AFC Stoneham win 3-0 for the second time this week as they beat Hythe and Dibden, moving up to 3rd in the Wessex Premier League table.

Ice cold conditions and frozen pitches meant that all the other games in the league were cancelled, making these an important three points as Stoneham capitalise on their game in hand.

Despite the weather, the action didn’t take long to warm up as Lewis Nagle was brought down in the box following his lighting quick run, earning his side a penalty in the first two minutes.

Captain Jim Orvis stepped up to take the penalty kick, smashing it past the keeper for his 10 th of the season and giving his side a very early lead.

Cade Dyer nearly doubled Stoneham’s lead after his corner almost curled all the way in at the back post, but goalkeeper Takada just managed to claw it out.

Hythe and Dibden really struggled to get out in the first 20 minutes, with Stoneham applying the pressure and not giving them any time to settle on the ball. Their route out was down the left-hand side to the tricky Papakonstantinou, who managed to win a few fouls for his team up the pitch and give his defence a break from the Stoneham surge.

In the 32 nd minute, Stoneham doubled their lead thanks to a fantastic goal from Liam Callaghan, who received the ball from Bainbridge on the edge of the box and smashed it into the bottom right-hand corner past a helpless Takada.

The last chance of the half fell for the energetic Callaghan, who was in the mood as he searched for his second, unfortunately his curling effort just skimmed the top of the bar, and the first half ended 2-0.

HALF TIME: AFC Stoneham 2-0 Hythe and Dibden

Takada was a busy man early in the second half, saving shots from Hills and Orvis to keep his side in the game.

Lewis Nagle yet again was causing their defence problems with his bursting runs into the box, which caused to him to be brought down again, but the referee said no penalty and pointed for a corner.

However, the resulting corner from Orvis did lead to a third for Stoneham, when Jamie Ovington’s deflected effort looped over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

The best chance for the away side fell to their new signing Alex Sawyer on the 71 st minute, but his low driven shot was saved by the feet of Tom Parker-Trott and went out for a corner.

Scott Hills was up front for this game in the absence of top-scorer Duarte Martins, and he nearly got himself a goal in the 75 th minute, but his powerful effort just went wide of the left-hand post, keeping the game at 3-0.

It was a quiet but professional end to the game from Stoneham, who looked to keep hold of the ball and earn a second successive clean sheet in the league.

The development squad also deserve huge credit too, as Stoneham ended the game with three youngsters on the pitch in Sunley, McNulty and Farndell, with the latter being included in the first team squad for the first time.

This win takes Stoneham up to 3 rd in the league on 36 points, with their next game coming at home to Brockenhurst on Tuesday 13 th December with a 7:45pm kick off.

AFC Stoneham Starting XI: T. Parker-Trott, Barnes, Dyer, Evans, Ovington, Clarke,Bainbridge, Orvis (c), Hills, Nagle, Callaghan

Subs: Thomson, McNulty, Steel, Farndell, Sunley

Hythe and Dibden Starting XI: Takada, Bradley, Golding, Boon, Wilson, Slade, Sawyer, Erdinc, J. Parker-Trott, Papakonstantinou, Terzidis

Subs: Drury, Grant, Dunne, Fay, Landa

By Freddie Dorman