Match report: Ringwood Town beat Amesbury Town 3-0 to climb within a point of Wessex League Division One play-off places

Ringwood Town and their young squad defeated Amesbury Town 3-0 to gain ground on their Wessex League Division One rivals.

“When we turned up at Amesbury and felt the ground squelch, we knew it was going to be a very different challenge”, said Ringwood Town manager Fran Mathers. “I felt incredibly sorry for the grounds team as that pitch took a heavy beating, but it was just about playable, so we adapted.

“We tweaked our style of play, and the players showed tremendous physical attributes, but they also remembered to show quality and make good decisions at key moments.”

Hugh Dathan opened the scoring against Amesbury Town, while Lee Vint continued his excellent goal-scoring form, and Josh Stoodley grabbed the third.

Mathers continued: “It was nice to see a set piece move we’d worked on come to fruition for the opener with a rare goal from the outstanding Hugh Dathan.

“Once again, we’ve relied on and trusted our youngsters who have come good. The effort and character of the whole squad was sublime when it would’ve been easy to bottle it away from home in those conditions.

“I felt everybody stepped up and showed resilience and bullishness that I’ve not always seen in my Ringwood sides previously. We’re in a fantastic place on and off the pitch – long may it continue!”

Brodie Yates and Pat Correia combined beautifully for the second goal, a tap-in for top-scorer Vint, while the third goal came late after Brandon Chester fed Josh Stoodley for his first Wessex League goal.

Ringwood Town have been stuck in eighth place for a while despite losing just once in their last 14 games in all competitions, a run that has seen them win eight games. However, the win on Saturday leaves them one point from the play-off places.

The win was not all plain sailing, with keeper Will Griffin praised afterwards for delivering key stops at vitals times.

Ringwood Town plays at home against Totton & Eling on Saturday at 3pm.

Ringwood Town: W. Griffin, B. Bradwell, P. Correia, H. Dathan, B. Harris, T. Hopper, J. Rabin, J. Ridland, L. Vint, J. Wintle, B. Yates. Subs: B. Chester, M. Gollings, J. Stoodley, D. Whitelaw.