(Wessex League Division 1)

Spurs served up another thriller after the most inauspicious of starts.  They must have left their brains in the dressing room, as they conceded three soft goals in the first ten minutes.  Paul Burnett with two and Lee Bellows benefited from gormless defending as Ringwood looked to have put the game out of sight.  Only bad finishing and a good save by Jonathan Sheppard, who stopped a goalbound shot with his feet, stopped the score from becoming ridiculous.

Spurs took a deep breath and gradually fought their way back into the game, Adam Crittenden hitting the bar with a good shot.  Two minutes from the interval, Stuart Tanfield reduced the arrears with a well-struck free kick, and player-manager Neil Baker headed in a Tom Chillery corner just before the whistle.  Game on.

After the break, Fleet started as they left off and Sam Knowles immediately brought parity with a fine header from a Tanfield corner.  Two minutes later, a mishit Chillery corner somehow found its way into the net off centre-back Danny Harrison.  Spurs had topped Ringwood’s three goals in ten minutes with four in eight minutes of playing time.  To their credit, the visitors didn’t let their heads drop and they probably shaded possession, but Spurs defended as well as they had badly at the outset, debutant Phil Boddy coming on as a substitute and impressing with a number of well-timed tackles.  Spurs threatened on the break, and on the hour mark Crittenden completed the scoring with a clinically taken shot from a clever flick from Knowles following good work by Luke Walsh on the right.

After the match manager Baker said “The lads deserve every credit for their fight-back after a nightmare start, but we’ll need to play from the kick-off rather than after ten minutes.  In my opinion, the second goal on the brink of half-time was the turning point of the match.”

Spurs have risen to 14th position in the league, and still have games in hand against all the sides around them.  They now have two away games in a week – at Tadley Calleva on Wednesday (kick-off 7.45) and at Stockbridge on Saturday (kick-off 3.00).

Spurs Reserves went down 0-4 to Bagshot in the first Round of the Senior Division Cup, while the As lost 2-3 on penalties to Watchetts in the Aldershot Junior Cup.