First half
A youthful second eleven put on a committed and passionate performance to beat the more experienced opposition. The game plan was to use the front pairing to directly attack the Laverstock defence from swift through balls from midfield; this was effective immediately with both forwards having chances on goal. In particular the two wide players produced quality balls in the opposition box for the forwards to feed off, resulting in a number of corners being conceded. It was from one of these that Alton’s first goal resulted, the goalkeeper couldn’t hold the driven cross and Jack Burns was on hand to finish the job with a firm header. Alton continued to dominate with the back four giving very little encouragement to the opposition forwards. Dan Grey had an excellent effort correctly disallowed for offside, but the midfield and forwards continued to cause problems up to half time.

Second half
Laverstock came out in a much more determined mood second half and went about getting the equaliser, this coming some 15 minutes in. Luke in the Alton goal then helped maintain an even score with a couple of remarkable saves, this seemed get Alton back to playing their normal controlled and effective football. With Tony Lumb tiring in midfield it was an ideal opportunity for the long awaited return of Steve Brown, bringing his experience and drive to the game. Alton continued to press for a winning goal which came after a string of free kicks and corners conceded by the opposition. From one of these a free kick was initially blocked the rebound being crossed hard and low where a deflection took the ball over the head of the goalkeeper in the far corner of the net, to the jubilation of the Alton players.

A good performance and result from an ever improving team.