Amongst my women's' football to-do list, a visit to Rushmoor Community FC and watching AFC Portchester first-hand had been sitting there all season. This weekend I had the opportunity to tick off both of these as Rushmoor played host to Portchester in a Southern Region Division One South clash. Despite both sides coming up through the Hampshire League system, they appear to have avoided each other in the league. This was also their first meeting in the Southern Region League, Rushmoor having been promoted from the Hampshire League at the end of the 2021-22 season and Portchester joining them this season. So far their season have panned out very differently. Portchester were coming into the game on an unbeaten league run, having won six and drawn one of their seven games so far. Rushmoor, having played eleven games, had managed two wins. So, it was second bottom versus second top.
I arrived to find the teams warming up and immediately noticed that Rushmoor were down to the minimum with just eleven players. They did, however, have another player come along later allowing to make one substitute in the second half. Thanks to Portchester manager Mark Dugan for letting me take a photo of their team sheet as he made his way back over to the pitch. They too had made a couple of changes, with top scorer and captain Eilidh Currie starting the game in the heart of the defence.
I arrived to find the teams warming up and immediately noticed that Rushmoor were down to the minimum with just eleven players. They did, however, have another player come along later allowing to make one substitute in the second half. Thanks to Portchester manager Mark Dugan for letting me take a photo of their team sheet as he made his way back over to the pitch. They too had made a couple of changes, with top scorer and captain Eilidh Currie starting the game in the heart of the defence.
A rare Rushmoor foray A confident and full-strength Portchester side against a Rushmoor side who had lost 11-1 last week, had no substitutes at kick-off and had called up a couple of reserve team players for the day. It was no surprise that, straight from kick-off, Portchester were on the front foot. Within 2 minutes El Williams had got the first shot off in anger. It was easily fielded by Rushmoor keeper Kim Marshall, but signalled the way the match was going to pan out. Charmaine True was the next to try her luck, firing one in from way out which the keeper was happy to watch drift wide of the post. Portchy appeared to have a shoot on sight policy and were getting plenty of opportunities. The entire first 10 minutes was played in the Rushmoor half, but it remained goalless.
On the quarter-hour Sara Hinton was the next to sting the palms of the keeper, but still there was no way through. That was until the 21st minute when the visitors finally broke the deadlock. Hinton perfectly cushioned a ball back into the path of Lynsey Crewe-Way who struck a beautiful effort over Marshall into the top corner from all of 25 yards. 0-1.
Sara Hinton hen struck another effort wide of the mark. It was all one-way traffic but the home side were defending resolutely and really making Portchester work for their chances. Of course, no sooner had I posted this comment on X, the defence made their first skip-up of the day, allowing Portchester to win the ball back inside their own penalty and presenting Aimee Hall-Guy with a relatively simple tap-in. 0-2
To their credit Rushmoor still weren't in the mood to collapse. In fact, with half an hour gone, the lively and dangerous Emma Mutch finally gave Roxy Roberts something to do. It was a long range effort but it was on target even if it didn't really trouble the keeper.
Normal service was quickly resumed with Portchester back inside the hosts half and looking for number three. It took a little while to arrive, but inevitably it did in the 42nd minute. Eilidh Currie's deep corner from the right was met at he far post by a volleyed finish from Crewe-Way. her second and Portchy's third. 0-3.
After all of that, the final piece of action of the first half came from Rushmoor. Again it was Emma Mutch who provided it, bursting away from inside her own half before forcing another good stop from Roberts.
HT Rushmoor 0 AFC Portchester 3. Comfortable for Portchester, who have spent the majority of the half camped in the final third of the Rushmoor end. However, the home side should be very proud of their defensive efforts. Many teams would have crumbled under the constant barrage of attacks that Portchester launched.
On the quarter-hour Sara Hinton was the next to sting the palms of the keeper, but still there was no way through. That was until the 21st minute when the visitors finally broke the deadlock. Hinton perfectly cushioned a ball back into the path of Lynsey Crewe-Way who struck a beautiful effort over Marshall into the top corner from all of 25 yards. 0-1.
