Briggs’ ‘quality’ quickly on show
Joe hits the ground running on his Moneyfields return
Moneyfields boss Glenn Turnbull saluted super sub Joe Briggs after his side survived a Portsmouth Senior Cup scare.
Briggs jumped off the bench to grab his second hattrick in only four games since returning to Dover Road from AFC Portchester.
After hitting four against one division lower Whitchurch in the Russell Cotes Cup last Wednesday, Briggs’ treble helped Moneys beat two tiers lower Clanfield in the PSC on Tuesday.
The scores were level at 1-1 when Briggs, arriving late at the ground, was brought on in the second half in place of Josh Bailey on the right side of the three in a new-look 4-2-3-1 formation.
He had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes when Briggs was brought down by Liam Buxton, earning the former Hayling centre half a second yellow and a subsequent red.
Briggs converted the resultant penalty and, after going on to complete his hattrick, Andrew Todd rounded off the scoring at 5-1 – the former Portchester and US Portsmouth striker’s first Moneys goal.
Ex-Dover Road youngster Charlie McNally had struck a shock first half leveller after Josh Hazell - playing on the left side of the three - had broken the deadlock.
‘Briggo (Briggs) just adds quality,’ said Turnbull.
‘We’ve brought him in to mainly play right wingback as Chad (Cornwell) is injured, but you can play him anywhere. He seems to have come back in with extra desire to stamp his quality on things - and he’s not even 100 per cent yet!’
Briggs has already demonstrated his versatility - he was deployed as a No 10 at Whitchurch, while he operated at right wing-back against Portchester in last weekend’s 5-3 Wessex Premier victory.
Turnbull said of the Clanfield win, which keeps Moneys on course for a third successive PSC triumph: ‘We talked beforehand about needing to be composed rather than complacent - but some of the players got the words the wrong way round.
‘We talked about matching their workrate and energy for
the first 20 minutes and then our superior ability should shine through, but it took about 45 minutes to get to that point.
‘I didn’t think the result was ever in any doubt really. They were looking visibly tired after around half an hour. We just needed to be a bit more clinical and to remain patient.’
First team regulars Steve Hutchings, Tom Cain, Dec Seiden and James Franklyn were rested, while Ellis Martin and Adam Cripps were paired at centre half.
With Callum Glen injured, Jordan Pile and Matt McGlinchey were the central midfield pairing with Bradey Norton playing for an hour in Franklyn’s attacking midfield role.
It was a slight case of deja vu for Clanfield, who had also lost 5-1 on the same ground to Moneyfields Reserves in a Hampshire Premier League match last month. On that occasion they also ended with 10 men - midfielder Mike McCormack seeing red for a late tackle in the first half.
Since then, Clanfield have only picked up one Senior Division point in six games and at the weekend lost 4-0 at home to Fleetlands at Westleigh Park.
Boss Lee Blakely revealed the squad had had ‘a chat’ after the Fleetlands defeat, and remarked of the PSC display: ‘I thought we were excellent.
‘Our attitude, our preparation, was superb.
We could have been 2-1 up at half-time.
‘Moneyfields could have had a man sent off in the first half for the sort of tackle that saw our player sent off (in the HPL game). ‘Obviously going down to 10 men against any team is hard, but especially when you’re playing a side from two leagues above.
‘I couldn’t fault anyone - I got the response I was looking for.’
Clanfield have signed midfielder Michael Viggor from Moneyfields Reserves, and he made his debut against Fleetlands. Further new signings are expected in the coming fortnight from the same club.
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