Non-league nostalgia – Steve Hutchings helps Moneyfields enjoy upper hand in Wessex League rivalry with Horndean

Current Horndean boss Michael Birmingham in action for Moneyfields against Deans in November 2011.
Picture: Sarah Standing — Current Horndean boss Michael Birmingham in action for Moneyfields against Deans in November 2011. Picture: Sarah Standing

The striker returned from an ankle injury to score twice as Moneys won 3-2 at lowly Christchurch in the Wessex Premier at the weekend.

A far harder task awaits at Five Heads Park against a Horndean side who will be aiming to bounce back from their first league loss of the season to AFC Stoneham.

Hutchings netted five goals in two games against Horndean in his debut season at Moneys in 2011/12.

Steve Hutchings, left, is congratulated by Russ Rackley after scoring one of his hat-trick goals against Horndean on Boxing Day, 2011. Picture: Malcolm Wells

He struck twice in a 2-1 win at Horndean in November 2011, with current Deans boss Michael Birmingham among Hutchings’ colleagues. Horndean’s boss was Dave Carter, later to manage Moneys.

The return fixture took place on Boxing Day and saw Hutchings bag a hat-trick in a 4-0 Dover Road success. Jake Slater also scored.

Hutchings, Bobby Scott and Rob Evans - another who is still at Moneys - netted in a 3-3 home draw the following season.

A few weeks later, in April 2013, Scott struck twice in a 5-1 romp at Five Heads Park (a game Hutchings missed).

Hutchings scored in both games in 2013/14 - a 2-2 draw at Horndean and a 5-0 end-of-season thrashing at Dover Road.

Hutchings was again on target in the second game of 2014/15 - his ninth goal in six games against the Deans - but Gary Austin and George Davis gave Carter’s side victory at Dover Road.

Alfie Rutherford (Moneys) and Lewis Stockford traded goals in a 1-1 draw at Five Heads Park later in the campaign.

Moneys had the better of the fixtures in 2015/16 - a 2-1 home win and a 2-2 away draw, Robbie Tambling on target twice for Deans.

Hutchings was back on the goal trail during Moneys’ promotion-winning season in 2016/17, in a 2-0 away win.

Goals from Brett Poate, Lewis Fennemore, Jake Raine and Nathan Paxton gave Moneys a 4-0 home success and the double in the two clubs’ last league meeting in March 2017.

That left Deans’ record - since Hutchings joined Moneys - reading just one win and seven losses against their PO postcode rivals in 12 Wessex Premier games.

In their entire Wessex Premier history, Deans have only won twice in 18 outings against Moneys - losing 12 times.