Report: Christchurch 3-0 Bournemouth - Wessex Premier

100% RECORD: Graham Kemp

CHRISTCHURCH are made of sterner stuff these days as their latest victory, a 3-0 success over local rivals Bournemouth Poppies, proves.

The same fixture last season saw Graham Kemp’s men lose 2-0 as the Poppies worked hard to stifle Priory’s passing game before preying on their defensive frailties.

It was a different story this year, though, as the Hurn Bridge outfit stood up to be counted in a clash where the Wessex Premier’s only 100% record remained intact.

Russell Cook’s hat-trick secured the points, but it would be harsh on his team mates to single out the former Poole Town frontman – indeed there was much more to Cook’s game than his goals on the day.

Bournemouth were clearly up for their derby day, hoping to upset the host’s perfect start to 2012-13 with ex-Priory striker Martin Warren spurning a decent chance after only 18 seconds, shinning his effort wide after James Wilson’s throughball.

Christchurch quickly upped the ante though, bombarding Poppies’ centre halves Steve Llewelyn and Charlton Clarke with a series of testing crosses from all areas.

Sam Griffin was in the thick of the action, seeing a goalbound shot cannon off Llewelyn and drift agonisingly wide before drawing two point blank saves from stopper Kenny Vaughan.

Scott Joyce wasted the visitors’ only other clear opening of the half as his low daisy cutter rolled wide of the far post after a slick one-two with early substitute Sam Purdy.

Cue more incisive Priory passing with man-of-the-moment Harry Cornick harassing everyone in his wake with pace and purpose – the wonder winger’s mazy run was just about halted by Wilson in the 38^th minute, but he turned provider soon after, taking full advantage of some static defending.

Clarke had two chances to clear a Christchurch corner but only nodded as far as the 17-year-old maestro who crossed for Cook to plant his header inside the near post with ease.

That goal, three minutes before half time, opened the second half floodgates as Bournemouth were battered into submission.

Veteran Mark Smith pelted the crossbar with a 20 yard free kick, Griffin saw another deflected effort creep wide of a gaping net and Cornick skewed wide after some sublime footwork on the edge of the box within ten minutes of the restart.

The Christchurch of old would have rued so many missed chances, but Cook’s second doubled their lead, neatly finishing across Vaughan following Smith’s measured throughball into the right channel.

Cook was in the mood for more and Poppies struggled to handle his movement as their stoic resistance tired as the match went on – another clever run saw Priory’s number nine peel into the left channel and curl his finest effort of the day around Vaughan for number three.

Griffin missed a sitter and Smith’s shot squirmed wide as Christchurch didn’t let up in the closing stages – this was a clear signal of intent.

Poppies, in many ways, looked better than some of their early season showings – they certainly competed for 45 minutes, but the plaudits stay with the Priory. Are Christchurch title contenders this year? It is early days, but as their soft centre gradually gets tougher it becomes harder and harder to rule them out. 

*Post match thoughts from Priory boss Graham Kemp and Poppies assistant Stuart Underwood with the Bournemouth Echo can be found here. 

CHRISTCHURCH: Collins, Thompson, Legg, Crutchley ( c ), Lloyd (Burt 82), Yelland, Smith, Griffin (Cullen 79), Cook (Osborne 72), Burden, Cornick.

Unused subs: Kittle, Hicks (g/k).

Goals: Cook 42, 56, 68.

BOURNEMOUTH: Vaughan, Wilson ( c ), Lockyer, Llewelyn (Saadi 72), Clarke, Corby, Maguire (Purdy 31), Phillipson-Masters, Joyce, Warren (Swann 82), Jackson.

Unused subs: Coverley, Frampton (g/k).

STAR MAN: Russell Cook (Christchurch)

Okay, so he has to take the man-of-the-match award, but only just – so many sparkled for the home side in a real, physical test. Sam Griffin, Harry Cornick and James Burden were unplayable at times, while old fox Mark Smith whipped so many teasing crosses into the box and Jason Collins dominated his penalty area at the other end, but scoring all three goals decides it in favour of Cook after his surprise inclusion at the expense of Ben Osborne. 

