Bishops Waltham bounced back from last Saturday’s disappointing defeat with an excellent victory away to Overton.
1st Half:
Waltham started the game at a very high tempo taking the match to Overton early on with Darren Knox and Hassan Falah creating problems for the back four with their pace up front. Phil Smith was also impressing in central midfield after being called up from the reserves for this game. A good move by Waltham nearly resulted in the opening goal when Nathan Hunt found himself in the box but his shot was well blocked by the Overton defender. Waltham then went close again when Martin West’s shot was well saved by the Overton keeper. As the half came to an end Overton were unlucky not to go ahead as they put Waltham under some serious pressure. But thanks to some solid defending from James Blanchard in particular and some smart goal keeping from Adam Faulkner the score stayed at nil nil.
HT: 0 – 0
2nd Half:
The second half was a scrappy affair with both sides failing to make the most of the possession that they had. Waltham worked hard to up the pace of the game and Darren Knox in particular was creating all sorts of problems for the Overton defence with his pace and determination. But as the half wore on Overton began to mount more pressure and from a corner kick they hit the cross bar only for Waltham to break away and score at the other end. It was a classic counter attack move with Knox and Falah combining well on the right hand side to cross for the left back Paul Hodder who kept his cool to fire into the Overton net after the keeper had saved his initial shot. It was nothing more than Waltham and Hodder deserved as he worked tirelessly up and down the left hand side all afternoon. Waltham continued to create problems for Overton with their passing and movement and pace but for the last 15 minutes all the pressure came from Overton. They could have equalised a couple of times but for some brave defending from Waltham’s captain Ryan Leather who managed to block a couple of fierce shots. The game finished with Waltham coping well with a series of Overton corners and free kicks and coming away with a superb away victory.
FT: 0 – 1
