Fleet Town 2 - 1 Winchester City

Winchester's injury woes continued as they lost yet another goalkeeper in their 2-1 defeat against Fleet in the North Hampshire Cup Quarter-Final.

3rd choice 'keeper Stacey Harper was involved in a collision on the edge of his area early in the second half. It's believed that he has suffered snapped ankle ligaments and won't be back until next season.

Before Harper's injury, the game was relatively uneventful. A few chances for Fleet in the first half were the only moments of interest in what turned out to be a dull first half.

The second half was far more eventful. The injury to Harper saw Zac Glasspool end up in goal for the second game in a row.

Winchester made the most of the second half, creating the better chances and in the 85th minute Nathan Lynch seemed to send Winchester through to the semi final.

Fleet responded straight away though, with Mark Anderson seeming to send the game to extra time.

It was heartbreak for Winchester, as Dan Read made the most of a defensive mix up between Glasspool and Danny King, sending Fleet through to the next round.

Winchester City 1 - 1 Poole Town

A hard fought draw against top of the table Poole was overshadowed by a bad injury to Winchester keeper Ryan Gosney.

While taking a goal kick, Gosney's leg appeared to twist awkwardly in the turf and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle.

It was a sour point in a game that Winchester should be pleased with. Winchester took the lead early on in the game. Some good work down the wing by Jeff Cavey saw the ball land to Zach Glasspool, who controlled it excellently before shooting past Nic Jones. The Poole management will be baffled as to why he was allowed so much time on the ball.

Poole had few chances before half time, although a fantastic save by Gosney after 33 minutes ensured that Winchester maintained their lead going into the break.

It wasn't much later that Gosney was being carried off in a stretcher. With no reserve 'keeper on the bench, it fell to goalscorer Zach Glasspool to put on the gloves and go in goal.

It was unfortunate for Glasspool that it was his mistake that gifted Poole the equaliser. A long ball into the box was dropped by Glasspool and Stuart Gates pounced to gift a point to Poole.

AFC Totton 0 - 1 Paulton Rovers

AFC Totton’s unbeaten home run came to a halt as they were beaten one-nil by Paulton Rovers.

With five games in hand over top of the table Windsor and Eton, Totton were looking to take full advantage and finish as champions. Totton started brightly and after 12 minutes could have arguably been granted a penalty for handball. A tussle in the penalty box between Paulton defender Ollie Price and Totton striker James Taylor saw the ball bounce over their heads and it appeared to strike his arm on the way down. Instead of a penalty though, the referee awarded Paulton a goal kick.

By all accounts, Totton had the best of the chances in what was a poor first half. The best of these fell in the 26^th minute. A throw in caused havoc in the Paulton penalty area with their ‘keeper Kyle Phillips having to dive low to his left to prevent Totton from taking the lead.

The second half started much brighter and after five minutes Paulton took the lead against the run of play. A defensive header out of the Paulton box landed to Rob Claridge who played the ball in to Chris Lane. Lane's run towards goal saw him jink his way through the Totton defense before placing the ball past the reach of Gareth Barfoot.

Totton were keen to respond and upped the pressure on Paulton’s goal. Unfortunately for Totton there was no breakthrough. Heroics from the Paulton defense saw Totton denied two chances to equalise as both efforts were cleared off the line.

Totton’s frustration finally boiled over just before full time. A rash challenge by Ryan Scott on Alex Ball saw Scott see yellow and handbags raised as Totton and Paulton squared up to each other.

Paulton managed to hang on til the final whistle, a result that Totton can only be disappointed with.

Liverpool need a serious shake up. Sooner rather than later.

The situation over at Liverpool has started to become one of comic embarassment for everyone associated with the club. This season has seen the club lurch from one disaster to another. Liverpool have started to be compared to Newcastle in terms of sheer comedy. Never a good association to have.

The reason for this? Well as far as I can tell it can all be traced back to Rafa Benitez. Even if you ignore his dodgy tactics, his signings for Liverpool have been on a whole, terrible. Yes he's signed some cracking players in Reina, Mascherano, Torres and Agger, but beyond that the depth in the team is laughable. Players such as Alonso and Arbeloa have been sold without anyone coming in with the ability to replace them. There are some players who are competent, but not worthy of being in a potential top four side, such as Lucas, Babel, N'Gog, Aurelio, El Zhar and Cavalieri.