News: Four new faces, but Poole boss Killick is fuming

FOUR SIGN: But Killick wasn't happy.

Poole Town boss Tom Killick revealed four new signings after his side’s 4-3 friendly win over Christchurch this weekend, but blasted his players for a lack of focus in the game itself.

Diminutive forward Alex Baldacchino joins on dual registration terms, while Luke Burbidge joins from Hamworthy United and 18-year old right back Jordan O’Donnell joins from Salisbury City. The re-signing of Karim Lamalli completes the quartet.

Baldacchino spent the closing months of last season at Tatnam Road after notching 28 league goals in 35 games for Wessex League strugglers New Milton Town while also being signed for Havant and Waterlooville in the Conference South.

Killick said: “Alex joins us on the basis that if Havant & Waterlooville require him, then that’s Conference South football and he would have to give that priority, and I understand that.

BALDACCHINO: Dual registered

“Effectively it will be the same arrangement he had for most of last year with New Milton, but hopefully he will feature regularly for us until such time he is called on by Havant.”

Burbidge signs after a 22 goal Wessex League haul with Hamworthy United last season while O’Donnell has featured for youth teams at Portsmouth and Eastleigh as well as Salisbury.

Other trailists include Lee Chudy – the striker scored twice in the second 45 minutes on Saturday after netting 11 times in 15 leagueappearances for Hamworthy last season. Goalkeeper Michael Weatherall, who comes from the same youth side as O’Donnell, featured, as well as Bournemouth Poppies wing wizard Fawzi Saadi.

Though even after the influx of players, Killick admitted he was still looking to strengthen his frontline before the season starts with Clevedon Town at home on August 18^th.

“We were a little bit low on numbers but we’re gradually building it up – we are still short in a couple of areas but a one or two things might be happening this week.”

“We have got some good options up front. Alex Baldacchino is a very good player, Karim has got huge ability, Lee Chudy has shown up very well – I’ve got to have a word with Lee but I’m hopeful we’ll sort something out.

“We’ve got Luke Burbidge who can play out wide as well, but I probably want to bring someone in who has played at a higher level to give us a real focal point.

“It’s difficult because those types of players are in very short supply, which we’ve already found to our cost over the summer, but we’ll endeavour to bring someone of that calibre in over the next few weeks if we can.”

As for the game, Killick was less than impressed as Graham Kemp’s plucky Christchurch side took the lead three times. Chudy’s brace eventually sealed victory for the hosts, but couldn’t prevent the side receiving a tongue lashing from their boss.

“It was a disappointing day for us, we were awful, it’s the worst we’ve been. We were sloppy, lazy and careless, just a really below par performance – the goals we let in were laughable really.

“Our attitude was all wrong today – we had Yeovil Tuesday, Eastleigh Thursday and then Christchurch, and the players approached it in completely the wrong manner, you could see that in the performance. It was unacceptable.

“The difficulty is I know we’ll be better in our next game against AFC Bournemouth because the players will like playing in that game, but your attitude has to be right week in week out, you can’t just pick and choose and perform in the big games.

“All of them disappointed me, and apart from two or three of the younger lads, none of them came out with any credit.

“It was a disastrous performance from our point of view – with all due respect to Christchurch we should be controlling the game from start to finish and winning it convincingly, so we’re upset about that and I hope the players are upset – we’ve got to knuckle down with our training this week.

“We have Bournemouth and Salisbury next, but for me Parley is our next test because I want to see what our attitude is like in that game.

“Are we just going to turn up and stroll about like we did against Christchurch? We won’t accept that again, so Parley is a game I’m looking forward to see how the players react and see what we’re made of that day. Attitude is the be all and end all and that’s what we’re going to look at.”