Wed 22nd July    Shanklin v East Cowes Vics   Kick off 6.30pm

Saturday 25th July   Shanklin v Arreton   Kick off 2.30pm

Wednesday 29th July   Shanklin v Cowes Sports   Kick off 6.30pm

All games at the County Ground, Green Lane.

Further fixtures will be posted here soon.

Shanklin started the more dominant and had 90% of the possession in the first period. It didn’t take long for the match to spring into life when after 5 minutes Nick Jewell made a good run down the right wing only to be taken out by sandowns Trevor Payne with a very late and rash challenge. Payne was correctly booked by referee Phillips however Shanklin couldn’t capitalise on the free kick. With Shanklin continuing to pile on the pressure Sandowns backs were to the wall, with only the odd break being constructed by the visitors. It was the general opinion that it was only time before Shanklin were going to score and after 9 minutes Connor accepted the challenge and slotted the ball into the top right of the visitors goal form 22 yards out.

This seemed to spur Sandown into life and on 17 min the crowd were given a taste of what they had to offer. A good run and cross down the left by Nathan Parkinson saw a shot hitting the Shanklin post. The rebound fell nicely to Adam Punter-Gray whos shot was brilliantly saved by Shanklin keeper Simon Hayward.

The match was now hotting up and was producing some good end to end football. Shanklin for the first time this season actually looked as though they knew what they were doing, and were showing some of their previous form which has seen them lift 2 league titles and 3 cups in 3 seasons. Rob Chard was looking on top form yet again at the back, with a solid supporting performance from the ever improving Darren “Rio” White. On 18 minutes is wwas Chard that picked up a lose ball some 30 yards out and had the confidence to take the opportunity to have a go at the goal, shooting just past the Sandown post.

Sandown were still piling on the pressure and with play switching from end to end it was only time before another goal came, but which end it would be was anyone’s guess. After 23 minutes the crowd got their answer, as it was Sandown that hit the equaliser, and i must say it was deserved. Sandown were being led by the impressive looking skipper, Chris Cunningham, and it was fitting that it was Cunningham that got the goal with an impressive 25 yards shot that went past Hayward low and fast.

With half time approaching fast Shanklin continued to pile on the pressure and I am sure that Sandown were pleased to go into the break at 1-1, as the County Ground side had many more chances to add to their tally but failed to do so.

The old cliche a game of two halves now kicked in as the second half belonged to Sandown. It was, as one of the Shanklin defenders said at the end, being attacked by the Zulu as Sandown just pounded the Shanklin defence, and I must add if it wasn’t for the top defending of White, Browne and Chard, Shanklin would have, without doubt struggled to get something out of this match. Shanklin in the second half had a non existent midfield, their disregard for not getting back to help and challenge for the ball put unnecessary pressure on the Shanklin back four, and allowed Sandown to dominate. Joe Geddes the long serving groundsman summed it up when he said that he moved quicker with his line marker than the Shanklin midfield did.

Sandown were now well on top, and it looked like they were going to get their second and take the lead. Yet again, Cunningham their skipper was proving to be instrumental in their play and if only someone in the Shanklin side has picked up on this and man marked him, Sandown would have been stopped in their tracks, but it didn’t happen.

On 62 minutes Connor and Jewell,  were substituted for Haward and Tombleson, who at 16 yrs was making his debut in a big local derby.  That said Tombleson who was put out wide right brought a bit of pace down the right, however with no one with the same pace to support him it was pointless.

On 66 minutes with Shanklin pushing towards the sandown goal the ball was played by Mikolajec to Tombleson who went on a run down the right, Weller picked it up just inside the box, passed to Haward who played the ball into the area, the ball was cleared to hatch who struck a cracking left foot shot into the bottom right hand corner from 18 yards, 2-1 to Shanklin, against the run of play. This must have hurt Sandown but it didn’t show as they continued to push towards the Shanklin goal time and time again.

On 74 minutes manager Bennett made Shanklins last substitute bringing on Alec Breignan for Johnson who was making his debut.  The crowd were shocked that Johnson was being substituted as he was one of the only few players that were putting any effort in, and as it turned out, the crowd would be proved right as when Johnson was taken off  and any sort of play that Shanklin had disapeared. Now then, the second silly mistake in my opinion was proved on 78 minutes when Haward who has been out for a few months with a knee injury twisted his knee and had to limp off.  It was in my opinion a silly decision to play Haward in a such a big match and more importantly on a pitch that was now resembling a big. Shanklin were now put under extreme pressure having to play the last 12 minutes with 10 men, a position that they didn’t need to be in.