The sums of money he's spent on bringing in players is also beyond a joke. £22 million on Aquilani who doesn't even play. £17 million on Glen Johnson who's, although good, is a bloody right back. £20 million on Robbie Keane who was sold back to Spurs for less sixth months later. That's £59 million on three players. It's no wonder the club are in such dire straits financially. Yes the market is over-inflated, but that's verging on Real Madrid levels of madness, without the financial backing in place to prop it up.

Benitez fans will point to his success in Europe and finishing as runners up in the league last season. However, that's the past and at the moment Liverpool are struggling to finish in the European places in the league and have been dumped out of the Champions League. Defeat against Lille in the UEFA Cup shows how far the club has fallen in so short a time.

It seems apparent to me and anyone with half a brain that Benitez has taken the club as far as he can. It's time to bring in a new face to turn Liverpool's fortunes around. Mourinho is obviously an option. He's unhappy in Italy and has repeatedly told of his love of the English game.

Getting rid of Benitez is also less of a problem it seemed a few months ago. Real Madrid's unceremonious exit from the Champions League has left Manuel Pellegrini in an untennable position. It's highly likely that Madrid will hope to land Benitez at the end of the season, meaning that they'll have to pay compensation to release him from his contract at Liverpool.

While blaming Benitez is all well and good, there's also the matter of the owners. Gillet and Hicks have got to go, or at least provide some proper backing to the club. Getting their own man in at the end of the season may give the the drive to back the club further. Landing someone like Mourinho would also give them much needed support among Liverpool fans.

There also needs to be a big clear out of the dead wood at the club. Further emphasis needs to be made on the youth system as well, which has suffered under Benitez's tenure.

AFC Totton 3 - 0 Christchurch

AFC Totton were looking to get to their first cup final since playing at Wembley when they entertained Wessex League side Christchurch in the Hampshire Cup semi-final.

Totton dominated the game in the first half and their pressure was rewarded after twenty minutes. Christchurch keeper Stewart Kearm parried away a stinging shot from the edge of the area, but midfielder Mike Gosney pounced on the rebound to give Totton a well deserved lead.

Their lead was extended ten minutes later. Nathaniel Sherbourne's hard work down the right flank set up James Taylor, whose turned two players to slam the ball past the reach of Kearm. Totton put the result beyond doubt three minutes later. Kearm got a hand to a shot by Ian Richardson, but this only for the ball to end up in his right hand corner.

Christchurch emerged from half time with more urgency about them. They were quick to test the Totton keeper, resulting in a an excellent save by Gareth Barfoot before it was cleared by the Totton defense.

Despite Christchurch's attack, Totton stood firm and should have extended their lead in stoppage time. Young centre half Jamie Whisken should have scored from six yards, but ended up blazing his shot over the bar.

Totton now go on to play Aldershot Town in the final at Dean Court on the 22nd of April.

Man of the Match:
Nathaniel Sherbourne pictured. His hard work and role in the goals was crucial to his teams progression to the final.

Refusal to at least try video technology in football is utter lunacy.

So the IFAB have decided that football doesn't need video technology. Well, the IFAB are morons. Their argument, although it makes sense, is weak. Implementing goal line technology would help alleviate the monumental pressure on referees and has been shown to work in other sports. I don't buy this argument that it would break up gameplay. Considering how long it takes for play to start after a controversial decision, it really wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.

With football being the mega-money business that it is today, it makes it all the more important to make sure that correct decisions are made. I really don't think it will affect conversations about controversial decisions. Instead people will just talk about the game itself! 

Considering the massive furore over Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland, this was the perfect time for the footballing world to be seen to be moving into the 21st Century. Instead, football is again lagging behind, too afraid to take some revolutionary steps. 

Capello's World Cup Headache Starts Now.

Now that England have overcome a tough test against Egypt, Fabio Capello must look at his players long and hard before making the biggest choice of his career so far: Who to take to the 2010 World Cup.

On today's showing, several players have virtually booked their ticket, while others have pretty much shot themselves in the foot. Of the players out there tonight, I thought there were three who really put on a display. Ironically, they were all substitutes: Peter Crouch, James Milner and Michael Carrick.

