Alton men’s 1st XI 3, Trojans II 1

ALTON fought back from a goal down to topple Hampshire 2 league leaders Trojans on Saturday.

Trojans looked dangerous from the off and put the home side’s back line under plenty of early pressure, and they duly took the lead on five minutes when a bouncing ball deceived Alton’s Kieran Southgate and Scott Reading and fell to a Trojans striker who turned neatly and smashed the ball home past Alton goalkeeper Lawrence Jones.

It was clear that Trojans felt that the game was already theirs to lose as they continued to apply pressure, but Alton woke up and began to push back in a bid to get back on level terms.

The Alton midfield of Nigel Downing, Richard Spicer and Andy Cooper matched the Trojans midfield and began to feed balls through to their forwards who were starting to see chances fall their way.

And on 15 minutes Alton got on level terms with Tom Green picking up the ball after a missed shot from skipper Downing and lifting it past the onrushing Trojans goalkeeper to level the score.

Suddenly it felt like the momentum was with the home side and more pressure from Alton forced Trojans into making mistakes, and it was Alton who took the lead shortly before half time. They came close with a string of short corners before Luke Bottomley put Alton in the driving seat with a drag flick to the right side of the goal.

The second half began in a similar fashion to the first, with Trojans the dominant force and pushing hard at Alton’s back line, but the home side’s defence held firm.

The visitors also had their fair share of penalty corners but couldn’t crack Alton’s hardworking defence, with Jones making several key saves and defenders Dan Trim and Tom Pate making crucial interceptions.

As time ticked by Trojans seemed to be running out of ideas and hard work and perseverance saw Alton increase their lead.

An Alton break saw skipper Downing feed the ball in toward the Trojans goal and the faintest of touches from Bottomnley sent the ball into the path of Sam Juncker, who deflected the ball past the Trojans goalkeeper.

The third goal eased the pressure on Alton and put the league leaders on the back foot, and every time Trojans came forward Alton’s defence stood strong.

On Saturday, Alton travel to face Trojans thirds in men’s Hampshire 2.