Velocity Wessex Premier football: Linnets’ lightning start seals three-goal triumph in season opener
NEW Milton Town started competitive life under new manager Matt Maybury with a deserved 3-0 win, beginning the season with three points.
The Linnets were terrific, scoring three without reply to see off Amesbury Town, thanks to goals from Billy Maybury, Heath Thornton, and Brad Snelling.
With 21 minutes showing on the clock at the DMW Stadium, a free kick was cleared, and although the resulting ball back was punched away to the edge of the box, Maybury was on hand to curl a delightful effort in and off the bottom of the post for the lead.
In a lesson on how easily you can get punished at this level, Amesbury held their own for long periods but went into the break two goals down.
With the break eight minutes away, keeper Mike Horne made a decent save, but a poor clearance led to a pinball situation, which fell kindly to Thornton, who fired high into the net.
Amesbury managed to create a few chances that went unrewarded, and New Milton Town’s best player on the day, number nine Brad Snelling, put the game to bed.
With just under an hour of play gone by, the Linnets floated a delightful corner into the area, and the visiting defence failed to react. Snelling had acres of time and space to leap and place his header well beyond the reach of Horne.
The Linnets host local rivals Ringwood Town on Tuesday at 7.45pm before travelling to face Cove on Saturday at 3pm.
New Milton Town: O. Bull, T. Steele, C. Smith, J. Hall, O. Mayo, B. Snelling, B. Stone, C. MacMonagle, L. Moore, B. Maybury, J. Kinge Phillips, H. Thornton, J. Foden, M. Davis, L. Lane, J. Kerney.