 84 minutes, home skipper John Grace heading home unchallenged at the far post from a free-kick.

The only consolation for Tim Cole’s side is that some improvement must be just around the corner. Things could hardly get worse!

Team
Smith, Curtis, Young, Lewis, Edwards, Rogers(e), Ahmet, Bentley, Findlay, Rogers(a), Stillwell
Subs
Pascual, Gilbert, Nougerede, Wilkinson, Davis, 

Goal Scorers
Rogers(a) 1

Alresford were cruelly denied their first point of the season by a deflected goal ten minutes from time after a stirring second-half comeback at Fareham on Tuesday night (Aug 12th).

With the wind at their backs Fareham had looked the better side in the first half. They took the lead on 9 minutes, Ryan Lock converting Wayne Boud’s cross at the far post after the Magpies defence had gone AWOL.

Alresford almost equalised when Stu Findlay’s mis-hit shot fell to Andy Jacob, but home keeper James Bosbury saved with his feet. The hosts capitalised by doubling their advantage on 34 minutes, the impressive Boud the scorer after a slick interchange of passes involving Lock and Gary Austin.

James Searle’s long-range scorcher skidded off the Alresford bar at the end of the first half, but the break saw a turnabout in the balance of play. In the second half it was Alresford, with subs Marc-Juan Pascual and James Wilkinson prominent, who dictated the pace.

The Magpies pulled it back to 2-1 on 50 minutes when Pascual completed a well-constructed move with a neat pass to Martin Rogers, who finished clinically. Wilkinson nearly made it 2-2 straight afterwards, and Findlay headed just over as the visitors pressed for the equaliser.

Alresford were rewarded midway through the second half when Rogers evaded a tackle on the bye-line and sent over a low cross for Matt Rackham to side-foot home.

After that there was plenty of good end-to-end football with both sides searching for the winner. But it was the home side who pocketed all three points when Lock’s drive took a wicked deflection, leaving Dan Chapman a helpless spectator as the ball rolled into the opposite side of the net.

Rackham almost snatched another equaliser with a low drive that Bosbury smothered well, but 3-2 was how it remained. As Alresford lick their wounds they can take heart from the fact that they were by no means outclassed in this match and can go into their first ever FA Cup tie - away to Harrow Hill this Saturday - with a measure of confidence.

Team
Chapman, Ahmet, Young, Lewis, Curtis, Edwards, Gilbert, Rogers(a), Findlay, Rackham, Jacob
Subs
Wilkinson, Bentley, Pascual, Stillwell, Nougerede, 

Goal Scorers
Rogers(a) 1
Rackham 1

It was a case of “new season, same result” for Alresford, who plunged to a 4-1 defeat at rainy Bemerton in Saturday's curtain-raiser.

Reprieved from relegation by the failure of Division 1 champions Tadley to achieve a Premier ground grading, the Magpies showed some promising touches but, like so often last season, were outgunned by an accomplished attacking side.

Manager Tim Cole gave SWL debuts to midfielders Liam Gilbert and Martin Rogers, with the rest of the starting eleven familiar faces from last season. But it was the Harlequins who showed the greater attacking intent in the first half, Jack Slade getting behind the Alresford defence to nod a bouncing ball past Dan Chapman to give his side an 18th minute lead; Slade had looked suspiciously offside.

Carl Jones made it 2-0 eight minutes later with a deft flick with the outside of his foot, but Alresford then started to make progress. Stu Findlay teed up Rogers for a shot that whistled wide, and Findlay saw a lob saved by Darren Crowfoot. Simon Stillwell then drew a good close-range save from the home keeper, and just before half-time Alresford pulled one back when Marc-Juan Pascual showed excellent skill on the left to beat his man, get to the bye-line and send in a dangerous cross. Crowfoot could only punch the ball as far as the edge of the area, and Gilbert steamed in to crack the ball into the bottom corner.

Alresford continued to press early in the second half, but fell further behind on 59 minutes when Slade ran on to a clearance down the left and beat the advancing Chapman with a skilful diagonal lob from distance.

That knocked the wind out of Alresford’s sails, and with ten minutes to go Jones rubbed salt into the visitors’ wounds, rising high to head a fourth goal from a right-wing corner.

Warren Bentley and James Wilkinson saw their first SWL action with Alresford as late substitutes, but by then the result was no longer in doubt.

Team
Chapman, Nougerede, Young, Lewis, Curtis, Edwards, Gilbert, Rogers(a), Findlay, Pascual, Stillwell
Subs
Jacob, Rackham, Ahmet, Wilkinson, Bentley, 

Goal Scorers
Gilbert 1