AFC Portchester v. AFC Bournemouth 

Second Round Proper 

Wicor Recreation Ground, Portchester 

Sunday 24th November 2024

It was not my intention for the hop to remain in Hampshire, but five games in , we're still here.

Storm Bert and Ernie in full effect chucking trees over railway tracks presented challenges for this second round tie. Delay Repay should see most of that train fare back in my bank by the end of the week (hopefully).

Add in the hokey-cokey is it off/is it on social media frenzy and stress levels quite high today. A big shout out to Lewis from The Arancione - AFC Portchester Superfans for keeping me updated with the match status and it was good to say hello and visit your excellent fan zone.

Thanks to Uber I was able to arrive at the ground ahead of kick-off and still have time to enjoy an excellent bacon bap, latte and a bag of monster jellies from the tea bar.

Another new stadium for me, The Wicor Recreation Ground nestles close to the north west estuary leading to Portsmouth Harbour.

Stadium has the best collection of Litter Bins I have ever seen (must be a couple of dozen!). Add to that around a selection of non-league dogs of all shapes and sizes and there's plenty to entertain you.

Another great feature is the hospitality chalet with its own private terrace and it looked like their £20 brunch and matchday experience today was fully subscribed.

Portchy Ladies from Step 5 (Southern Region Premier) home to AFC Bournemouth (WNL D1 South West) from Step 4 , both battling for a place in WFACup Third Round and a shot at meeting one of the Barclays Women's Championship teams.

First half very blustery conditions made it difficult for both teams to control the ball. Bournemouth with the wind in their backs tested Roxy Roberts early on whilst at the other end Gemma Hillier force a good save out of Erin Foley.

AFCB took the lead on 8 minutes with a curling effort from Molly Barron Clark, her shot catching the breeze and deceiving Roberts.

On 29 minutes with Gemma Hillier through on goal, she was brought down by Amber Treweek who I think rightly was shown a red card.

The half ended with a spell of AFCB pressure and a couple of half chances but we went into the break with the visitors a goal ahead. 

Less than a minute into the second half a lovely left foot strike from Chloe Gilroy gave Bournemouth a two-goal cushion, which they added to 2 minutes later when a speculative through ball resulted in a flick on from Gemma McGuinness drifting past Roxy Roberts for 3-0.

A fourth came on 57 minutes when a lovely run and cross down the right by Kelci Bowers found McGuinness at the far post who took her time to slot home confidently.

The visitors were denied a fifth by an offside flag on 73 minutes and were unlucky not to add to their tally with a series of saves from Roberts and some staunch defending from Sam Jennings and Brooke Marshall.

A couple of late half chances from the home side came to nothing and in the end I think both teams would agree that the visitors deserved their victory and did especially well considering they were down to 10 for over an hour.

Lovely to chat with several members of The Arancione second half and a stadium that I'll definitely be back to hopefully in brighter conditions.

FT: Portchy 0 Bournemouth 4