Crouch is perhaps the most obvious of these. His two goals rescued England, while also taking him to 20 goals in 37 games for England. He's like a better, taller, whiter Emile Heskey. He serves the same role as a target man, but also puts the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis.

Milner is one of those sorts of players every team wants. He's willing to play pretty much anywhere on the pitch and is almost universally good wherever you put him. At a World Cup, where fatigue and injuries are likely to take a toll, someone like him proves invaluable. In previous tournaments, Gerrard has been the one to do this. Now with Milner on the scene, Gerrard should be free to play where he wants and England will be able to get the most out of him.

Carrick is probably England's best out and out passer of the ball, with the exception of maybe Beckham. His vision and accuracy were on show against Egypt and someone like him, sitting deep and proving ball after ball up the field will really strengthen the side. He's also pretty handy defensively.

I was tempted to include Shaun Wright-Phillips in this, but as far as I can tell he's not in Capello's first team plans if Aaron Lennon's fit. Capello seems to have more faith in Lennon, Milner or Beckham on the right hand side and I think that if Lennon gets fit again and SWP still fails to get into the Man City first team, he's in serious trouble.

As for the players who messed up a golden opportunity, Theo Walcott stands out from the crowd. Starting off on the right of the pitch, his pace and ball control should have torn shreds out of the three man Egyptian defense. Instead, poor first touches, overhits and a lack of an end product saw him have a terrible game. He started the game well, teeing up Frank Lampard who admittedly should have done better. Once Egypt got into the match though he soon faded away, much like his World Cup chances.

Matthew Upson also did his World Cup chances no good, being majorly at fault for Egypt's goal. Some may say that the poor Wembley pitch was to blame for his slip, but at this level it doesn't quite cut the mustard.

Going on form and the Egypt game, the squad I'd take to South Africa (if Cole's fit) would be:

Goalkeepers

Robert Green: Seems to be Fabio Capello's Number 1 now. Wasn't at fault for the goal against Egypt and always looks good when called on. Needs full 90 minutes in the pre-tournament friendlies to get much needed international experience.

David James: As good a back-up goalie you could hope for (unless you happen to be Spain). Experience at this level will be crucial in the camp, even if he doesn't make the starting 11.

Joe Hart: Most likely won't play, but the experience will do him good and should the worst come to the worst he's a highly capable keeper.

Defenders

Glen Johnson: Best right back available for England. Not as good defensively as Wes Brown (although not poor), but very good going forward.

Wes Brown: Cover for right back and centre back. I personally don't like him, but he's got experience and is defensively competent.

Ashley Cole: Best left back in the world in my opinion.

Stephen Warnock/Leighton Baines: Can't choose between them because they're both very similar and both talented. I'd possibly pick Warnock ahead of Baines simply because he's older and more experienced.

John Terry: May not be the captain any longer, but is still a leader on the pitch.

Rio Ferdinand: Captain and as such, a must.

Joleon Lescott: Better at centre back than Upson and can also play left back if needs must.

Midfielders

Steven Gerrard: Vice-captain and probably England's second best player.

Frank Lampard: Like Gerrard, a very talented player who is crucial to the squad for his experience as well as his talent.

Gareth Barry: Number one defensive midfielder. Passing's not as good as Carrick, but better defensively.

Michael Carrick: The inverse of Gareth Barry.

David Beckham: Dead ball specialist and the most experienced member of the squad.

James Milner: Captain versatility. Can play anywhere on the pitch except for in goal (although he'd probably give it a go if you asked him).

Shaun Wright-Phillips: He's got pace, he can cross a ball and is also a pretty capable finisher as well.

Stewart Downing: Naturally left footed winger and is having a great season for Villa.

Ashley Young: It's about time he was recognised internationally. A bit of a risk, but he's similar to Milner in that he can play anywhere in midfield and do it well.

Forwards

Wayne Rooney: Best English player by a country mile. He's the difference between England as Quarter finalists and "England as winners. Without him we're nothing.

Peter Crouch: You can't ignore his international record and he provides options up front. As good with his feet as well as with his head.

Jermain Defoe: A real poacher. His pace will be useful as a super-sub.

Emile Heskey: Big target man that strikers love to play alongside.