Winchester City held in competitive pre-season clash

The game started evenly with both sides strongly contesting for possession in the early proceedings, with Winchester City forward Sam Ashton causing problems for the Stoneham defence early on.

The hosts created some promising chances on the counter-attack, and an early chance to break the deadlock went begging when a shot from the six-yard box sailed over the bar, met with a sigh of relief by Winchester goalkeeper Luke Cairney.

Winchester City — dubbed ‘the Citizens’ — played well in possession throughout the first-half, breaking down the host's resolute defence, but were caught offside frequently in the first-half to the frustration of supporters at the Stoneham Football Complex.

After a tough first-half, the Citizens regrouped following the interval and shortly after drew first blood when midfielder Jamie Barron’s tricky run found himself in an excellent position at the byline to square the ball to a Winchester City trialist, who tapped home from close range to take the lead.

Stoneham reacted well to going a goal down and tested the visitors’ resolve with some teasing deliveries into the box, with Cairney forced into action to nullify the threat of an equaliser.

However a quick lapse in concentration was punished by the hosts with a long ball into the direction of Stoneham forward Tyrell Sampson, whose first touch on the left-hand side was excellent before finishing with aplomb, clinically firing through Cairney’s legs to bring the home side level.

The visitors struggled to conjure up any momentum going forward which was pounced upon by AFC Stoneham, who upped the gears and heaped on the pressure. The hosts exploited a gap in Winchester’s defence and fired a shot which required Cairney to heroically thwart the attack, palming the ball away to spare the blushes of the fatigued backline.

After some final pressure from Winchester — who desperately searched for a late winner to continue their 100% record in pre-season — the referee blew an end to the contest, with the encounter ending all square.

Speaking to Winchester City manager Craig Davis following the result, he gave his thoughts on the performance.

“It was a game of two halves. I thought in the first half we were really laboursome, we didn’t really get out the traps at all. It was a disappointing performance first-half. I discussed this with the group at half-time and said that this was not really our level of performance. In the second-half we were pretty good. We scored a really good goal, but we were disappointed to concede after. We dominated a lot of possession of the ball and we created some good chances but we just couldn’t seem to get the goal to win it.”

When probed about the importance of the friendlies for the squad ahead of the upcoming season, Davis admitted: “They are really important. It’s really tough to replicate the intensity of a league game, as you play against teams a league up or down. You can read plenty into it but it is mainly about preparation. Of course it’s never nice to lose, but the main takeaway is building confidence, momentum, fitness in the legs, and today was a good test for that.”

Quizzed about what aspect of pre-season has impressed him the most, Davis explained: “They have worked really hard. It’s our fourth friendly already and we have played really well, fairly average, and poor in moments of each of the games. We are aiming to peak on August 10, and we are on a decent track for that. Having new signings like Kieran [Douglas] from Bognor Regis have improved the squad but mainly the attitude has been spot on and we are all looking forward to the season getting underway.”

Ahead of the Citizens’ trip to Didcot Town for a friendly on Saturday, Davis spoke on their recent struggles against them, adamant to put things right.

“It will be a tough and tricky game. They fought for every ball, kick and point last year so it’ll be good to see them. They beat us twice last year which we hope to put right.”