That said the 10 men of Shanklin managed to hold out and came out 2-1 winners. Sandown must have felt unlucky with coming away with nothing, but if its any consolation, so did the majority of the large crowd.One further mention must go to Referee Paul Phillips who had a very good game and kept the lid on a match that always had potential of boiling over, and where possible kept the game moving with some good advantage play.

All in all a typical local derby, a typical good old English cup tie, and a good advert for local football with a large crowd turning up to watch.

Shanklin started the stronger of the two teams and after only 2 minutes were appealing after Beilby fell over in the oakfield penalty area, only to see referee Crow wave play on. In fairness it never looked like a foul worthy of a spot kick, but Shanklin continued to put pressure on their opponents goal. On 4 minutes Smith nearly scored direct form a corner, and the same player nearly put the home team in front a minute later after a great individual run from the half way line, however his final shot was never going to test the Oakfield keeper.

With play switching from end to end, Oakfield were finding it hard to make a claim on the game and rarely threatened Lewis between the Shanklin posts, however that was due to some good defending from the Shanklin back line of Farrell, Lee and Downs.

On 30 minutes Shanklin again pressed hard in the Oakfield half and after a goal mouth scramble Luter shot hard and low only to see his well struck effort cleared off of the line. Shanklin were now dominating the game with attack after attack. In the 35th minute Bielby was put through and with only the goal keeper to beat he hit the ball straight at the opposition keeper, squandering Shanklin’s best chance of the half. Half time 0-0.

The second half started much the same as Shanklin started slightly the stronger of the 2 teams, however not long after the restart Oakfield shocked the home side by scoring the opening goal of the game, against the run of play. This was the nudge that Shanklin needed to realise that they had to battle harder to win this game as it was not going to be handed to them.

Shanklin continued to press hard, and on 48 minutes that pressure paid off when Nathan Sawtell equalised after a good team move down the left hand side. The continued pressure and the new belief was rewarded on 51 minutes with a penalty to the home side. Beilby walked up and placed the ball and subsequently blasted the ball way over the bar. In fact it was so wild and hard the ball eventually came down 2 minutes and 1 mile later in Regent Street.

Normally y0u would expect a side to slump after such a miss, but to Shanklins credit they continued to pile on the pressure which caused frustraion in the Oakfiled ranks, which was evident by the tackles that were now flying in. On 55 minutes Oakfields Austin violently kicked out at Beilby off the ball, right in front of referee Crow. Crow immediately stopped play and to the amazement of the crowd spoke to the Shanklin player. With Austin lucky to still be on the pitch, Shanklin continued to push forward and were rewarded on 62 minutes when James Marchant scored Shanklins second and what would turn out to be the winner.

The remainder of the game continued to be a battle, however there was nothing much else to write about, except for a brilliant reaction save from Lewis in the Shanklin goal on 82 minutes, which kept the County Ground team in line for the 3 points.

Referee Crow finally blew the final whistle on a match which in all honesty Shanklin deserved to win, however as usual Oakfield didnt make it easy and showed a good battling spirit throughout.

Barrie Wade

Hopefully I will get a match report later in the week.

It is fair to say that for the duration of this game, Carisbrooke played the better football and in all honesty looked the more likely to score. In fact in the first 45 minute the Carisbrooke keeper didnt have to make a single save, but in fairness, Haward in between the Shanklin sticks wasn’t much busier for the first period. If I was to say the highlights of the first half were Carisbrooke shooting wide on 8 minutes, Trevor Jacques booked for dissent in the 34th minute and the Carisbrooke No. 4 clearing off of the 6 yards box on 42 minutes I would be exaggerating. Anyway, at least we had the second half to look forward to, which was too much of a thought for a couple of fans who left to go home.

Part two started and within five minutes it was obvious to the spectators braving the cold that it wasn’t going to be much better than the first. And that’s where the match ends in all honesty, as there was nothing of note to write about, on what was a very very poor example of the IOW division one league.Shanklin lacked passion, structure and a game plan, and looked second best to a very poor Craisbrooke XI in what has to be one of the poorest games to be played at the county ground for some seasons.

