OVERTON United travelled to last season’s champions and this season’s title challengers, Bush Hill in search of a seventh straight win.

With key players Max Elward and Louis Chambers unavailable, so in came proven Wessex stalwart, Ali Brown and the returning Richard Spiers to the starting line-up.

The game itself we played on a ploughed field and all credit to the Bush Hill midfield who kept to their proven formula of good football through their strong midfield.

Despite Bush Hill having most of the play, Overton stood firm with Paddy O’Brien making a couple of good saves and Ali Brown working well with Darren Turner to keep Bush Hill at bay for 35 minutes.

The match turned after a Bush Hill corner in which the ball fell to the Bush Hill winger six yards out and James Jupp put in a strong last ditch challenge to win the ball fairly, however the ref deemed the tackle aggressive and awarded a penalty which was converted to make it 1-0.

This seemed to rock the concentration of the Overton team and Bush Hill quickly made it 2-0 and right on half time added a third, leaving the Overton players deflated going into the sheds.

The second half saw the visitors respond well and Overton had most of the possession.

However the Bush Hill defence was marshalled very well by the skipper and kept both Dave Parry and Steve Price at arm’s length. The match finished 3-0 despite continued effort from the Overton team.

After the match, joint manager, Gary Savory said: " We were bitterly disappointed with the decision for the penalty which made it 1-0. We felt Juppy made a great and fair challenge.

"Despite the poor 15 minutes spell before half time, the lads held their own and more against one of the best sides in the league.

He added: "The second half performance was very positive and the lads did what we asked in terms of a response. We showed character.

"We now travel to Paulsgrove on Saturday, knowing we can match the top teams. With players returning and added quality with the likes of Ali Brown and Dave Parry into the ranks, we look forward to trip to Portsmouth next week."