Memorial Ground - Hartley Wintney FC
Hartley Wintney 3-4 Guernsey
06/11/12 - Combined Counties Premier League
Att: 80
Spending a Tuesday evening indoors watching Champions League football on telly doesn't really appeal to me, so I decided to get out and see a new ground in the local area. My manager at work follows Guernsey and with the Green Lions playing 10 miles down the road in Hartley Wintney I had decided that would be my destination that evening, so after picking him up we made the short drive which was quite straight forward and after parking up at the ground we plotted up in a local pub for a few jars before sampling the delights of the club house.
Hartley Wintney is a small but pleasant village half-way between Farnborough and Basingstoke and has a population of around 5,000. It's hosted a football team since 1897 and they've played at their current home since 1953. They've spent their entire history playing in the local leagues and were founder members of the Combined Counties League in 1978, winning the league for the only time in 1982/83. In recent times the club has yo-yo'd between the Premier and First Division, having been relegated in 2005 before bouncing back in 2009, they went down again the following season but secured promotion again last season, being promoted along side Bedfont and Guernsey.
They've found life back in the Premier Division difficult and had managed just one win and one draw from their opening fourteen league games, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the league table. By contrast Guernsey had adapted to life in their new league very well having won ten, drawn one and lost one of their opening twelve, with the Green Lions third in the league going into this match, with games in hand on both Egham and Badshot Lea. With that in mind it looked like it would be quite a routine evening for the away side, but their squad was depleted as quite a few players struggled to make it over from the Channel Islands for the midweek encounter.
The ground itself is quite a typical step five venue, with a small main stand down one side and the rest of the ground being left open to the elements. Strangely there was no standing room behind one goal, which just appeared to back on to some woodlands. Despite Guernsey averaging well over 1,000 at their home games their away support doesn't bring the boost to club's attendances that a visit from Aldershot and Wimbledon used to when they played at this level due to travelling distances, but there were still a reasonable amount of mainland-based Guernsey supporters at the match, probably making up around half of the crowd which was given as 80 online, but with no turnstile at the ground it would appear to be an estimate.
As the game got underway Guernsey settled down quickly and it didn't take them long to break the deadlock as captain for the evening Don Heaume cut the ball back for Ross Allen to score from close range after just seven minutes. It was looking ominous for the basement club but after a quarter of an hour they were on level terms after a superb long range effort flew straight into the top corner. Resistance was short lived as just two minutes later the visitors restored their lead when Heaume headed home a good cross from the right wing. That goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of Hartley Wintney who looked fired up for a match against the league's highest profile team and as the half progressed Guernsey really took a strangle hold on the match. Before the half time whistle came Heaume headed home again to make the score 3-1 and as we sipped on our half time pints the Green Lions looked completely in control of proceedings.
Guernsey's domination continued as the second half got underway and moments after the restart Ross Allen produced a cool finish for their fourth goal of the evening and it looked to put the game beyond doubt. Hartley Wintney gave themselves a lifeline when a mix up in the Guernsey defence was punished as the deficit was reduced to two goals, before the most controversial moment of the match. Ben Coulter was baring down on goal when he was flagged offside, but as he continued to take it around the Hartley Witney goalkeeper he was judged to have kicked the ball away by the referee who produced a second yellow card and reduced the visitors to ten men for the remaining fifteen minutes. Moments later things got worse for Guernsey as the home side were awarded a penalty which was duly dispatched and set up a very nervy last ten minutes which saw Guernsey hanging on in a game that looked sewn up just 20 minutes earlier. There were some hairy moments but the Green Lions hung on to claim all three points from a thoroughly entertaining game, after which the Guernsey fans stayed to clap the home team off the pitch for their valiant effort.
Victory kept Guernsey in the thick of the title race as they chase a second consecutive promotion and while Hartley Wintney will take great heart from their second half performance they remained bottom of the division. After the match we went back into the club house for a drink and mulled over the evening's events while watching Arsenal throw away a 2-0 lead in Gelsenkirchen, much to our amusement.
It was another straight forward journey back to Farnborough and we made it home in good time following a thoroughly enjoyable game of football, which threatened to be quite one sided but thankfully Hartley Wintney made a game of it. It's a friendly place and a nice village which I'm glad I have visited.
As the game got underway Guernsey settled down quickly and it didn't take them long to break the deadlock as captain for the evening Don Heaume cut the ball back for Ross Allen to score from close range after just seven minutes. It was looking ominous for the basement club but after a quarter of an hour they were on level terms after a superb long range effort flew straight into the top corner. Resistance was short lived as just two minutes later the visitors restored their lead when Heaume headed home a good cross from the right wing. That goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of Hartley Wintney who looked fired up for a match against the league's highest profile team and as the half progressed Guernsey really took a strangle hold on the match. Before the half time whistle came Heaume headed home again to make the score 3-1 and as we sipped on our half time pints the Green Lions looked completely in control of proceedings.
Guernsey's domination continued as the second half got underway and moments after the restart Ross Allen produced a cool finish for their fourth goal of the evening and it looked to put the game beyond doubt. Hartley Wintney gave themselves a lifeline when a mix up in the Guernsey defence was punished as the deficit was reduced to two goals, before the most controversial moment of the match. Ben Coulter was baring down on goal when he was flagged offside, but as he continued to take it around the Hartley Witney goalkeeper he was judged to have kicked the ball away by the referee who produced a second yellow card and reduced the visitors to ten men for the remaining fifteen minutes. Moments later things got worse for Guernsey as the home side were awarded a penalty which was duly dispatched and set up a very nervy last ten minutes which saw Guernsey hanging on in a game that looked sewn up just 20 minutes earlier. There were some hairy moments but the Green Lions hung on to claim all three points from a thoroughly entertaining game, after which the Guernsey fans stayed to clap the home team off the pitch for their valiant effort.
Victory kept Guernsey in the thick of the title race as they chase a second consecutive promotion and while Hartley Wintney will take great heart from their second half performance they remained bottom of the division. After the match we went back into the club house for a drink and mulled over the evening's events while watching Arsenal throw away a 2-0 lead in Gelsenkirchen, much to our amusement.
It was another straight forward journey back to Farnborough and we made it home in good time following a thoroughly enjoyable game of football, which threatened to be quite one sided but thankfully Hartley Wintney made a game of it. It's a friendly place and a nice village which I'm glad I have visited.
Hartley Wintney Football Club
Club house
Kick off
Open end
Open side
Main Stand
Far end
Panoramic view of the Memorial Ground
