Hamble ASSC 1, Whitchurch United 2

WHITCHURCH boss Howard Goddard gained his first win since taking over the managerial hot seat at Longmeadow, and then delivered a scathing attack on some of the players at the struggling JWL club.

"Too many players here have had it far too easy for too long," he claimed this week. "I can't stand all the cheating and lying that's going on, some of the players seem only interested in playing at home and I've told them that if they can't give me total commitment then they can leave."

Goddard was fuming after one of the players cried off last Saturday morning saying that he couldn't make the trip to Hamble because he was injured. "He had all week to let me know that he couldn't play but only contacted me on Saturday while another two others said they were ill but I later found out that they were out drinking in Andover on the night before the game."

The Whitchurch boss also criticised two other players because they had not contacted him. "They were not involved but I believe it's up to the player to find out whether he's playing or not," he suggested. "At this level the manager should not be running around to see if players are available on the night before a game."

Goddard was naturally delighted at having chalked up his first victory after losing the first four games and described the 11 players that played for Whitchurch against fellow strugglers Hamble ASSC as 'absolutely magnificent' .

"The biggest compliment I can give is that the 11 I had out there today ran there socks off," he added. "I was really proud of them."

The Whitchurch boss said hat the side played really well and looked like scoring every time they went forward. "We're heading in the right direction," he forecast. "We scored three times the previous week against Blackfield and now we've had our first win." All the goals came in the second half but Whitchurch could easily have been three or four up half time time, with Carl Clayton having an easy time of it in goal. "He didn't have a shot to save but the whole side did well," Goddard summed up. "It was a great result, everyone deserves a pat on the back for an excellent job well done."

Neil Butler, playing his last game before starting a 35-days suspension, fired Whitchurch ahead five minutes after the changeover, Hamble received an early Christmas present with their 60th minute equaliser from a corner but Whitchurch got the winner 20 minutes from the end with Andover-based Army player Steve McNulty scoring on his return to the club.

Whitchurch (3-5-3): Clayton; Rees, Shaughnessy, Robinson; Grey, Woodley, McNulty, Thomas, Nurse; Butler, Soper-Dyer. Subs: Gulliver (for Butler 70 mins).