The home side had problems fielding a side due to 22 players having been cup tied, so as the referee called the captains for the pre match toss of the coin, shocked spectators counted 9 players wearing the Royal Blue strip. Disbelief summed up the vocabulary exiting from the lips of the County Ground faithful, however they were a little appeased when 2 further players appeared from the dressing rooms.

That aside the match started with neither side really dominating the early stages, however it was good to see a Shanklin side playing someone up front with a bit of pace, in the form of Jackson Scutt, a product of the youth set up, who at just 16 showed he has a bright future. It wasn’t long before a goal came the way of the home side from the boot of James “Jama” Marchant. The match continued end to end, however it was never going to be a classic, which gave the crowd chance to discuss the Christmas presents they had bought, Woolworths shutting down and whether anyone was going to turn up that evening to the Xmas draw night.

Half time came and went, and it wasnt long before James Marchant made it 2-0 with a brrilliant individual goal after a good run from the half way line.

Wroxall in fairness got the goal they deserved after they battled well but after 94 minutes of scrappy football Shanklin came out 2-1 winners and now face an away trip to Upham on January 3rd 2009.

Well done the reserves.

Oakfield 1 v Shanklin 2 (M Sherry 2)

Reserve Team

Shanklin 0 v Northwood 1

I say comfortable because that is what it was, in fact Shanklin only threatened once, and that resultd in a goal.This was a match that saw West Wight play some good football, and in fact all three of their goals were the result of some excellent moves. Shanklin showed little passion, when you would have thought with the league leaders visiting the team would have been spurred on to pull of a good performance.

It wasn’t long after the start (7min) of the match that West Wight took the lead through a well worked move down the left. 1- 0 to the visitors became 2-0 after 13 min when they scored from a corner on the left at the near post, which saw the ball go past a defender and bounce over Lewis in goal.

With West Wight piling on the pressure Shanklin scored through Jacques on 27 min but the deficit was back to 2 on 31 min when West Wight got their 3rd. Half time was 3-1.

With the second half underway west Wight continued to attack, but with another 45 min of football under their belts they were unable to add to their tally.

Yet again the Shanklin crowd were left bemused at some of the decisions made by management at the club. With a couple  of first team regulars missing, the crowd thought that perhaps some of the reserves deserved a chance, but no, Steve Coyle who was down for the weekend played, and Bennett put himself as one of the two subs named.

Shanklin looked a spec of their former self, not the first time this season. The man of the match for me was Sam Doble. Not necessarily for his footballing performance but for the 100% effort he showed throughout the 90 minutes. If only a few more had shown his commitment then maybe we could have got something out of the match, or at the very least, some pride.

Shanklin started really positive with ten minutes of attacking football and closing Oakfield down quickly. In the first minute Nick Jewell was put through only to be fouled on the edge of the box. Now, in the laws of the game, the oakfield defender should have been sent from the field of play as he was the last man and it was a goal scoring opportunity, however as Alec Breignan took the free kick Oakfield defended with a full quota. The free quick was saved, and after several minutes of further pressure Shanklin were awarded a generous penalty being after Sam Doble was fouled inside the box on 9 minutes.

As the resulting spot kick was converted by Alec Breignan, it looked like Shanklin were going to give the seasons “in team” a run for their money.

Now then, if you add a cross from the right, a corner form the left with an unmarked attacker (in fact an ex Shanklin attacker) times it by 2 and what do you get? yep you guessed it a brace from Danny Hooker, one in each half (12 & 48 min)

With oakfield 2 -1 up just after the break there was really no way back for the Shanklin Team.

On 79 min Shanklin Legend, and by the way, the fans favourite for the day, scored a typical Rust goal when he went one on one with the younger Mikolajec, and after pulling away from his mark he slotted the ball the helpless Lewis.

With Oakfield mounting the pressure minute by minute, Shanklin were being made to look second class. That said, Oakfield were assisted by several Shanklin Players being played out of positions and a Shanklin midfield that was no existent.

With the front three of Levrier, Rust and Hooker unstoppable, Shanklin conceded defeat on 88 minutes when Rust netted his second and Oakfield 4th.

Oakfield looked good, in fact is was nice to see an Oakfield side playing football rather than relying on strength, which has got to be down to their player manager Rob Kirby.

With the light fading, and minutes ticking away, the small group of supporters had had enough. But on a lighter note, the comment of the season so far was heard from a lone supporter when he said, “I should have stayed home and got nagged by the Mrs.”

One to forget, especially as we entertain the league champions this coming Saturday (22/11/08)