AFC Stoneham 3 Hamble Club 0

31 January 2026

So farewell to January, and good bloody riddance.   Brock were due to have three home games this month, and all three were postponed – the third one, today, at 1130 after the pitch had passed an early inspection but then suffered a massive downpour.  Yet another call which had to be made after the opposition (and their fans) had left home; incredibly frustrating for everyone but what can you do?

And if you’re going to take in a neutral, third-party game, what other choice is there?  AFC Stoneham, top of the league… they were being chased hard by Petersfield but that charge seems to have been holed below the waterline, from all we hear, and the closest pursuers are now today’s visitors, Hamble Club: 8 points down and one more game played, but second in the form table (5 wins from their last 6, against Stoneham’s perfect record).  Good match-up, all to play for…

The hosts started quite slowly, with the Monks on the front foot – probably unfair to say that Stoneham were tentative, but they lacked intensity in the early stages.  Cunningham pulled a shot tamely wide from a reasonable position, but the real danger was caused by Braydon Douglas, livewire all afternoon, using his pace and occasional guile to unsettle the home defence.  Hamble won a corner, header came back off the bar (no idea whose header!)… 17 minutes, finally, a break from the Purps, superb finish from Sampson, disallowed for a phantom offside (it certainly wasn’t him, and nobody in the centre was anywhere near the ball…).  The hosts were having to defend well (one excellent interception from Kerton) but nothing was really troubling Callum Lee between the sticks – and then the Purps kicked into life.  35 minutes: Martins was taken out near the halfway line, ref played a rather speculative advantage – and full marks to him because Alex Welch took the ball on, beat a challenge, and played in Liam Callaghan inside the box who gave the hosts the lead.  Two minutes later, a beautiful incisive move – Sampson’s shot came back off the post.  The Monks hadn’t by any means given up, they won a cheap free kick, superb run from Hamilton to get a free header but there was no power on it… but Stoneham were looking more likely now, Callaghan finally getting to the byline just before the break and his cross whistled past Sampson’s boot… and two minutes into overtime, clever footwork from Sampson on the left, skinned Brad Johnson, finished calmly into the corner.  And obviously Johnson didn’t like it because he said enough to the ref to get a sinbin.  HT 2-0

It felt like a long way back for Hamble and it could have got worse within 25 seconds, Dyer with a shot from distance which nearly crept in at the back post… and the game was done on 62 with a superb, back-to-front move.  Sub Ash Wells played a long pass out of defence, superbly headed on by Martins, and Mat Bainbridge somehow beat both the defender and onrushing keeper to the ball and lobbed it beautifully over Newman and into the net.  A sublime goal; I don’t often applaud as a neutral, but I did for that.   Fair play to the Monks: they renewed their energy, heads didn’t drop, and they did put some pressure on the defence, but Miller was a colossus, heading everything – and when he didn’t get there, Douglas was unable to force Lee into a save in anger.  At the other end, the Purps kept the visiting defence honest, Sampson and Martins buzzing around everything like mosquitos, no easy possession!  They might have added a fourth when the ball broke invitingly to Bainbridge, 25 yards out, but his shot flew high over the bar.  Even so, the outcome was pretty inevitable for the last half hour; Hamble are a good side, but they’re not quite as good as Stoneham.  That’s the evidence of the league table, and it’s also the evidence of my own eyes this afternoon.  Nagle whistled a shot just over the bar with seconds to go; that would have been harsh. FT 3-0

As it was, the hosts moved 11 clear with a game in hand; and in all senses, that’s probably that.  The Germans have a word for it: ‘vorentscheidung’.  I can’t really translate it but basically, it’s theirs to lose from here.  The one fly in their ointment of course is that next up for the Purps are Brock, on Tuesday.  Let’s hope for a proper test of their championship mettle!