Midweek football: Bashley, Ringwood Brockenhurst Blackfield & Langley and Totton & Eling in action
A SUPERIOR Bashley side strolled into the next round of the Southampton Senior Cup with a comfortable win over Ringwood Town, while Brockenhurst were held to a draw by Hamble Club.
There was less joy for the other local sides in midweek action, with Blackfield & Langley losing by five goals to a rampant Moneyfields and Totton & Eling exiting the FA Vase.
Bashly used the tie to experiment with their new-look first team line-up, while Ringwood, from two divisions lower, were pleased to keep the score reasonable.
Three new signings from Winchester City – Callum Baughan, Dan Walster and Henry Brooks – got first starts for Bashley, while Ash Pope, signed recently from Shaftsbury, made his second sub appearance.
It was cagey to beging with while Bashley’s players worked out a new pattern of play, but the game came to life after 15 minutes when Ringwood keeper Alfie Rogers saved twice in quick succession at the feet of Max Wilcock.
With 25 minutes played, Bashley went ahead when Brooks, a lively loan signing who gave Ringwood a headache down the right flank, fed Wilcock to the right of the penalty area, who beat Rogers with a fierce cross-shot.
Bashley started the second half still on the front foot, and Sam Davidson’s close-range effort was cleared off the line during the skirmish after a corner was only half cleared.
Still in experimental mode, Bashley made a series of substitutions, but Conor Whiteley and Wilcock continued to give Ringwood’s overworked defence plenty of headaches.
Ringwood were defending bravely but had no answer on 65 minutes when Whiteley rose highest to power in a header from a Lewis Ross corner.
More Bashley changes came before summoning a third goal on 80 minutes when Whiteley split the Ringwood defence again with a run through the middle, ending with a fierce shot which gave Rogers no chance.
Soon after, Whiteley was on the receiving end of a clattering challenge by Josh Ridland. It earned the Ringwood centre-back a caution while Whiteley limped out of the game, leaving Bashley to finish with 10 men.
The game’s final goal arrived in the 90th minute, with Lee Vint forcing the ball over the line during a goalmouth free-for-all to grab a consolation goal.
Brockenhurst’s Mitchell Speechley-Price equalised against Hamble Club with 76 minutes played to preserve the Badgers’ stay in the promotion play-off places.
The New Forest side will feel they created enough chances to have won the game but, in truth, neither side can be too aggrieved with a draw.
With the break moments away, keeper James Mayo was caught out by a delightful finish, Braydon Douglas slotting the ball just inside the far post with just enough power to evade the desperate attempts to clear by centre-back Max Connolly.
Elliott Pearce-Eavis had been terrorising his opposite number all game, and he finally got his reward when Speechley-Price headed home after an excellent cross from the right-back.
Down the home stretch, an off-the-ball incident involving Speechley-Price, which left an opposition player on the floor, went unnoticed by the officials. But the angry remonstrations from Hamble captain Brad Johnson earned the player two yellow cards and an early bath.
Blackfield & Langley came up against second-placed Moneyfields and paid the price for a slow start, eventually losing 5-0.
Moneyfields led by three at the break after two goals from Stanley Bridgman, who finished the night with a hat-trick while also hitting the frame, with Josh Hazell grabbing the other.
After the break, Bridgman and Jack Lee struck to make it 5-0, and it could have been more for the deserving victors.
Totton & Eling’s involvement in the FA Vase ended for another year after a 2-0 defeat to Whitchurch United.
In a highly competitive match, Ash Neal put the Jam Boys in the lead with a well-taken header before Alfie Jones fired home from the penalty spot deep in added time.