Sara Hinton hen struck another effort wide of the mark. It was all one-way traffic but the home side were defending resolutely and really making Portchester work for their chances. Of course, no sooner had I posted this comment on X, the defence made their first skip-up of the day, allowing Portchester to win the ball back inside their own penalty and presenting Aimee Hall-Guy with a relatively simple tap-in. 0-2
To their credit Rushmoor still weren't in the mood to collapse. In fact, with half an hour gone, the lively and dangerous Emma Mutch finally gave Roxy Roberts something to do. It was a long range effort but it was on target even if it didn't really trouble the keeper.
Normal service was quickly resumed with Portchester back inside the hosts half and looking for number three. It took a little while to arrive, but inevitably it did in the 42nd minute. Eilidh Currie's deep corner from the right was met at he far post by a volleyed finish from Crewe-Way. her second and Portchy's third. 0-3.
After all of that, the final piece of action of the first half came from Rushmoor. Again it was Emma Mutch who provided it, bursting away from inside her own half before forcing another good stop from Roberts.
HT Rushmoor 0 AFC Portchester 3. Comfortable for Portchester, who have spent the majority of the half camped in the final third of the Rushmoor end. However, the home side should be very proud of their defensive efforts. Many teams would have crumbled under the constant barrage of attacks that Portchester launched.
Eilidh Currie with a free-kick It was business as usual a minute into the second half when Sara Hinton struck another effort just wide of the mark and, although the bombardment of the home goal wasn't as intense, the team in orange were still having the majority of the play. Charmaine True struck another effort narrowly past the post before, in the 55th minute, Portchy struck again. It was almost a carbon copy of the third goal. Another Eilidh Currie corner from the right met, once again, at the far post by Crewe-Way to complete her hat-trick. 0-4
Two more Portchester efforts came close around the hour mark. First El Williams brought a good block from the Rushmoor keeper then, a few minutes later, Charmaine True flashed in great effort that clattered into the side-netting.
Efforts on target then dried up a little. The game was already won as far as Portchester were concerned. Even change of formation, pushing their Eilidh Currie back into a more normal midfield role, failed to spark any further goals. The captain did get a good effort off on 78 minutes, but it whistled wide of the keeper's left-hand post.
With 8 minutes remaining Rushmoor scored a well-deserved consolation goal and what a delightful strike it was too. Top scorer Mutch turned provider, lofting a lovely ball down the left to Cristina Paulinho who let the ball bounce before volleying a superb strike past Roxy Roberts. 1-4. Unfortunately, Roberts stayed down after the goal, clearly in some distress. She was replaced between the sticks by captain Currie for the final 10 minutes, and was able to limp back to the changing rooms. Best wishes to her. Let's hope it's not a serious injury.
The remainder of the game was played out without too much incident. Neither team was able to add to the score line.
FT Rushmoor 1 AFC Portchester 4. Portchester retain their unbeaten league record but were made to work by a resolute Rushmoor side. They are now the only unbeaten team in all three Southern Region Divisions after Bournemouth Sports lost their record with a 2-1 defeat at Wycombe. Interestingly, there were five goals scored and neither team managed to get their leading scorers on the board. Next week is League Cup weekend. Portchester travel to Stoneham Lane in what looks to be a fascinating tie. Rushmoor make the journey South to Westleigh Park as they face league leaders Havant & Waterlooville.
Thanks to Rushmoor's Lisa Cooper for sharing their team sheet with me.
Rushmoor: 1.Marshall, 7.Boyd(c), 2.Bennett, 8.Elkins, 22.Kinsella, 12.Crane, 10.Feighery, 21.Washington, 23.Paulino, 6.Cooper, 33.Mutch. Sub: 17.Parker
AFC Portchester: 1.Roberts, 3.Hinton, 4.Jennings, 6.Marshall, 7.Crowe-Way, 9.Taylor, 10. E.Williams, 11.True, 12.Hall-Way, 20.Bavister, 21.Currie(c). Subs: Niven, S.Williams, Hooker, Simpson, Bradbury
The Ground
Rushmoor Community Football Club is based at Southwood Pavilion, just to the West of Farnborough town centre and a stone's throw from Farnborough Airport. There's a good-sized car park adjacent to the pavilion. However, please note that this is a thriving football club that has many teams. The car park rapidly fills up and, judging by the cones, parking in the surrounding streets is limited. There is further parking available at Southwood Country Club, which is little more than 5 minutes walk.
