Saturday 28th December 2024
Venue: M.A. Hart Stadium
Attendance: 464
A bumper crowd of 464 people gathered at the M.A. Hart Stadium to witness the latest edition of the New Forest Derby, and they were not disappointed with what they saw.
The game started at a cracking pace, which was maintained throughout the first 45 minutes.
A taste of what was to come arrived early when Brad Snelling glanced a header just past the post after only two minutes. And for the next 15 to 20 minutes we saw a fair bit of lively and physical play from two sides who were clearly entering into the spirit of the occasion.
Then, on 21 minutes, Barney Stone put Snelling through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Brad slotted the ball home. New Milton were one up.
On 35 minutes, Snelling again went close, this time rattling the bar. Five minutes later, Stone was brought down in the box for a possible penalty, but the referee waved play on.
Almost immediately after the restart, Stone again went close when he tried to chip the goalkeeper, but the ball narrowly went over the crossbar.
At the other end, Lymington had what looked like a solid penalty claim, only for the referee to turn them down. Lymington made two substitutions on 55 minutes, and in the 65th minute, McCarthy-Gardiner went one-on-one with the keeper, but the keeper made a save, and Stones knocked the rebound over the bar.
McGrath then increased New Milton‘s lead with a lovely strike from the edge of the box.
The Lymington skipper then found himself in the referee's bad books, earning himself a yellow card when he brought Toby Colmer down with a very strong tackle, after which McCarthy-Gardiner put a lovely ball into the box, but none of the Brickmakers could get on the end of it.
New Milton then made a change, bringing on Cameron Smith in place of Jack Broad before Toby Colmer earned a yellow card for a rather rash challenge.
Then, with five minutes to go, Billy Maybury brought a Lymington player down on the edge of the box, earning himself a yellow card. Lymington got the ball into the net from the resulting freekick, but the referee saw an infringement and chalked the goal off.
And so the afternoon finished with New Milton running out winners and claiming the New Forest bragging rights—at least until next time. It was a thoroughly entertaining game that the fans of both clubs seemed to enjoy.
The game sees New Milton Town stay top of the league going into 2025.
New Milton Town: Ollie Bull, Jack Kinge-Phillips, Elliott Pearce-Eavis, Billy Maybury, Ben Beard, Toby Colmer, Jack Broad, Noel McCarthy-Gardiner, Barney Stone, Harry McGrath and Brad Snelling
Substitutes Used: Cam Smith, Callum McHale, Ollie Mayo, Louis Moore
Goals: Snelling 21, McGrath 78
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