WE MAKE CUP PROGRESS

The final score line suggests that this was an easy win but that would do Chipperfield a very big injustice because with 3 minutes of normal time left they looked destined for the next round until James Shaw produced a stunning equaliser to send this St Marys Cup tie into extra time. After that the visitors ran out of steam and a flurry of goals put a different gloss on the final result.

Chipperfield play in the Herts County Senior Premier Division but like ourselves they have struggled in the league this year presently sitting 3 places off the bottom of the table. This was officially a First Team game, but they played last night so we put out mainly a Reserve side with a scattering of First Teamers and some new players.

The first opportunity of the game fell to the visitors after only 2 minutes when a mix up in our defence (something that both teams were to be guilty of throughout the game) should have been punished but the forward wastefully shot over the bar.

Our first chance came 9 minutes later following a nice move and Jack Read was not going to be so obliging, cleverly working himself some space before firing an accurate shot past the keeper. It was a well taken goal and got us off the mark. Score 1-0.

Any hopes that we would now move up through the gears and start to control the game were dashed by poor ball retention and some extremely sloppy defending. Six minutes after we took the lead we failed to deal with a long ball and we had to scramble the ball away to safety. Soon afterwards we gave the ball away again and the opposition centre forward (who with due respect didn't look like a footballer but could teach our players how to hold a ball and control it) forced a good save from Mark Richardson.

With 9 minutes to go to half time Chipperfield deserved leveled the score when we decided to pass the ball to the opposition rather than a colleague and the player said thank you very much and scored. Score 1-1.

A poor quality first half ended all square but to be fair some of the players had never played together before so it was inevitable they would take time to gel. HT Score 1-1.

We retook the lead in the 56th minute and this time it was the opposition's turn to have a defensive blooper when a defender and the keeper failed to deal with a routine pass and newcomer Josh Burtt slid the ball towards the empty net with Jack Read making sure the ball crossed the line. Score 2-1.

Despite the set back the opposition came back strongly with Mark Richardson making a good save with the follow up shot being headed off the line. Again that opportunity arose because of a poor kick out. Buoyed by this near miss Chipperfield leveled score when one of their players was fouled in the box. Their centre forward scored from the spot and 4 minutes later capped a fine game by putting his side ahead, although questions have to be asked why he was given so much time and space in the area, where was the marking. Score 2-3.

We were now facing defeat but with just over a quarter of an hour left James Shaw came off the bench and changed the game. With just 3 minutes of normal time left James struck a volley from around 40 yards out that flew past the keeper. It was a magnificent strike and took the game into extra time. FT Score 3-3.

Eight minutes into the first period of extra time James Shaw's sweetly struck cross picked out Sam Joliffe (making his 300 appearance for the Club) who laid the ball nicely across the area for Luke Dunstan to score from close range. Score 4-3. The second period of extra time proved to be a step too far for Chipperfield as we put away 3 more goals. Sam Joliffe made up for an earlier miss by heading home a corner, James Shaw hit the cross bar and then curled home a free kick and finally Jack Read got a third to claim his hat-trick. Final Score 7-3.

This was a harsh result on Chipperfield who were just a few minutes away from winning the game. James Shaw made the difference with his passing and shooting and we can now look forward to the semi-final where we will play Berkhamsted.

Team:

TA:1 Mark Richardson 2 Ben Johnson 3 Connor Church 4 Dan Steadman 5 Sam Joliffe (Capt) 6 Luke Dunstan 7 Joe Naylor (12 Tom Shaw 53) 8 Ryan McMahon 9 Jack Read 10 Danny Roberts (16 James Shaw 74) 11 Josh Burtt (14 Liam Gorman 70).

Scorers:

TA:J Read (11, 56, 117), J Shaw (87, 112), L Dunstan (98), S Joliffe (110)

C:23, Pen 64, 68

Crowd:N/K

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