There are numerous pitches most of which have different coloured marking so that they can be configured for anything from small-sided to adult football. The game I was watching was being played on the furthest pitch from the pavilion, towards the country park end of the ground. There's no spectator cover available around any of the pitches. However, the area seems pretty flat and the pitches looked to be in good condition.
Things I learned from my visit:
Ground Number: 395
Att:
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A
Two more Portchester efforts came close around the hour mark. First El Williams brought a good block from the Rushmoor keeper then, a few minutes later, Charmaine True flashed in great effort that clattered into the side-netting.
Efforts on target then dried up a little. The game was already won as far as Portchester were concerned. Even change of formation, pushing their Eilidh Currie back into a more normal midfield role, failed to spark any further goals. The captain did get a good effort off on 78 minutes, but it whistled wide of the keeper's left-hand post.
With 8 minutes remaining Rushmoor scored a well-deserved consolation goal and what a delightful strike it was too. Top scorer Mutch turned provider, lofting a lovely ball down the left to Cristina Paulinho who let the ball bounce before volleying a superb strike past Roxy Roberts. 1-4. Unfortunately, Roberts stayed down after the goal, clearly in some distress. She was replaced between the sticks by captain Currie for the final 10 minutes, and was able to limp back to the changing rooms. Best wishes to her. Let's hope it's not a serious injury.
The remainder of the game was played out without too much incident. Neither team was able to add to the score line.
FT Rushmoor 1 AFC Portchester 4. Portchester retain their unbeaten league record but were made to work by a resolute Rushmoor side. They are now the only unbeaten team in all three Southern Region Divisions after Bournemouth Sports lost their record with a 2-1 defeat at Wycombe. Interestingly, there were five goals scored and neither team managed to get their leading scorers on the board. Next week is League Cup weekend. Portchester travel to Stoneham Lane in what looks to be a fascinating tie. Rushmoor make the journey South to Westleigh Park as they face league leaders Havant & Waterlooville.
Thanks to Rushmoor's Lisa Cooper for sharing their team sheet with me.
Rushmoor: 1.Marshall, 7.Boyd(c), 2.Bennett, 8.Elkins, 22.Kinsella, 12.Crane, 10.Feighery, 21.Washington, 23.Paulino, 6.Cooper, 33.Mutch. Sub: 17.Parker
AFC Portchester: 1.Roberts, 3.Hinton, 4.Jennings, 6.Marshall, 7.Crowe-Way, 9.Taylor, 10. E.Williams, 11.True, 12.Hall-Way, 20.Bavister, 21.Currie(c). Subs: Niven, S.Williams, Hooker, Simpson, Bradbury
The Ground
Rushmoor Community Football Club is based at Southwood Pavilion, just to the West of Farnborough town centre and a stone's throw from Farnborough Airport. There's a good-sized car park adjacent to the pavilion. However, please note that this is a thriving football club that has many teams. The car park rapidly fills up and, judging by the cones, parking in the surrounding streets is limited. There is further parking available at Southwood Country Club, which is little more than 5 minutes walk.
There are numerous pitches most of which have different coloured marking so that they can be configured for anything from small-sided to adult football. The game I was watching was being played on the furthest pitch from the pavilion, towards the country park end of the ground. There's no spectator cover available around any of the pitches. However, the area seems pretty flat and the pitches looked to be in good condition.
Things I learned from my visit:
- Rushmoor is a busy and thriving community club. It was a joy to see the number of players, male and female, of all age groups, clearly enjoying their football.
- Rushmoor's team spirit is second to none. Despite having a bare bones squad and being up against a constant barrage from a top team, they never let their heads drop and played the game in the right spirit. An absolute credit to the club.
- Portchester Ladies are a very good team who, in my option, will not look out of place in the Premier League, should they gain promotion. They are strong across the entire pitch and have a depth to their squad which means they can bring on equally strong players at any point.
- Eilidh Currie is one of the most complete footballers I have seen. Comfortable on the ball, seemingly carrying 5 yards of space around with her, and capable of playing anywhere on the pitch, including in goal.
Ground Number: 395
Att:
Entrance: N/A
Programme: N/A
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